September 2009
North Country Monthly Climate Summary
TEMPERATURE SUMMARY...
TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE NORTH COUNTRY WERE GENERALLY NEAR NORMAL FOR SEPTEMBER WITH PERIODS OF COOL WEATHER TEMPERED BY WARMER THAN NORMAL READINGS AROUND THE 3RD WEEK OF THE MONTH. ON AVERAGE, MONTHLY TEMPERATURES WERE FAIRLY CLOSE TO NORMAL. THE WARMEST READINGS WERE IN CENTRAL VERMONT AND THE CHAMPLAIN VALLEY WHERE TEMPERATURES GENERALLY STAYED WITHIN ONE OR TWO TENTHS OF A DEGREE OF SEASONAL NORMS. THE NORTHEAST KINGDOM WAS THE COOLEST REGION, RUNNING AS MUCH AS 2 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. SUMMER BRIEFLY MADE A RETURN ON THE 22ND AND 23RD WITH DAILY TEMPERATURES REACHING 10 TO 15 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. HOWEVER, COOLER WEATHER ARRIVED THEREAFTER WITH MANY SITES SEEING THEIR FIRST FROST ON THE 26TH. MOST LOCATIONS WERE STUCK IN THE 40S AND 50S FOR DAYTIME HIGHS ON THE 30TH.
TEMPERATURE STATISTICS ACROSS THE NORTH COUNTRY FOR THE MONTH OF
SEPTEMBER...
| |
Burlington |
Montpelier |
Massena |
Saint Johnsbury |
| Avg. Temp |
59.3 |
56.8 |
57.9 |
56.5 |
| Departure |
-0.1 |
0.2 |
-0.5 |
-1.9 |
| Highest |
81 ON 4,8 |
79 ON 3 |
79 ON 4,8 |
79 ON 4 |
| Lowest |
35 ON 26 |
33 ON 26 |
33 ON 26 |
33 ON 26 |
BELOW ARE DAILY TEMPERATURE GRAPHS FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER FOR EACH
BURLINGTON, MONTPELIER, MASSENA, AND SAINT JOHNSBURY.
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PRECIPITATION SUMMARY...
SEPTEMBER WAS A MONTH OF EXTREMES FOR PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE NORTH COUNTRY. A PROLONGED DRY SPELL STARTED OUT THE MONTH, BUT IT WAS FOLLOWED BY HEAVY RAIN EVENTS THAT DROPPED OVER 2 INCHES IN MANY LOCATIONS. MONTHLY RAIN GAUGE TOTALS WERE HIGHLY VARIABLE, RANGING FROM UNDER AN INCH AND A HALF TO WELL OVER 3 INCHES. THE HIGHEST RAINFALL TOTALS WERE IN THE CHAMPLAIN VALLEY, AS BURLINGTON, ESSEX JUNCTION, AND HANKSVILLE ALL RECEIVED MORE THAN 3 INCHES OF RAIN. THREE INCH RAIN TOTALS WERE ALSO COMMON IN THE NORTHERN ADIRONDACKS OF NEW YORK, WITH 3.15 INCHES OF RAIN AT NEWCOMB, AND 2.96 INCHES AT MALONE. ANOTHER LOCAL MAXIMUM WAS NORTHEAST VERMONT WITH EAST HAVEN REPORTING 3.12 INCHES, AND 2.79 AT GILMAN. HOWEVER, SEPTEMBER WAS A MONTH OF THE HAVES VERSUS THE HAVE NOTS ACROSS VERMONT AND NORTHERN NEW YORK, AS MANY AREAS HAD WELL BELOW AVERAGE RAINFALL, INCLUDING MONTPELIER AND MASSENA, BOTH OF WHICH SAW A DEFICIT OF OVER AN INCH. EVEN AT THE SITES THAT SAW ABUNDANT RAINFALL AT THE END OF THE MONTH, IT WAS NOT ENOUGH TO MAKE UP FOR THE DRY STRETCH AT THE START OF THE PERIOD, AND MANY SPOTS STAYED BELOW NORMAL FOR MONTHY RAINFALL. AT BURLINGTON, SEPTEMBER STARTED OUT WITH WELL BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION, AND THOUGH HEAVY RAINFALL EVENTS ON THE 23RD AND THE 27-28TH QUICKLY BROUGHT THE STATION BACK UP CLOSE TO NORMAL, IT STILL CLOSED OUT SEPTEMBER AT 0.16 INCH BELOW AVERAGE. WITH THIS LATE-MONTH RAINFALL, THE YEARLY TOTAL IS 27.76 INCHES, 0.80 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL.
PRECIPITATION STATISTICS ACROSS THE NORTH COUNTRY FOR THE MONTH OF
SEPTEMBER...
| |
Burlington |
Montpelier |
Massena |
Saint Johnsbury |
| Monthly Total " |
3.67 |
1.94 |
2.63 |
2.84 |
| Departure |
-0.16 |
-1.38 |
-1.21 |
-0.63 |
| Greatest 24hr |
1.62 ON 26-27 |
0.94 ON 27 |
0.97 ON 27 |
1.34 ON 23 |
| SNOW/SLEET |
|
|
|
|
| Monthly Total " |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Departure |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Greatest 24hr |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
BURLINGTON FORECAST AREA ACCUMULATED MONTHLY RAIN GAUGE PRECIPITATION (IN INCHES)
FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER.
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MONTHLY WEATHER PATTERNS AND GLOBAL CLIMATE DRIVERS...
THE OVERALL WEATHER PATTERN OF THE FIRST PART OF SEPTEMBER WAS DRASTICALLY DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF THE LATTER PART OF THE MONTH. AN ANOMALOUSLY STRONG 500MB RIDGE BUILT OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA EARLY IN THE MONTH. CAUGHT BETWEEN A STRONG LOW OFF THE BRITISH COLOMBIAN COAST AND ANOTHER OVER FAR NORTHERN QUEBEC, THIS RIDGE WAS EFFECTIVELY LOCKED IN PLACE THROUGH MUCH OF SEPTEMBER. THIS RESULTED IN MILD, DRY CONDITIONS ACROSS MUCH OF THE NORTHEASTERN U.S. AS STORM SYSTEMS WERE UNABLE TO AFFECT THE REGION. THE PATTERN CHANGED DRASTICALLY DURING THE LAST WEEK OF SEPTEMBER, HOWEVER, AS THE BLOCK FINALLY MOVED OUT AND A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE WAS ABLE TO BECOME ESTABLISHED ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES. THIS TROUGH DEEPENED AND PROGRESSED EASTWARD, BRINGING A MUCH COOLER AIRMASS AND PERIODS OF RAIN TO THE NORTH COUNTRY.
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THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER IS FORECASTING EQUAL CHANCES FOR ABOVE AND BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL AND TEMPERATURE ACROSS VERMONT AND NORTHERN NEW YORK. RAINFALL TRENDS LOOK TO BE NEAR AVERAGE FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER.
EL NINO CONTINUES ACORSS THE EQUATORIAL PACIFIC OCEAN WITH LITTLE CHANGE IN OCEAN TEMPERATURES LAST MONTH. THE OFFICIAL FORECAST HAS EL NINO STRENGTHENING THROUGH THE FALL AND LASTING THROUGH THE WINTER MONTHS INTO EARLY 2010.
CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER OCTOBER 2009 PRECIPITATION OUTLOOK...
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CLIMATE PREDICITION CENTER OCTOBER 2009 TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK...
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Figure 1: Burlington Monthly Temperature Trend
Figure 2: Montpelier Monthly Temperature Trend
Figure 3: Massena Monthly Temperature Trend
Figure 4: Saint Johnsbury Temperature Trend
Figure 5: Monthly Precipitation Map
Figure 6: 500MB Geopotential Height Anomalies
Figure 7: Climate Prediction Center Precipitation Outlook
Figure 8: Climate Prediction Center Temperature Outlook
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