Sparky Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Down to 10. Had a short but intense snow squall around 5pm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T. August Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 18/7 with a wind chill of 5F. I don't think temps are going to get too low tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAPE Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 18/11. Waiting for my snow squall.. Right on que...mini flizzard in progress with a solid dusting. DOV needs to get the radar repaired...Looked like nothing from the Sterling radar.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MN Transplant Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 I have some "inside" info that it might be on the roof. I don't know if it was moved, or if they have multiple sensors. I'll find the report, but it is certainly not in the roof. Are you sure that isn't the snow measuring location? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Oh this again. lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAPE Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Cool snow shower/squall/flurry whatev. Temp down to 16. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 I'll find the report, but it is certainly not in the roof. Are you sure that isn't the snow measuring location? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 They do measure snow in a stupid spot.. and maybe the roof sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MN Transplant Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 http://weather.gladstonefamily.net/site/KDCA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Tenman's a smart guy but on this subject he'd rather just keep the wool over his eyes. DCA is embedded in an urban jungle more or less. If they get a wind off the river that's one thing but it's no doubt impacted heavily by UHI as well. Even Dulles is showing more and more UHI over the last few decades seemingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
das Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 I bet you get down to 0F. 19F here. That'll be tough with the wind staying up. 9.8F at 7:30pm, DP is now -5F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MN Transplant Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 One of the questions that one would have a very hard time obtaining an answer to is the transmission of any such sensor readings to the office. I have been told by the MIC that they do manually go out and take obs. I have also been told that in extreme weather they are focused on the FAA aspects and are not, for example, going to send someone out to "determine if it is 17* or 21* in order to satisfy weather weenies" I think you are talking about augmenting the automated measurements. They don't manually take temps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deck Pic Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 I'll find the report, but it is certainly not in the roof. Are you sure that isn't the snow measuring location? My understanding is that the snow board is located outside terminal A and the weather station is on the roof of terminal A. It could be erroneous info. My understanding was always the same as yours. That the weather station was located near the river. And NCDC docs corroborate that. So not sure if it is true, or if it was moved or if there are multiple stations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighStakes Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Radar isn't showing much but it's been snowing for about 30-45 minutes putting down a nice dusting. Temp is down to 8. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAPE Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Not to stoke the fire on the Official DC temp "issue"( I have no position on this) but there very likely is UHI in DC as is the case in any city, and official temps (and snow measurements) are taken at airports, which are normally located within the UHI, so what exactly is the issue? The protocol for recording these measurements? Exact sensor locations? Certainly there could be a 2 or 3 degree diff depending on where the sensor is located- on a building vs a few feet off the ground and away from structures. But regardless, one would expect temps in DC proper to be higher than surrounding areas, and it generally is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
das Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Would we all be in good shape to go below zero if we didn't have the wind tonight? With the sub zero dews and decent snowpack, yes in the favored locations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterymix Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 UHI is very real at Times Square. It's very nearly a myth and/or excuse for DCA. DCA is a swamp with semi-tropical climate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Not to stoke the fire on the Official DC temp "issue"( I have no position on this) but there very likely is UHI in DC as is the case in any city, and official temps (and snow measurements) are taken at airports, which are normally located within the UHI, so what exactly is the issue? The protocol for recording these measurements? Exact sensor locations? Certainly there could be a 2 or 3 degree diff depending on where the sensor is located- on a building vs a few feet off the ground and away from structures. But regardless, one would expect temps in DC proper to be higher than surrounding areas, and it generally is. The only thing that's weird is it does still tend to run warmer than WxBugs in the city quite often. Though I'm a little more skeptical that WxBug is perfect given their siting typically doesn't match what NWS stations do. But it is the lowest elevation in the area and right next to the river etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAPE Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 DCA is a swamp with semi-tropical climate. It is a subtropical climate. Not sure about the swamp part but I loled Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gymengineer Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 The only thing that's weird is it does still tend to run warmer than WxBugs in the city quite often. Though I'm a little more skeptical that WxBug is perfect given their siting typically doesn't match what NWS stations do. But it is the lowest elevation in the area and right next to the river etc. Isn't Alexandria near the water usually warmer than DC locations, though? I've thought of DCA as just representing the Arlington and Alexandria lowlands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAPE Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 The only thing that's weird is it does still tend to run warmer than WxBugs in the city quite often. Though I'm a little more skeptical that WxBug is perfect given their siting typically doesn't match what NWS stations do. But it is the lowest elevation in the area and right next to the river etc. I have no experience with weatherbug, other than avoiding it because I think is spyware lol. I generally hate all weather apps and rely completely on NWS/NOAA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighStakes Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Tenman's a smart guy but on this subject he'd rather just keep the wool over his eyes. DCA is embedded in an urban jungle more or less. If they get a wind off the river that's one thing but it's no doubt impacted heavily by UHI as well. Even Dulles is showing more and more UHI over the last few decades seemingly. This topic should be a permanently pinned thread so the usual suspects can revisited it anytime they want to. Don't get me wrong though I enjoy this debate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Isn't Alexandria near the water usually warmer than DC locations, though? I've thought of DCA as just representing the Arlington and Alexandria lowlands. Yeah I think so. This station is close and runs about the same: http://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=KVAARLIN39 This one is too but it's a buoy: http://www.wunderground.com/MAR/buoy/WASD2.html I think it's fairly representative of that immediate tidal potomac area and into the Mall .. perhaps downtown too. You rise in elevation and become 'less urban' pretty quick going further north in the city. Nats Park is showing 16 right now.. but it seems to usually be cool. But look at Balt obs.. you see the same thing there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MN Transplant Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Yeah I think so. This station is close and runs about the same: http://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=KVAARLIN39 This one is too but it's a buoy: http://www.wunderground.com/MAR/buoy/WASD2.html I think it's fairly representative of that immediate tidal potomac area and into the Mall .. perhaps downtown too. You rise in elevation and become 'less urban' pretty quick going further north in the city. Nats Park is showing 16 right now.. but it seems to usually be cool. But look at Balt obs.. you see the same thing there. I'll be honest, I don't trust any of the new NetAtmo stations. I don't think people know how to set it up in a good spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterymix Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 It is a subtropical climate. Not sure about the swamp part but I loled Fairly sure a significant portion of DCA is built on fill dirt that was dumped into swamps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Chill Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Wow. Just checked temp and down to 11.6. Single digits before midnight likely. What a wintry couple of days. Monster moral victory considering the last 5 weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stradivarious Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 The federal part of DC was a swamp before it became a planned city. There are two reasons that there are no tall buildings in DC, one political, one practical. The political one is that there is a dc law or code that won't allow any building to be higher than the Washington monument. The practical reason is there is no bedrock to base tall sky scrapers in DC...if you ever watch a building being built in DC you notice that they have to dig unusually deep to build a foundation... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 I'll be honest, I don't trust any of the new NetAtmo stations. I don't think people know how to set it up in a good spot. Yeah maybe not. Though we take this stuff a little too seriously sometimes too maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastCoast NPZ Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 When the land is covered by 2-3" of snow, and the parking lots, and the sidewalks, and the temp is 25 degrees for 24+ hours then there is NO emitting of heat for there is no heat to be emitted and no method to emit it because it is blanketed. DCA is east of some office buildings, we are not talking about gigantic manufacturing and industrial plants, located on a strip of land off of a tree lined parkway, and next to a river. It's not Times Square NYC. A couple of strips of highway being exposed, and some office buildings do not, repeat do not, emit enough radiant heat to influence a valid temperature recording mechanism. I could, and will e-mail to a party if requested, provide the telephone number to the station. Call them and ask why they measure so much higher than the surrounding. I think you will find how you are responded to as very interesting. I think it is jsut a matter of working for the FAA and not really being interested in getting it accurate from a weather observation point of view While the land may be absorbing less radiant heat due to the snow cover, buildings, equipment, cars, and people are still emitting heat. Let's not forget that snow doesn't stick to the sides of buildings, so low-angle sunshine is striking those sides and warming them. In fact, the low-angle sunlight strikes a closer-to-perpindicular angle than it does in the warmer seasons. There is no amount of wind, or even snow cover, that is going to cancel UHI. Unless there is an extended mass power outage and the roads are impassable enough to prevent many from driving and it is cloudy for days...... UHI will be present. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nj2va Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Down to 14 here. Let's go single digits! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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