Since this is my 39th column, let’s talk about 1939. “The Wizard of Oz” was released that year, The World’s Fair was held in New York City, and you know what? It also happens to be the year they started keeping weather records in Caribou!
Nowadays, many weather parameters are recorded, but sometimes the numbers you hear can be a tad confusing. For example, quite often, on the first of the month, you hear about the average temperature for the preceding month. However this is not really informative if you are wondering how many really warm or cold days there were. Of course those really warm or cold days will raise or lower the average, but a direct count of warm or cold days is something which I think is more “relatable.” Perhaps you’ve noticed that of the many tidbits I do share, I never mention what the average temperature for the month was. I like “day counting” better” (how many 80 degree days or, in winter, how many nights that reach zero.
Oh, speaking of zero, I may have written of this before, I meet so many longtime County residents who are convinced that when they were kids, it used to be below zero for “weeks at a time.” The actual record at Caribou, and again records go back to 1939, is four consecutive days where the high temperature did not make it to 0. (You read that right, four days, not four weeks!). Of course this December, everyone is commenting on the unusually mild weather, with some nights this month seeing overnight lows 25 degrees above normal!
Now you may like to measure things other than temperature at home, perhaps snowfall. With snow, you always want to measure in several places on your property and then take an average. That average is the depth which should then be reported. And I hope you do report, and I further hope that you take a young person out with you to do so (and yes, make them leave their phone inside!).
I always encourage my UMPI students to take a little brother or sister or niece or nephew out with them when they take their weather observations, something which in my class is done weekly, for 10 weeks, as students learn how to read the sky and make their own short-term forecasts! For a child, it can really open their eyes to the wonders of nature and, perhaps, become a lifelong hobby.
Knowing these fun-to-learn weather clues is empowering, which is to say, you can be on an outing, read the clouds, and know what they portend! How cool is that?
By the way, to report your weather observations during winter storms this season, I would be most appreciative to receive posts on the Wall of my professional Facebook Page, facebook.com/tedsweather. It is such a great use of social media to have a central place where we can all read about the road conditions in locations to which we might be headed. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but it is very underutilized, so check it out!
Also, don’t forget about the OpenU spots in my class, as you read this you may be able to claim one of the final tuition-free spots. OpenU students do not earn college credit. I’d also like to remind readers that any Maine resident, age 65 or older, can take the class tuition-free as well. The books for the class are quite inexpensive when compared to the average college textbook. And you’ll love having them on your bookshelf. The class runs from Jan 19th to May 12th and meets on Mondays and Wednesdays from 12:30 to 1:45 in Folsom Hall, Room 303, at UMPI.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Here’s to a wonderful year ahead! By the way, 2016 happens to be WAGM’s 60th anniversary!
Ted Shapiro holds the Broadcast Seal of Approval from both the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association. An Alexandria, Va. native, he has been chief meteorologist at WAGM-TV since 2006. Email him at tshapiro@wagmtv.com.
