Skip to main content
Summer Projects: Palmer Drought Severity Index

All Climate Blog Posts

Dec 9, 2013

Winter Outlook 2013-14: How Rare are our Big Winter Events?

This is the second part in our four-part 2013-14 winter outlook series. The first post recalled some major winter storms in North Carolina and their causes and impacts, and this one discusses the frequency of these events. Nearly every year in North Carolina, a handful of minor winter weather events cause closings, delays, and disruptions…

Dec 5, 2013

Winter Outlook 2013-14: Anatomy of a Winter Storm

This is the first part in our four-part 2013-14 winter outlook series. The first two posts this year will look back at some memorable major snow and ice storms in North Carolina. When it comes to major weather events, North Carolina is often known most for its hurricanes and springtime thunderstorms. However, our state is…

Dec 3, 2013

A Frigid End to Fall in November

Monthly statistics for November 2013:Statewide Average Precipitation: 3.84 inches (34th wettest since 1895)Statewide Average Temperature: 47.32°F (26th coldest since 1895)* Values generated from preliminary numbers November Brings a Cold, Dry End to Autumn Temperatures in November were cold — maximum, minimum and mean daily temperatures ranked in the top 10 coldest on record for many reporting sites…

Nov 20, 2013

Summer Projects: High-Resolution Temperature and Precipitation Estimates for North Carolina

This post is part of a series highlighting the summer projects from our office’s undergraduate research assistants.The final part of this series is by James McClellan, a recent graduate of NC State with a degree in Meteorology and a minor in Biological Sciences. My work at the State Climate Office has been focused on developing…

Nov 14, 2013

Summer Projects: Bias Correction of Multi-Sensor Precipitation Estimates in North Carolina

This post is part of a series highlighting the summer projects from our office’s undergraduate research assistants. The sixth part of this series is by Geneva Ely, a senior double majoring in Meteorology and Environmental Sciences with a concentration in Air Quality at NC State. This summer I started working on a research project to…

Nov 12, 2013

Cloudy Weather But Little Rain in October

Monthly statistics for October 2013:Statewide Average Precipitation: 2.34 inches (51st driest since 1895)Statewide Average Temperature: 60.08°F (22nd coldest since 1895)* Values generated from preliminary numbers Cloudy October Tempers our Temperatures You may have noticed October seemed a bit on the cloudy side in your area, especially toward the beginning of the month. This begs the question —…

Oct 29, 2013

Summer Projects: PINEMAP Web Tools

This post is part of a series highlighting the summer projects from our office’s undergraduate research assistants. The fifth part of this series is by Andrew Martin, a junior majoring in Meteorology and minoring in Computer Science at NC State. One of my responsibilities over the summer was to develop web tools that would benefit…

Oct 24, 2013

First Freeze for Autumn 2013: How Does it Compare?

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday will likely produce the first freeze events of the season across most of the lower elevations of North Carolina. Higher elevations have already experienced a freeze. How does the timing of the first freeze in 2013 compare with historical climatology? Below is a table with dates of average, earliest, and latest…

Oct 22, 2013

Summer Projects: Palmer Drought Severity Index

This post is part of a series highlighting the summer projects from our office’s undergraduate research assistants. The fourth part of this series is by Melissa Mainhart, a junior majoring in Meteorology and minoring in Computer Programming at NC State. Over the course of the summer I have been working on calculating the Palmer Drought…