Climate and Weather

Climate and Weather

Anecdotally, it's apparent the weather in Canaan Valley is relatively cool and moist. Through the help of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmosphere Association) and other resources, these anecdotal experiences are given credence. Below I have taken a screenshot of 1981-2010 Normals as NOAA provides a clear explanation for the data, 

"The 1981-2010 Climate Normals are NCDC's latest three-decade averages of climatological variables, including temperature and precipitation. This new product replaces the 1971-2000 Climate Normals product, which remains available as historical data" (NOAA, n.d.). 

 NOAA

The amount of creditable data specific to my area of study is applaudable. However, I found the data tools within NOAA to be a bit confusing. It would be ideal if the user could pan over the data and view the specific year it was recorded. For example I found another site called Intellicast. Here are some screenshots from the site:

Intelicast

As compared to NOAA, Intelicast provides the year in which record low or high points were recorded. I think this helps give context to trends and patterns with the area. 

In addition to both of these great resources, I discovered, WeatherUnderground. I was able to create a custom ranging from 01JAN06- 31DEC16 (the last 10 years). 

WeatherUnderground

As you can see new information such as dew point, wind speed, and barometric pressure are all provided through this site. 

As much of the vegetation found in Canaan Valley is also found in northern parts of Canada, I thought it would be interesting to compare the climates of the two.