159 replies to this topic

[tozmervo]

Well this is fun.

[SmellyCat]

I'd consider driving -  if I had spikes on my tires!

[tozmervo]

I've watched a couple of poor souls try walking down my street. Sufficed to say, I cancelled all my plans for the day after I stopped laughing hysterically at them.

[southslider]

As someone who doesn't drive to work, I'd have rather worked yesterday, when the sidewalks were clear, and then have today off.  I had quite the time just walking to/from CATS stops.  But it figures that driving has long become the calculus used for shutting down offices.

[nonillogical]

I was SO thankful for the light rail though! It was running slow and irregularly, but was an absolute lifesaver yesterday and today for me, both to run errands and then to escape boredom.

But yeah the 4 blocks of walking I still had to do at midnight after getting off were quite an adventure.

[Dilworthy]

I drove around yesterday and this AM. Definitely more dicey today. I purposely sat down the stairs on my porch this morning . The steps and driveway were sheer ice . Then I all foured it to my car. Looked ridonculous but would rather crawl along over ice than fall down.

Had to get to the bank today. The BOA on East was closed when I went by so I headed to the one in Myers Park on Providence. It was open but my cars front wheels got stuck in the ice. Spun but no dice. One of the bank employees nicely sprayed salt to traction. Then a nice guy, complete stranger helped push my Civic as I hit reverse and i got moving again.

Its improved marginally this aft. Main roads are decent but I slided around Dilworth side streets a bit. Walk slowly and carefully!

[abttown]

Well this seems to be a repeat of last year.  A cold winter followed by almost instant heat.  It IS still spring out there but it feels too much like summer already.  Can't we just have a span of nice (normal) weather?  I know, it's all relative!

[tozmervo]

When was the last time there was a recorded tornado touchdown in Charlotte (or even Mecklenburg County)?

[Skyybutter]

abttown, on 24 May 2011 - 07:14 PM, said:

Well this seems to be a repeat of last year.  A cold winter followed by almost instant heat.  It IS still spring out there but it feels too much like summer already.  Can't we just have a span of nice (normal) weather?  I know, it's all relative!

  As a native NCer, rest assured this is pretty typical of Charlotte weather. For some reason I still am never ready for it though. AS June-Sept unfold the only way to get relief is to go to the mountains.

[Shawn&Zae]

Charlotte gets the extreme temperatures or just wacky weather, from extremely cold winters by our standards and actually have spring like temperature for a few weeks and jump straight to summer by May.  I think it's quite unique but yet annoying, a few Decembers ago when I still in undergrad, it reached into the upper 60s in early December!

[grodney]

tozmervo, on 25 May 2011 - 02:47 PM, said:

When was the last time there was a recorded tornado touchdown in Charlotte (or even Mecklenburg County)?

May 9, 2008 according to Observer's Weather Guy:  http://obsweatherguy...do-history.html

Edited by grodney, 26 May 2011 - 07:24 AM.

[grodney]

Here is the database he is probably using for that info:  http://www4.ncdc.noa...?wwevent~storms

[southslider]

^That database shows relatively few tornados, none over an F2, very few injuries, and no deaths.  I wonder if Charlotte is blessed with the nearby mountains as some sort of natural shield.

[AuLukey]

southslider, on 26 May 2011 - 07:35 AM, said:

^That database shows relatively few tornados, none over an F2, very few injuries, and no deaths.  I wonder if Charlotte is blessed with the nearby mountains as some sort of natural shield.

Well this is more observation than fact, but I've noticed over the last two decades that I've lived here that the surrounding counties have typically experienced harsher weather than Mecklenburg in terms of tornadoes and winter storms.  Sure Meck/Charlotte gets its fair share of ice, but in terms of actual snowfall, the counties just twenty or so miles away always seem to get hit harder.  It's almost like we're in a bubble.  I have a few friends that call it our "urban blanket"

[grodney]

AuLukey, on 30 May 2011 - 07:18 PM, said:

...It's almost like we're in a bubble.  I have a few friends that call it our "urban blanket"

The wikipedia page for Urban Heat Island says that metro areas are less susceptible to weak tornadoes:
http://en.wikipedia....ban_heat_island

No mention of snow, however.

Edited by grodney, 31 May 2011 - 06:43 AM.

[grodney]

Today will be the 6th day in May at 90+ degrees this year.  Last year we only had 1 day in May that hit 90.  Of course, we then had 20 in June and it got worse after that.

Six 90s in May is the most in the last 10 years.  2004 had five 90-degree days in May.

[grodney]

Today's low at CLT was 59 degrees.  That's the first time under 60 degrees since June 17 -- a span of 81 days.

How does that compare to other years?  It's the longest 60+ run in the last 10 years:

2001 - 45 days - 5/30 to 7/15
2002 - 52 days - 6/16 to 8/8
2003 - 79 days - 6/23 to 9/11
2004 - 40 days - 6/5 to 7/16
2005 - 75 days - 6/21 to 9/5
2006 - 54 days - 7/9 to 9/2
2007 - 54 days - 7/23 to 9/16
2008 - 76 days - 7/2 to 9/17
2009 - 59 days - 7/4 to 9/2
2010 - 62 days - 7/4 to 9/5
2011 - 81 days - 6/17 to 9/7

[grodney]

Not to jinx us and knock on wood, here are some numbers from this winter (so far):


Since 11/20/2011:

18 days below normal high
5 days at normal high
57 days above normal high

2 days double-digits below normal high
28(!) days double-digits above normal high  (that's 28 out of 80 -- better than 1 in 3)

[mediamongrel]

Skyybutter, on 25 May 2011 - 03:40 PM, said:

  As a native NCer, rest assured this is pretty typical of Charlotte weather. For some reason I still am never ready for it though. AS June-Sept unfold the only way to get relief is to go to the mountains.

Dewpoints tend to be higher in the mountains because of the moist air getting "trapped" in between the mountains.  Though the temperature may be 95 in Charlotte and the dewpoint 66, Asheville for instance may see only 89, but with a dewpoint of 69, making it feel about the same.  The mountains (relative term) aren't much cooler, except for places like Boone and Jefferson.  Those areas are a lot higher in elevation though.  Areas like Forest City and Rutherfordton may be considered "the mountains" but they usually get temperatures equal to that of Charlotte because of the downsloping effect.

[DCMetroRaleigh]

Charlotte and the Triad may have their first 90 degree temps of the year this holiday weekend. Central NC is one of the few places outside of New England and the Northwest that have not yet reached 90 degrees this year.