Climate for an area generally follows the yearly averages for temperature and precipitation. Data was pulled from NOWData - NOAA Online Weather Data for Dale Enterprise, Virginia. Dale Enterprise is located within Rockingham County, which surrounds Harrisonburg City (the location of Lake Shenandoah) and provides accurate data in regards to climate for the lake. The information is represented in the climatogram (aka climate graph or climograph) above. Climatograms generally show the total precipitation for each month within a year represented in a bar graph with data increments listed to the left side of the graph on the y-axis and is generally in units such as inches, centimeters or millimeters. The average temperature (Fahrenheit, Celsius, and even Kelvin) for each month within a year is also represented in line graphs with data increments listed to the right side of the graph on the y-axis. The months for the year are represented at the bottom of the graph along the x-axis and a key is often provided. There can be variation of this style such as the one above provides averages for each month over a period of 29 years.
Rainfall for the area averages monthly from 2.22 inches to 4.08 inches with the most precipitation falling between the months of May to September.
Temperature Ranges are broken into three areas:
Mean Maximum Temperatures - lowest in the month of January at 42.1 degrees Fahrenheit and the highest in the month of July at 86.0 degrees Fahrenheit
Mean Average Temperatures - lowest in the month of January at 32.4 degrees Fahrenheit and the highest in the month of July at 74.8 degrees Fahrenheit
Mean Minimum Temperatures -lowest in the month of January at 22.7 degrees Fahrenheit and the highest in the month of July at 63.7 degrees Fahrenheit
Using a site called World Climate, I was able to quickly identify the yearly total amount of rainfall at 36.4 inches for 2022 with the average temperature of 52.1 degrees Fahrenheit. Identifying the local news station (WHSV) it was easy to identify that their weather and climate data was also pulled from the Dale Enterprise weather station. WHSV identifies this station as the oldest station in the state providing continuous data with data provided since 1883 (Local Climate Data and Averages, 2022). To learn more about the Dale Enterprise Weather station click HERE. WeatherWX provides additional monthly averages (over a period of 10 years) such as cloud cover, pressure, humidity, UV index, hours of sun, etc.
Considering the graph shown at the top of this post, it would also be interesting to see a climatogram for each year to identify and track trends in climate as it relates to climate change during the period of 1991 to 2020 represented in the graph.
Resources:
US. (2023). Climate. Weather.gov. https://www.weather.gov/wrh/Climate?wfo=lwx
Harrisonburg, Virginia Climate - 22801 Weather, Average Rainfall, and Temperatures. (2023). Worldclimate.com.
Local Climate data and averages. (2022, July 16). Https://Www.whsv.com; WHSV. https://www.whsv.com/2022/07/16/local-climate-data-averages/
http://www.worldclimate.com/climate/us/virginia/harrisonburg
150 years of weather records: A family’s story and a continued tradition. (2018, March 7). Https://Www.whsv.com; WHSV. https://www.whsv.com/content/news/150-years-of-weather-records-One-familys-story-and-how-the-tradition-lives-on-476064383.html
WeatherWX.com, Find Local Inc. (2023). Harrisonburg, VA. WeatherWX.com. https://www.weatherwx.com/climate-averages/va/harrisonburg.html
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