2001 WEATHER SUMMARY

Barcroft Hills Weather Station- Annandale, VA

 

MOST UNUSUAL RECORDS-

· October 16th to November 20th

The 34-day period without measurable precipitation surpassed by a large margin the old 21-year record of 22 days set just last fall.

· September 24th

A tornado passed only 3.25 miles to the SE of this station

 

TEMPERATURE: Warm year except March, July, September-

YEAR-

·        Highest maximum temperature of 96°F was recorded on August 9th.  The record maximum at this station is 102°F recorded on 7/16/88.

 

·        Lowest minimum temperature of 16°F was on January 22nd. The record minimum at this station is -7°F recorded on three different occasions 1-17-1982, 1-21-1985, 1-19-1994. This was the highest minimum temperature for the year since 1991.

 

·        There were only 20 days that were equal to or greater than 90°F for the maximum temperature.  Last year there were 21 days and the 21-year average is 29 days.

 

·        There were 77 days, which were less than or equal to 32°F for the minimum temperature.  Last year there were 87 days and the 21-year average is 82 days.

MONTH

·        Nine of twelve months the monthly mean temperature had a positive departure.  Exceptions: March, July, and September.

 

·        The month of July had the greatest negative departure with a –3.3°F departure on the average monthly mean temperature.

 

·        The month of November had the greatest positive departure of +6.0°F on the average monthly mean temperature. December was also very warm with a  +5.7°F departure from the average.

 

·        The mean monthly temperature for July was 74.53°F, the lowest mean temperature for July in the last 21-years except for 2000.

DAY

·        The coldest day of 2001 was February 22nd with a mean temperature of 24.0°F.

·        The hottest day of 2001 was August 9th with a mean temperature of 86.5°F.

·        The 37°F temperature range on April 9th was the greatest daily temperature range for the year.

·        The 3°F temperature range on February 16th and May 26th was the lowest daily temperature range for the year.

 

PRECIPITATION: Only four drier years in the last 21-years.

 

 

AVERAGE YEAR.

 

·        Total precipitation measured 36.18 inches a departure of - 7.84 inches making it the driest year since 1991.

·        Precipitation total from September to December measured only 6.84 inches, a departure of  - 7.56 inches from average.

·        The year will go on record as “much below average” in precipitation with 8 of the 12 months being below average precipitation.  

 

 

MONTH

 

·        The greatest number of days with measurable precipitation in one month in 2001 was 13 days in March.

·        The least number of days with measurable precipitation in one month in 2001 was

      4 days in October and November.

·        November was the driest month with a total rainfall of 0.95 inches a -2.76 inch departure.

 

 

DAY

·        The greatest calendar day rainfall for the year was 1.51 inches, which occurred on May 22nd.

·        March 29th-30th had the greatest 24-hour rainfall for the year: 1.80 inches, the second greatest 24-hour rainfall on record at this station.

 

 

HOUR

 

·   The greatest one-hour rainfall in 2001 was 0.98 inches recorded on August 10th.

 

 

FIVE-MINUTE

 

·  The greatest five-minute rainfall in 2001 was 0.33 inches, which fell on September 10th.

 

 

 

SNOW:    A real disappointment for snow lovers!

 

YEAR

·        The year's total snowfall was much below the average and most of this came in the month of January in one snow. Calendar year snowfall was 9.0 inches, the least since 1998. The 21-year average snowfall for a calendar year at this station is 21.3 inches.

·        The largest snow of the year was 3.0 inches on January 20th and 21st.

 

 

MONTH

·        January had the greatest monthly snowfall total for the year (4.2 inches).

         

STORM

·        The greatest snowfall in one storm in 2001 came on Jan. 20th and 21st (3.0 inches).

·        The greatest calendar day snowfall in 1999 came on Feb. 22nd (2.5 inches).

·        The greatest snowfall on the ground at any one time in 2001 at sunset was Jan. 21st   and Feb. 22nd  (2.5 inches).

 

WIND:     Wind average for year least since 1998

 

YEAR

·        The greatest wind was recorded on January 27th with a gust to 41 mph.

·        The windiest month of 2001 was March.

 

 

BAROMETER:

 

YEAR

·        February 12th had the year's highest barometric pressure, 30.73 inches.

·        December 18th had the year's lowest barometric pressure, 29.29 inches.

     This was also the lowest barometric reading since March 4, 1999.

 

 

SKY COVER:

 

MONTH

·        The cloudiest month was January

·        The clearest month was October. It was the clearest for any month since October 1991 that was nearly equal in the lack of clouds.