Happy 2010 everyone! By now, I should be one of the last people to wish you all a Happy New Year.
For the New York State forecast, I predicted that on New Year’s Eve, at least 1 of the three New York City reporting stations would have high temperatures within 5 degrees of average and low temperatures above average. The table below shows the recorded temperatures according to the National Weather Service.
| New York City Temperatures on New Year’s Eve | ||
|---|---|---|
| City | Average High/Low | Recorded High/Low |
| Sites with above average lows and highs within 5 degrees of average: 1 | ||
| Central Park | 39/27 | 34/33 |
| JFK Airport | 40/27 | 33/33 |
| La Guardia | 40/28 | 34/34 |
This one was correct, with not much room to spare. All low temperatures were above average, but only Central Park had a high temperature within 5 degrees of average. It is interesting to me that both JFK and La Guardia had no variability between high and low temperatures throughout the day, and a slight change for Central Park.
For the World Forecast, I believed a majority of the other 9 biggest US cities would have high temperatures within 5 degrees of average on New Year’s Eve. The table below shows the recorded high temperatures according to the National Weather Service.
| US High Temperatures on New Year’s Eve | ||
|---|---|---|
| City | Average High | Recorded High |
| Cities with highs within 5 degrees of average: 6 | ||
| Los Angeles, CA | 66 | 68 |
| Chicago, IL | 30 | 32 |
| Houston, TX | 62 | 58 |
| Phoenix, AZ | 66 | 64 |
| Philadelphia, PA | 40 | 34 |
| San Antonio, TX | 62 | 76 |
| Dallas, TX | 54 | 46 |
| San Diego, CA | 65 | 66 |
| San Jose, CA | 57 | 62 |
This one turned out to be correct as well. San Antonio had the biggest margin of the 9, as the high temperature was 14 degrees above average for New Year’s Eve. A few cities had their highs be very close to average as Los Angeles, Chicago, Phoenix and San Diego were each within 2 degrees. Houston and San Jose were both within 5, making it 6 out of 9 cities within 5 degrees of their average high temperatures.
| Golden SnowCast Results | |
|---|---|
| Region | Record |
| Overall Percentage: 75% | |
| NYS | 4-2 |
| World | 5-1 |
| Overall | 9-3 |
It was another successful forecast and now I am at 75% for the season. This is the same percentage I was at after the 2nd batch of forecasts, when I was 3-1 overall. I still need 18 straight correct forecasts to reach my goal of 90%, but at least now I have some breathing room over 50%.
With many areas receiving snow in the past few weeks, I’m sure some of you have some great snow pictures. Why don’t you send us some? Also, let’s see if you can Stump the Weather Chump.
