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Some California monthly extremes


wx_statman

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For the sake of completeness, I decided to do California as well. Might as well get the Pacific coast covered. Same format as OR and WA, top-5 monthly extremes sorted by station. Enjoy! For reference,

 

http://theweatherforums.com/index.php/topic/1761-some-oregon-monthly-extremes/

http://theweatherforums.com/index.php/topic/1762-some-washington-monthly-extremes/

 

Highest one-month average maximum:

 

121.9 JUL 1917 Death Valley

120.2 JUL 1959 Cow Creek

117.8 JUL 2017 Stovepipe Wells

115.7 JUL 1989 Baker

114.3 JUL 2005 Needles

 

Lowest one-month average minimum:

 

-10.7 JAN 1949 Boca

-9.1 JAN 1937 Bridgeport Dam

-8.7 JAN 1949 Alturas

-7.9 JAN 1949 Steele Swamp

-7.9 JAN 1949 Clear Lake Dam

 

Highest one-month mean:

 

107.4 JUL 2017 Death Valley

106.5 JUL 1959 Cow Creek

105.8 JUL 2017 Stovepipe Wells

100.9 JUL 2006 Needles

99.2 JUL 2009 Ocotillo Wells

 

Lowest one-month mean:

 

5.3 JAN 1960 White Mountain 2

6.4 JAN 1917 Bridgeport

7.6 JAN 1949 Bridgeport Dam

7.6 JAN 1937 Twin Lakes

8.0 JAN 1949 Boca

 

Highest one-month precipitation:

 

64.58 JAN 1909 Inskip Inn

63.71 JAN 1909 West Branch

62.42 JAN 1909 La Porte

58.96 DEC 2002 Honeydew

54.08 DEC 1955 Strawberry Valley

 

Highest one-month snowfall:

 

394.0 JAN 1911 Tamarack

283.0 JAN 1916 Bucks Lake

280.0 JAN 2017 Soda Springs (CoCoRaHS)

268.0 FEB 1938 Bowman Dam

266.0 JAN 1921 Twin Lakes

 

 

 

 

 

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For what it's worth, the July 1917 value of 121.9 from Death Valley is most likely not reliable. Death Valley had lots of suspiciously high readings in that era (including the dubious 134 from July 1913).

 

If we're to stick with believable numbers, next in line would be 121.3 at Death Valley in July 2009. 

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Lowest one-month mean:

 

5.3 JAN 1960 White Mountain 2

6.4 JAN 1917 Bridgeport

7.6 JAN 1949 Bridgeport Dam

7.6 JAN 1937 Twin Lakes

8.0 JAN 1949 Boca

 

 

Also 5.3 for JAN 2008 at White Mountain Summit.  Complete data for January is only for seven years (2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2015, and 2016), so if the station lasted/lasts longer, it would have much lower readings.  White Mountain Summit should be about 5-6 degrees colder than White Mountain 2 (14,252 feet elevation vs. 12,470 feet elevation).

 

White Mountain Summit is on the WRCC, but you have to search the data by month.

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Also 5.3 for JAN 2008 at White Mountain Summit.  Complete data for January is only for seven years (2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2015, and 2016), so if the station lasted/lasts longer, it would have much lower readings.  White Mountain Summit should be about 5-6 degrees colder than White Mountain 2 (14,252 feet elevation vs. 12,470 feet elevation).

 

White Mountain Summit is on the WRCC, but you have to search the data by month.

 

There are definitely some holes in the ACIS database. Some numbers don't show up when you do a bulk search. I've noticed this for a couple other extreme values that I knew off the top of my head - but didn't see them in the bulk search results. 

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64.58 JAN 1909 Inskip Inn

 

 

Chris Burt's book Extreme Weather, Revised and Updated Edition lists the state record for precipitation as 71.54 inches in January 1909, but no location was given.

 

The site below says that it was at the Helen Mine:

 

http://ggweather.com/sf/extremes.html

 

Helen Mine is in the Coast Mountains, so I can see it being a wet place.  

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Chris Burt's book Extreme Weather, Revised and Updated Edition lists the state record for precipitation as 71.54 inches in January 1909, but no location was given.

 

The site below says that it was at the Helen Mine:

 

http://ggweather.com/sf/extremes.html

 

Helen Mine is in the Coast Mountains, so I can see it being a wet place.  

 

I remember this. I read the Google books version of Chris Burt's book some years ago. The 71.54" number rings a bell. 

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Looking at the original California monthly climate report for January 1909, some monster totals that month:

 

71.54" at Helen Mine

64.77" at Magalia

63.52" at La Porte

56.32" at Deer Creek

55.79" at Branscomb

55.53" at Fordyce Dam

55.43" at Camptonville

 

Interesting to note the discrepancies as well, between the original data and the digitized data available for download. Both with regards to locations and the amounts (for example at La Porte). 

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     I have copied and pasted what I believe to be the highest/lowest reliably measured ​temperatures for each month in California from my excel spreadsheet chronicling all 50 states.  Here it is below:

 

 

 

Jan  97  2003, 1971 El Capitan Dam/Santa Paula, Indio   -45 1937 Boca

Feb 100  1986  Indio/Thermal/Mecca   -43 1989 Boca

Mar 107  2004 Mecca   -35 1964 White Mts. 2

Apr 113  2012, 1946 Death Valley   -30 1970 White Mts. 2

May 122  2000 Death Valley   -15 1964 White Mts. 2

June 129  2013 Death Valley   2 1967, 1907 White Mts. 2, Tamarack

July 129  2007/2005/1998 Death Valley   12 1997/1974, 1970 Bodie, White Mts. 2

Aug 127  1993, 1933 Death Valley   12 2000 Bodie

Sept 126  1950 Mecca   -5 1973 White Mts. 2

Oct 117  1980 Mecca   -20 1961 White Mts. 2

Nov 105  1997 Tustin/Irvine    -28 1964 White Mts. 2

Dec 99  1958 Santa Paula/Yorba Linda   -40 1972 Termo

 

 

       Jan:       97  reading at El Capitan Dam erroneously recorded as 2/1/03,  Riverside Citrus 1/31/03 is suspect...

 

      

 

   Apr    118, 117 readings in 1898 are highly questionable(Indio only 105 that day, Yuma at 107)

                    115 at Blythe in 1996 is questionable(other Blythe Sta/Colo River stations were at 107)

       

      May       124 reading at Salton in 1896 is highly dubious(Indio only 110 that day)

 

      June      129 reading at Death Valley listed as 7/1/13 at WRCC

                    130 reading at Volcano seems like it could actually be legit!!!

 

​      ​July        134 reading is highly questionable and will not pass modern quality control!!!

 

 

​      Sept       126 at Mecca is slightly feverish, but I will accept it.

 

      Nov.       105 at Tustin in 1997 is highly overlooked but legit in my eye.

                     105 at Crafton in 1906 is bit dubious for a station in Nov at 1700 feet. elev.

 

      Dec        100 reading is outright bogus at La Mesa in 1938!!  La Mesa is typically 4 degrees cooler than El Cajon to the east, but montly avg. for Dec 1938 is 

                     actually listed as 4 degees higher during late 1930s.  No way this could possibly occur at all!!

 

 

Any Comments on my findings will be greatly appreciated!!

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     I have copied and pasted what I believe to be the highest/lowest reliably measured ​temperatures for each month in California from my excel spreadsheet chronicling all 50 states.  Here it is below:

 

 

 

Jan  97  2003, 1971 El Capitan Dam/Santa Paula, Indio   -45 1937 Boca

Feb 100  1986  Indio/Thermal/Mecca   -43 1989 Boca

Mar 107  2004 Mecca   -35 1964 White Mts. 2

Apr 113  2012, 1946 Death Valley   -30 1970 White Mts. 2

May 122  2000 Death Valley   -15 1964 White Mts. 2

June 129  2013 Death Valley   2 1967, 1907 White Mts. 2, Tamarack

July 129  2007/2005/1998 Death Valley   12 1997/1974, 1970 Bodie, White Mts. 2

Aug 127  1993, 1933 Death Valley   12 2000 Bodie

Sept 126  1950 Mecca   -5 1973 White Mts. 2

Oct 117  1980 Mecca   -20 1961 White Mts. 2

Nov 105  1997 Tustin/Irvine    -28 1964 White Mts. 2

Dec 99  1958 Santa Paula/Yorba Linda   -40 1972 Termo

 

 

       Jan:       97  reading at El Capitan Dam erroneously recorded as 2/1/03,  Riverside Citrus 1/31/03 is suspect...

 

      

 

   Apr    118, 117 readings in 1898 are highly questionable(Indio only 105 that day, Yuma at 107)

                    115 at Blythe in 1996 is questionable(other Blythe Sta/Colo River stations were at 107)

       

      May       124 reading at Salton in 1896 is highly dubious(Indio only 110 that day)

 

      June      129 reading at Death Valley listed as 7/1/13 at WRCC

                    130 reading at Volcano seems like it could actually be legit!!!

 

​      ​July        134 reading is highly questionable and will not pass modern quality control!!!

 

 

​      Sept       126 at Mecca is slightly feverish, but I will accept it.

 

      Nov.       105 at Tustin in 1997 is highly overlooked but legit in my eye.

                     105 at Crafton in 1906 is bit dubious for a station in Nov at 1700 feet. elev.

 

      Dec        100 reading is outright bogus at La Mesa in 1938!!  La Mesa is typically 4 degrees cooler than El Cajon to the east, but montly avg. for Dec 1938 is 

                     actually listed as 4 degees higher during late 1930s.  No way this could possibly occur at all!!

 

 

Any Comments on my findings will be greatly appreciated!!

 

Nice work. I had no idea the 100 degree reading in La Mesa in Dec 1938 was bogus. I notice El Capitan Dam hit 97 during that heat wave; also 95 at El Cajon and 94 at Oxnard. Definitely an impressive heat wave regardless of the La Mesa reading. 

 

Death Valley also hit 127 on August 1st this past summer, but maybe that reading was actually on 7/31? Regardless, it's on the books for 8-1-2017 and therefore ties the CA monthly record.

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         The -30 reading for April at White Mountain on 4/27/1970 certainly does seem suspect...  There was a cold wave in April 1970 that brought a -30 reading to Fraser Colorado, but that was at the beginning of the month.  If the -30 at White Mountain is disqualified, what would the next highest reading be???

 

         I did not know about the 127 Aug. 2017 at Death Valley.  Thanks for sharing it wxstatsman.  There are so many errors on the Infoplease tables that they actually have very little credibility in my eyes.   I have my personal corrected version on an Excel spreadsheet, but it doesn't appear I can just copy and paste it.  

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  The -30 reading for April at White Mountain on 4/27/1970 certainly does seem suspect...  There was a cold wave in April 1970 that brought a -30 reading to Fraser Colorado, but that was at the beginning of the month.  If the -30 at White Mountain is disqualified, what would the next highest reading be???

 

 

The -35 on 3/10/1964 also seems suspect.   The record on 3/9 is only -6 and the record 3/11 is only -8.   It does seem strange that the extreme cold was only on one day.   Not impossible perhaps, but still highly unusual.  

 

Other than White Mountain 2, here are the next coldest readings in California that I know of for those months.

 

March

 

-32 on 3/6/1956 at White Mountain 2

-27 on 3/21/1952 at Boca

 

April

 

-17 on 4/15/2009 at White Mountain Peak

-16 on 4/13/1970 at Bodie

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2 1967, 1907 White Mts. 2, Tamarack

 

 

White Mountain Peak hit 0 on 6/6/2007.  I believe it is legitimate.   White Mountain Peak has dropped into the single digits in June on several other occasions.  

 

Of note, while camping, I recorded a 13 at South Fork White River, Colorado (elevation 7800 feet; which is not particularly high for Colorado) on 6/9/2007.  On 6/8/2007, Denver was 31, the latest frost ever recorded there.   6/2007 had a legitimate cold snap, not only in California, but in the Rocky Mountains as well.  

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       Never realized there was a 0 degree reading on White Mountain Peak on 6/6/2007.  I could not find any documentation to back it up though...

 

Here you go:

 

https://wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/rawMAIN.pl?nvwmtn

 

Either click on monthly summary in the left column and then choose June 2007 or click on the daily and Choose June 6 2007.

 

Screen shot of monthly:

 

white.JPG

 

The lowest reading was -0.2, which rounds off to 0 and is why there is a negative sign in front of the zero in the monthly summary.  

 

Screenshot of daily:

 

 

white 2.JPG

 

Or if you want to make things easy, I summarized all the information on my below webpage:

 

https://www.summitpost.org/interesting-weather-statistics-for-us-mountain-summits/171585

 

I see no reason to doubt the 0 in June.   June 2007 had a verifiable record breaking cold snap and single digits in June have been recorded several times on the summit of White Mountain Peak.   During the 10 years of data available, three out of the ten Junes with data reached the single digits including 7 in 2004, 5 in 20005, and 2 in 2017.  

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         The -30 reading for April at White Mountain on 4/27/1970 certainly does seem suspect...  There was a cold wave in April 1970 that brought a -30 reading to Fraser Colorado, but that was at the beginning of the month.  If the -30 at White Mountain is disqualified, what would the next highest reading be???

 

         I did not know about the 127 Aug. 2017 at Death Valley.  Thanks for sharing it wxstatsman.  There are so many errors on the Infoplease tables that they actually have very little credibility in my eyes.   I have my personal corrected version on an Excel spreadsheet, but it doesn't appear I can just copy and paste it.  

 

There was definitely a major upper-level cold trough in late April 1970 (including lowland snowfall in western OR and WA), but I agree that the White Mountain reading is difficult to believe. 

 

Agreed about the Infoplease tables. Lots of junk readings from old COOP stations, especially for maximums. There was no quality control done whatsoever by Infoplease. They simply aggregated the maximums and minimums for each month, and for each state, from the publicly available monthly state climate reports. They probably paid some interns to manually enter the extreme values into the tables, and that was that. It was also a one-time thing. They did this in 2004 and never bothered updating the tables.

 

As far as copying and pasting, I use Snagit. It lets me take screenshots of whatever size I want and save them as a jpeg. It costs some money to purchase (can't remember how much), but it's pretty convenient. 

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Here you go:

 

https://wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/rawMAIN.pl?nvwmtn

 

Either click on monthly summary in the left column and then choose June 2007 or click on the daily and Choose June 6 2007.

 

Screen shot of monthly:

 

attachicon.gifwhite.JPG

 

The lowest reading was -0.2, which rounds off to 0 and is why there is a negative sign in front of the zero in the monthly summary.  

 

Screenshot of daily:

 

 

attachicon.gifwhite 2.JPG

 

Or if you want to make things easy, I summarized all the information on my below webpage:

 

https://www.summitpost.org/interesting-weather-statistics-for-us-mountain-summits/171585

 

I see no reason to doubt the 0 in June.   June 2007 had a verifiable record breaking cold snap and single digits in June have been recorded several times on the summit of White Mountain Peak.   During the 10 years of data available, three out of the ten Junes with data reached the single digits including 7 in 2004, 5 in 20005, and 2 in 2017.  

         Thanks for the data.  Is that a RAWS station?

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There was no quality control done whatsoever by Infoplease. They simply aggregated the maximums and minimums for each month, and for each state, from the publicly available monthly state climate reports. They probably paid some interns to manually enter the extreme values into the tables, and that was that. It was also a one-time thing. They did this in 2004 and never bothered updating the tables.

I think they just copied it directly from the NWS website (I don't know where to find that online anymore, but I still have it in several almanacs). I remember that those extremes match exactly. The NWS considers or considered those to be the official highs and lows for each month, even though as you point out some are obviously erroneous.

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I think they just copied it directly from the NWS website (I don't know where to find that online anymore, but I still have it in several almanacs). I remember that those extremes match exactly. The NWS considers or considered those to be the official highs and lows for each month, even though as you point out some are obviously erroneous.

 

Oh, you know what....I totally forgot about the NWS tables. I remember seeing them back in the early days of the internet. Maybe in the late 1990's? So you're probably right in that Infoplease simply copied the data from the NWS. Which tells me it was probably the NWS that had interns manually go through the hardcopy monthly state climo reports in order to find the records. I wish they would do it again sometime!

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          In actuality, most of the states are correct for the most part.  Some states such as Oregon especially are absolutely and completely messed up!  Nevada also has a lot of errors as well.  California has those overexposed 1890s reading in the Salton Sea area which have only been challenged by us.  The 134 in Death Valley is completely bogus, and I am surprised it wasn't scrubbed long ago!  The -70 at Rogers Pass, Montana seems a little iffy, so I am glad you guys brought it up.  

          I also have some serious issues with the 'Pokegama Dam' readings in Minnesota of the late 1890s-1900s readings.  This station seemed colder than Tower during this period, but then ran warmer since about 1915.  I have personally scrubbed the November and December extremes from my records(the March reading of -49 in 1897 actually seems legit).  Anyone else feel the same about this station?  

         ​ 

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Some states such as Oregon especially are absolutely and completely messed up!

 

Colorado has a lot of messed up readings on both the cold and warm side as well. So does Hawaii.

 

I also have some serious issues with the 'Pokegama Dam' readings in Minnesota of the late 1890s-1900s readings. This station seemed colder than Tower during this period, but then ran warmer since about 1915. I have personally scrubbed the November and December extremes from my records(the March reading of -49 in 1897 actually seems legit

Yes, the early cold records at Pokegama Dam are certainly outliers compared to the rest of that part of Minnesota. When it comes to cold, that part of Minnesota is average at best. That region isn't isn't nearly as cold as areas farther north.

 

About the only way those early records could be accurate is if they wete taken near the river and if the river was a bit lower than the surrounding terrain. Around here, I know here some of the CDOT employees were able to take a probably accurate -65 reading down by the river when it was officially -51 in town (1989). During the 1996 cold snap in Minnesota someone was able to record a -76 at a frozen swamp. I myself have recorded some really low temperatures camping in the mountains in basins near lakes and rivers.

 

So, it is possible that the Pokegama Dam readings are accurate if the were taken in a low point. I suspect that they are simply inaccurate though. Since the 1920's, the extremes have been much warmer at Pokegama Dam, even during severe and widespread cold snaps.

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Colorado has a lot of messed up readings on both the cold and warm side as well. So does Hawaii.

 

 

Yes, the early cold records at Pokegama Dam are certainly outliers compared to the rest of that part of Minnesota. When it comes to cold, that part of Minnesota is average at best. That region isn't isn't nearly as cold as areas farther north.

 

About the only way those early records could be accurate is if they wete taken near the river and if the river was a bit lower than the surrounding terrain. Around here, I know here some of the CDOT employees were able to take a probably accurate -65 reading down by the river when it was officially -51 in town. During the 1996 cold snap in Minnesota someone was able to record a -76 at a frozen swamp. So, it is possible that the Pokegama Dam readings are accurate if the were taken in a low point. I suspect that they ate simply inaccurate though. Since the 1920's, the extremes have been much warmer at Pokegama Dam, even during severe and widespread cold snaps.

Wasn’t the PokeGama station slightly relocated (on the same site) in the late 1910s? I’m pretty sure I read something about it, but I could be mistaken.

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Wasn’t the PokeGama station slightly relocated (on the same site) in the late 1910s? I’m pretty sure I read something about it, but I could be mistaken.

Possibly. The station has had the same location since 1948, but stranglely I can't find location data before then, which is highly unusual for an official weather station. Since the station is at a dam though, it couldn't have moved that far as the dam hasn't moved. As mentioned, it is possible that they could have been taken in a lower spot for the early dates.

 

Of note, the Pokegama Dam station only hit -40 in February 1996. Most stations in Minnesota either broke or came close to breaking their Febuary cold records in 1996. Pokegama didn't even come remotely close to the older supposed readings.

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Here are the monthly record rainfall totals for Downtown Los Angeles / USC: (POR 1877-Present)

 

January: 14.94 (1969)

February: 13.68 (1998)

March: 12.36 (1884)

April: 7.53 (1926)

May: 3.57 (1921)

June: 1.39 (1884)

July: 0.60 (1906)

August: 2.26 (1977)

September: 5.67 (1939)

October: 6.96 (1889)

November: 9.68 (1965)

December: 15.80 (1889)

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Here are the monthly record rainfall totals for Downtown Los Angeles / USC: (POR 1877-Present)

 

January: 14.94 (1969)[/size]

February: 13.68 (1998)[/size]

March: 12.36 (1884)[/size]

April: 7.53 (1926)[/size]

May: 3.57 (1921)[/size]

June: 1.39 (1884)[/size]

July: 0.60 (1906)[/size]

August: 2.26 (1977)[/size]

September: 5.67 (1939)[/size]

October: 6.96 (1889)[/size]

November: 9.68 (1965)[/size]

December: 15.80 (1889)[/size]

None of them are in 1983. I am surprised.

 

Also, I wonder what caused the wet August 1977? Tropical cyclone remnants?

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Colorado has a lot of messed up readings on both the cold and warm side as well. So does Hawaii.

 

Yes, the early cold records at Pokegama Dam are certainly outliers compared to the rest of that part of Minnesota. When it comes to cold, that part of Minnesota is average at best. That region isn't isn't nearly as cold as areas farther north.

 

About the only way those early records could be accurate is if they wete taken near the river and if the river was a bit lower than the surrounding terrain. Around here, I know here some of the CDOT employees were able to take a probably accurate -65 reading down by the river when it was officially -51 in town (1989). During the 1996 cold snap in Minnesota someone was able to record a -76 at a frozen swamp. I myself have recorded some really low temperatures camping in the mountains in basins near lakes and rivers.

 

So, it is possible that the Pokegama Dam readings are accurate if the were taken in a low point. I suspect that they ate simply inaccurate though. Since the 1920's, the extremes have been much warmer at Pokegama Dam, even during severe and widespread cold snaps.

         I am glad I found people who agree with me on the Pokegama readings.  So here is my list of the reliably measured ​extreme low temperatures in Minnesota by month.  

 

January           -57     1996     Embarrass/Tower

February         -60      1996    Tower

March             -48      1897     Leech Lake Dam

April                -22      1979/1982   Karlstad/Tower

May                   4       1909     Pine River Dam

June                15       1964     Bigfork

July                  24       1997     Tower

August             21        1986    Tower

September      10        1930    Big Falls

October          -16        1936    Roseau

November      -39        1896    Tower

December      -52        1983    Tower/Mora

 

     There was supposedly a -55 at Hallock on Dec. 20, 1916, but it seems quite dubious.  Nearby stations were about 15 degrees warmer, so I threw it out.

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As far as copying and pasting, I use Snagit. It lets me take screenshots of whatever size I want and save them as a jpeg. It costs some money to purchase (can't remember how much), but it's pretty convenient. 

On a mac you can do command-shift-4 and then drag over the area you want to screen shot. Windows you can download something for free that does the same thing. Alternatively you can print screen, drop it in paint, crop, and save.

 

Overall, its easier for Mac.

Winter 23-24: Total Snow (3.2")    Total Ice (0.2")     Coldest Low: 1F     Coldest High: 5F

Snow Events: 0.1" Jan 5th, 0.2" Jan 9th, 1.6" Jan 14, 0.2" (ice) Jan 22, 1.3" Feb 12

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