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CLIMATE
AND VEGETATION Email:
pikee@colorado.edu
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Weather Diary Assignment
Please start your weather diary the week of August 31st!
Your assignment for the semester is to keep a weather diary in which you will record personal weather observations as well as climate-related data that you obtain from sources such as newspapers, The Weather Channel, local news, or weather web pages. Each entry should contain qualitative observations about the weather as you go through your day along with supporting data from weather maps and local weather stations. As the course covers relevant material, you should include tidbits that may explain the weather you are observing. You should make entries at least 3 days a week. Please note your location and date for each entry. Your TA will collect your diary three times during the semester (dates below.) You will receive a final grade for your diary at the end of the term. This grade is worth 10% of your grade.
You will need to hand in the Weather Diary three times during the semester to your lab TA:
Week of 9/22
Week of 10/20
Week of 12/1
Sample entries:
Wednesday, July 9, Boulder
Today was sunny for most of the day. A few clouds formed early in the afternoon, but did not produce rain. According to the NCAR website, the high temperature was 90 degrees. The low temperature Wednesday was at about 5:45am, just after sunrise. This is because the earth was radiating energy out all night while there was no solar energy coming in. Once the incoming solar energy started to exceed the outgoing radiation, the temperature started to increase.
Friday, December 26, Boulder
I looked at a temperature map of Colorado and noticed that areas with snow cover reported lower temperatures than areas with no snow during the day. This is because snow is highly reflective. The high albedo of snow means it reflects more of the incoming shortwave radiation than areas with no snow cover.
Sunday, August 23, Crested Butte and Kenosha Pass
The forecast for Boulder today was in the mid-90s. It's been really pleasant in Crested Butte, which is almost 9000 ft, but I'm worried that it will be too hot to sleep tonight in Boulder. I am going to camp for one more night at Kenosha Pass, which is almost 5000 ft (approximately 1500m) higher than Boulder. Based solely on the lapse rate of 6.4 degrees C/1000m, the temperature should be at least 15 degrees cooler there than in Boulder. That should make for a much more pleasant evening.
Useful web page:
