Precipitation Summary for November 2008

Precipitation totals were recorded daily at our home (Station MI-BN-3) on Crescent Lake near Buchanan, Michigan, following protocols established by CoCoRaHS (the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network).

Precipitation Summary:

Totals.—Measurable amounts of precipitation (i.e., ≥0.01 inches) in the form of rain or snow fell on 47 percent (14) of 30 days, with a total accumulation (water equivalency) of 2.78 inches (0.09 inches/day, or 0.20 inches/day with measurable precipitation).

Rainfall.—Moisture in the form of rain or a rain/snow mix was recorded on 9 days with a total accumulation of 1.25 inches.

Snowfall.—Precipitation in the form of snow was recorded on 8 days, with measurable accumulations on 5 days (first on the 17th) totalling 16.6 inches (0.55 inches/day, 1.84 inches/day with snow, and 3.32 inches/day with measurable snow); the water equivalency from new snow was 1.53 inches as measured from the rain gauge (0.09 inches/1.0 inch of snow) versus 1.30 inches as measured from a core sample taken from a snowboard (0.08 inches/1.0 inch of snow). The highest 1-day total was 8.5 inches on the 21st.

Snow Cover and Snow Depths.—The areal extent of snow cover was 50 percent or more on 11 days. Average snow depths on those 11 days ranged from 0.5 to 11.0 inches (on the 21st), with a median of 4.0 nches. On average, each inch of snow on the ground (new and old combined) yielded 0.11 inches of water (range 0.06 to 0.42).

Comparisons:

At CoCoRaHS stations elsewhere in Berrien and surrounding counties, measurable precipitation was recorded on 56.0 percent (375) of 669 reporting days, with values ranging from 53.0 percent in St. Joseph County (n=251) to 63.2 percent in Cass County (n=38).

Snowfall was recorded on 11.7 percent of reporting days, with values ranging from 7.7 percent in La Porte County (n=287) to 18.4 percent in Cass County.

Precipitation totals at 10 other CoCoRaHS station in Berrien and surrounding counties with 30 consecutive days (or equivalent) of measurements ranged from 1.41 to 2.51 inches (median 2.08 inches), while snowfall totals ranged from 0.0 to 15.2 inches (median 8.25 inches).

At the official weather station in South Bend, Indiana (located 12 miles SE of this station), the precipitation total for the month (1.95 inches) was 41 percent below the norm. By contrast, total snowfall (16.2 inches) was 109 percent above the norm, establishing November 2008 as the sixth snowiest November on record at that locality.

Temperature, Relative Humidity, and Dew Point (at 7:00 AM):

Temperature.—High (55 on 3rd), Median 34, Low (10 on 23rd). Freezing or sub-freezing temperatures were recorded on 12 days.

Relative Humidity.—High (99 on 27th & 29th), Median 74.5, Low (45 on 16th).

Dew Point Temperature.—High (42 on 14th), Median 22.5, Low (4 on 22nd).

Previous Reports: October 2008