VERY local weather conditions

[johnridley]

There are a couple of spots on my commute with very different conditions than most of the rest. When I left the house, both thermometers read 23*F. It was certainly a lot colder than that on the route. My bike comp read 9*F when I got to work, which feels about right. Last night I was skeptical when the weather forecast indicated that the temps were going to stay up around 25, when I could see that the sky crystal was clear last night.

The interesting bit is, these two spots STILL managed to have condensing humidity in the air at that temp. My glasses fogged up fast at the first spot, and there was low-lying fog at the second. It's kind of weird to have fog at 9*F. It was about 45*F here yesterday though, and I'm guessing that the big flat fields there soaked up a lot of heat and were still bleeding it off.

Even in the summer, the temps at those two spots are typically 5 to 10*F colder than the rest of the area. I think it might be where the breezes from the swamp get channeled across the road. Just kind of odd.

Comments

[jennlk]

Both thermometers currently claim slightly over 20*F, and when the kids left they said just below 19*F. (Coldest just before dawn....)

[qnofhrt.livejournal.com]

My drive to work takes me through the middle of a rather large forest preserve. That part of the road in the summer will feel quite noticeably cooler than the rest of the commute. The road is heavily tree-covered through there and there are large expanses of open fields and not much concrete/asphalt.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

Almost all of my route is through rural areas. The cooler spots are actually between large crop fields, but there's a lot of terrain changes right around there, and I'm thinking that the prevailing westerly winds bring air from the swamp and possibly from the lakes to the west of there.