Dan Robinson
EF5
With temps near or below zero areawide tonight, some of the stations in southern IL and MO are currently reporting readings well below many of the surrounding stations. Cape Girardeau is at -14/-16 and Paducah -8/-10, while most other surrounding stations are still in the low single digits above/below zero. Dewpoints of surrounding stations are also in the single digits below. There is a snowpack here region-wide.
I suspect the Cape Girardeau and Paducah temps are anomalies. The only thing they have in common is that they are in major river valleys, which I'd think should actually give temps a boost. In my past experience, temps are usually much warmer in the major river valleys due to the large volume of water's "heat reservoir" effect.
Does anyone know of reliability issues with mid-latitude ASOS/AWOS temperature sensors on subzero days? I figure since we only see these extremes once a year or less, the sensors might not be as trustworthy.
I suspect the Cape Girardeau and Paducah temps are anomalies. The only thing they have in common is that they are in major river valleys, which I'd think should actually give temps a boost. In my past experience, temps are usually much warmer in the major river valleys due to the large volume of water's "heat reservoir" effect.
Does anyone know of reliability issues with mid-latitude ASOS/AWOS temperature sensors on subzero days? I figure since we only see these extremes once a year or less, the sensors might not be as trustworthy.