Saturday, 22 March 2008

What a way to start a Spring...

This Spring (2008) started with a hailstorm. The rest of the day the rain kept pouring down and temperatures did not go much above +5°C in Tilburg. And to top it all of, this weekend will be the coldest Easter weekend in the past 40 years. Frost and snow are expected for the early Easter monday.

What utter BS. Ofcourse it's going to be cold. It's normal for the time of year to be this cold or to get the occasional snow or hail storm. I find it very strange that scientists would compare the weather conditions of the 23rd of March with those of let's say the 23rd of April and then be surprised that it is colder than "usual". Where "usual" is later in the season.
Based on climatic data from the KNMI for the period of 1971 until 2000 the average temperature for this time of the year (March) is 6.0°C. The minimum temperature is 1.8°C and the maximum being 10.0°C. Whereas, the same parameters for April are:
Average = 8.5°C
Minimum = 3.4°C
Maximum = 13.4°C
So, the expected weather seems to fit the historical data nicely and the fact that it is cold shouldn't surprise anybody...

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