Weathergami is the occurrence of a unique daily high and low temperature combination for a location. Inspired by Kahl (2023). Weathergami Archive can be found ↓
Hello everyone!
Here's a brief explainer of Weathergami and additional info for those with questions.
The idea for Weathergami (at least to my knowledge) originated in an AMS article published by Kahl (2023).
IT FINALLY HAPPENED!
Denver, CO is the recipient of the first ever Ultra-Weathergami, with a high of 38°F and low of -19°F.
This combination has never occurred at any of the 282 climate sites, which represent 12,211,100 days of data!
Ultra-Weathergami for Death Valley, CA on July 7, 2024!
With a high of 129°F and low of 94°F, this site had a daily temperature combination not previously recorded at any of the 371 climate sites used.
There are now 8,863 unique combinations across all sites!
Happy 4th of July everyone!
Hope everyone is staying cool, especially in the southern/western US.
We’ll be on Ultra-Weathergami watch this weekend & next week as Death Valley approaches 130°F.
There are only 13 combinations that involve 129°F or higher (only 5 with 130+).
Another one!
Ultra-Weathergami for Bettles, AK on 2024-01-28!
With a high of -30°F and a low of -57°F, this site had a daily temperature combination that had not been recorded at any of the 307 climate sites before. There are now 8,765 unique combinations across all sites.
Ultra-Weathergami for Key West, FL on September 13, 2024!
With a high of 91°F and low of 87°F, this site had a daily temperature combination not previously recorded at any of the 370 climate sites used.
There are now 8,856 unique combinations across all sites!
#FLwx
So this is going to sound absurd, but the most weathergamis in 1 day was...
126.
On Christmas Eve of 1983, a historic cold snap was occurring over much of the United States. I've attached the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis map of 2-meter temperature anomalies for reference.
COMING SOON: ULTRA-Weathergami
The most coveted Weathergami of them all, Ultra-Weathergami is when a location reports a High/Low combination never recorded at ANY of the climate sites used.
Here's what that plot looks like, along with some interesting stats.
There will not be a Weathergami run today due to unforeseen circumstances. Plan to resume tomorrow.
Please accept this photo of my dog (Winston) as an apology.
As many of you guessed from my hint, Alpena, MI has had THREE weathergamis in a row!
Over those three days, the temperature only fluctuated 5°F (from 44° - 39°) and there was measurable rain every day 😬
Slowly filling in the gaps!
Bettles, AK records its 2nd Ultra-Weathergami in the last 7 days with a high of -34°F and a low of -53°F. 🥶
There are now 8,772 unique combinations across the 312 climate sites used.
Alright, I FINALLY got the code to run without crashing, so I have an answer!
There are 674 standing Ultra-Weathergamis.
Death Valley (84), Elko (37), and all the Alaska sites (236) account for 53% of them.
Iowa has 1 Ultra-Weathergami (Waterloo with 21°F/21°F on 2/5/1908).
Trying to stay awake on this string of overnight shifts, so I made some 3D Weathergami plots.
Shown here are Fairbanks and Guam (most temperature combinations vs. fewest)
@rexpowerglove
Good idea! Will do that later tonight.
In the meantime, Weathergami is an observed daily high and low temperature combination that has never occurred before at a given location.
Anti-Weathergami is when the most frequent High/Low temperature combination occurs at a location.
False Weathergami at Guam today.
Guam never has, and never will, get below freezing.
If it ever did, the Weathergami would be the last of our concerns.
Today’s (technically yesterday) 46 Weathergamis is tied for 203rd most in one day.
All but 4 of the days with more Weathergamis have occurred between November 25 - March 11.
Basically, it’s much easier to get a “Weathergami Outbreak” during the cool season.
Ok y’all, so basically the free version of the API only lets me post 50 plots per day. With the last few days being very busy, that limit has been reached and stopped the posting.
Since I’m not going to pay $100+/month to double the limit, the close call plots will be sacrificed
Aberdeen, SD has had the most weathergamis with 1362.
Fairbanks, AK has the most unique temp combinations with 4582.
Guam (not surprisingly) has the fewest weathergamis with only 25.
The Anti-Weathergami idea was implemented specifically for tropical locations with very low temperature variability (like Guam).
Statistically, a high of 87° and low of 77° occurs about once every 29 days in Guam.
It’s occurred 4 times this month.
The race for the top spot (most unique temperature combinations) is pretty close!
1. Fairbanks, AK (4582)
2. Bismarck, ND (4575)
3. Aberdeen, SD (4564)
4. Glasgow, MT (4542)
I'm assuming Guam has the smallest variation.
I want to know what climate site has the LARGEST footprint. Like, the most different combinations of high and low temp.
As many have pointed, this is obviously a case of bad data.
Funny enough, even if this were accurate, it would not be an Ultra-Weathergami.
92/29 has occurred once before at Hill City, KS on March 30, 1917.
When was the last time 3+ consecutive weathergamis occurred?
August 27, 2023.
A record-setting heatwave along parts of the Gulf Coast produced a streak of weathergamis at Shreveport (3), College Station (4), and Baton Rouge (4).
I’m sure those that live in the area remember🥵
Had to run the code again tonight to test something and the Anchorage, AK data came in!
Weathergami for Anchorage, AK on 2023-12-29!
There are now 2117 unique daily High-Low temperature combinations for this location!
Apologies for the 6 day stretch without Weathergami. I spent the week at Glacier National Park and didn’t have enough service to run the code.
However, I’m back home now so expect the daily posts to resume!
So there’s gonna be a funny false Weathergami today.
I won’t spoil it, but if you know anyone that lives in Valdosta, GA, you might want to check in on them 😂
#gawx
The Weathergami summary map has been updated to include AK and HI, due to the addition of several sites in these states overnight.
Combined with the fulfillment of a few requests from yesterday, we are now up to 210 climate sites!
As always, additional requests are welcome!
Due to the frequency of missing/late data, Bloomington, IN will be removed from the list sites used.
Steamboat Springs, CO will be evaluated for potential removal over the coming days.
So, the Ultra-Weathergami is not quite as rare as I suspected.
In the last 30 years, we've averaged 3.66/year. However, there is a downward trend since the early 20th century.
Of the standing 698 Ultra-Weathergamis, Fairbanks, AK and Death Valley, CA account for 286 (~41%).
COMING SOON: ULTRA-Weathergami
The most coveted Weathergami of them all, Ultra-Weathergami is when a location reports a High/Low combination never recorded at ANY of the climate sites used.
Here's what that plot looks like, along with some interesting stats.
Ok, so after a brilliantly simple suggestion from
@TownsUsa
and some testing, I plan to implement this idea.
The summary map will be posted first, with the Weathergamis, Close Calls, and Anti-Weathergamis in a thread underneath.
This should keep things more organized!
Following in the footsteps of
@GamecockWBB
, the Columbia, SC climate site is the 2024 Weathergami March Madness Champion!
I'll post their reward sometime tomorrow!