OSWEGO, NY – The spring of 2011was so close to normal that it was “surprising,” according to Bill Gregway, local observer for the National Weather Service.
For the purpose of his reports, he breaks the seasons into three-month blocks with spring being March, April and May.
Summer officially arrives at 1:16 p.m. today (June 21).
“Spring kind of surprised me. It didn’t turn out the way that I envisioned it would,” Gregway said.
The average temperature for spring wound up as 46.4 degrees. That’s 1.5 degrees higher than normal.
“That surprised me,” Gregway admitted. “Until I actually went through all the numbers, I felt it was going to be behind. The temperature was rather pretty average.”
The highest temperature was 87 degrees on May 31 and the lowest was 7 degrees on March 3.
One high temperature record was set – 78 degrees on April 11, breaking the old mark of 76 degrees set in 1945.
Total precipitation for the spring was 14.96 inches. Looking back 43 years, Gregway said this was the second wettest spring on record. In first place is 15.52 inches in 2002 and third place is 14.92 inches in 1990.
The greatest rainfall in a 24-hour period was 1.36 inches on April 20.
“It was a very green spring,” Gregway noted.
The area received 5.8 inches of snow for the spring. That’s 17.8 inches below average.
“It actually all fell in March,” Gregway said. “It wasn’t a very snowy spring.”
The winter total, 178.3 inches, is 27.5 inches above average.
The last frost was 31 degrees on April 22, which is “right about average,” according to Gregway.
The number of cloudy days, 50, was 6 above average.
The number of partly cloudy days, 29, was 3 above average.
The number of clear days, 13, was 9 below average.
Oswego saw 43 percent of the possible amount of sunshine in the spring. That is 8 percentages below normal.
There were 5 thunderstorms, which is average.
The number of foggy days, 10, was 6 higher than usual. Six of the days were in May, Gregway noted.
Spring 2011 had 52 days of measurable precipitation and 40 days where no precipitation fell.
The highest barometric pressure was 30.72 on March 3, and the lowest was 29.25 on April 4.
There was a lot of wind this spring, especially in during April, Gregway said.
The greatest wind speeds were north-northwesterly at greater than 30 mph on April 20.
In 2010, spring was pretty warm; the average temperature was 50.8 degrees. Three high temperature records were set and another was tied.
The last frost didn’t occur until May 11.
And, it was drier, almost 4 inches below average.
Overall, Gregway said, spring 2011 was “normal, a little wetter and warmer, by very close to normal.”
There were some very wet streaks, but there was also a dry spell that allowed the farmers to get on their fields, he said.
“The hay turned out good this year. And the corn and strawberries are doing well, too,” Gregway said. “From the looks of the forecasts, summer is going to start off very nice.”
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