What's the correlation between these? (Denver: locations, places, average)

[zionvier]

I've come to realize from other threads on here that some people don't understand some basic definitions of words and phrases and how they are associated. So, I think we need a thread dedicated to explaining these things.

Such as in reference to temperatures:

• average
• deviation / standard deviation
• record high
• record low

So hopefully if enough people try to explain these concepts, certain people might learn something. Sometimes it's just a matter of HOW you explain things for someone to understand it, sometimes you need explanations from a number of different people in order for it to 'click'.

[sportsfangal]

I think some have an issue with the word "mild" and how it relates to weather as well. (I think we all know who I mean!)

[DenverLawGal]

haha, Zion you silly. Ok, for me record low, means low of all recorded time. The lowest of lows.

[zionvier]

Well, when I try to explain to my parents about how on average Denver is warmer than Jersey, they point out specific days where we were 10 degrees colder, and stuff. It appears that a lot of people subconsciously think that if the average for this time of year is x, then tomorrow will be x + or - 5 degrees. When here in Denver it's more like x + or - 30 degrees.

Our average temp around December is around 30 degrees.
Our average daily LOW is around 15 degrees
Our average daily HIGH is around 45 degrees

So given those are all averages, when you factor in the deviation, I guess it would be possible to have a high of 75 or a low of -45 (although -45 has not happened since we've kept track of temps)... but the records for December actually are....

Record High: 79 degrees in 1939
Record Low: -25 degrees in 1876 and 1990

This page really gives some good data: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/bou/include/showProduct.php?product=preview.txt

[nelumbo]

downloadable pdf on the meaning of "normal" temperatures
www.wrh.noaa.gov/tfx/pdfs/NORMALS.pdf

Part of what you are looking for is a frequency distribution diagram, similar to this generic one (the probability density function):
Normal distribution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
that would show how often a particular temperature of interest (maximum temperature, frex) occurs. In the midlatitudes, the curve will be broader, while in the tropics where temperatures vary only a little, the curve would be tall and narrow. In particular locations, the curve might be skewed with a long tail on one side only, or have a different form, such as two nearly separate bumps (bimodal).

Most places in the midlatitudes will be prone to large temperature swings, particularly in the winter. Marine locations are tempered by the nearby ocean, which moderates things. Orography can also impact temperature variability in complex ways.

[zionvier]

Originally Posted by wanttomoveeast

haha, Zion you silly. Ok, for me record low, means low of all recorded time. The lowest of lows.

So does that mean we need to try to figure out what the low temp for Denver was during the ice ages?

[DenverLawGal]

haha, you missed my word "recorded".

[zionvier]

Originally Posted by wanttomoveeast

haha, you missed my word "recorded".

It's been "recorded" in the earth, soils, ice, etc ;-)

[DenverLawGal]

ah yes. Good point. So yes, ice age included.