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There are several maps showing snow accumulation or hardness zones for growing plants , but what about a map showing how often the regions get cold snaps? I'm assuming if there is a chance of snow then there will be a chance of a cold snap .
From a meteorological point of view this question makes no seanse. What are you defining as a cold snap? Temperatures below average by any amount? By a specific amount? below freezing? lol
when temperatures dip below average for a short amount of time (days to a week) . Say if a southern city usually sees 65 for the high during winter , a cold snap would come down from the north and drop the temps to low 50s for a short amount of time.
when temperatures dip below average for a short amount of time (days to a week) . Say if a southern city usually sees 65 for the high during winter , a cold snap would come down from the north and drop the temps to low 50s for a short amount of time.
So you define a cold snap as days with a high 10F below average? You could probably find data on this online. I’d recomend scacis or Iowa Mesonet. In terms of deviation from normal the US east of the rockies sees far larger variation in temps than the US west of the rockies. The Southeastern United states is infamous among subtropical climates for it’s ability to record wildly below normal temperatures and heavy snow.
Most climate tables on wiki provide average record colds (mean minimum), so it gives a pretty good idea of how cold a typical cold snap is.
So for example New Orleans has an average low of 44F in Jan and a mean minimum of 27F, that means during a typical cold snap in New Orleans during Jan it will go down to 27F. However from that alone we can’t tell how often that occurs, or for how long.
So you define a cold snap as days with a high 10F below average? You could probably find data on this online. I’d recomend scacis or Iowa Mesonet. In terms of deviation from normal the US east of the rockies sees far larger variation in temps than the US west of the rockies. The Southeastern United states is infamous among subtropical climates for it’s ability to record wildly below normal temperatures and heavy snow.
I can confirm this. Although my area is usually spared sub-0F temps and has a monthly mean of 36F in January, it still sees sub-10F temps in most years. The only palms that grow here are some of the shrubby ones
Quote:
Originally Posted by grega94
Most climate tables on wiki provide average record colds (mean minimum), so it gives a pretty good idea of how cold a typical cold snap is.
Not for everywhere, but it does help. For those places you can't find that with, you could search for their USDA Hardiness Zone and compare that with the averages.
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