NWS "record period" vs "normal period"
Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 9:50 pm
I keep records of the weather observations at this location on a big honking speadsheet with charts and graphs. My primary source is the NWS daily climate report.
They list record highs and lows over a period from 1895 to the present, but for what they call "normal" they use a period from 1971 to 2000. It would be easy enough to calculate averages from the larger data set. Why do they take a smaller data set which would be inherently less representative and call it "normal?"
They list record highs and lows over a period from 1895 to the present, but for what they call "normal" they use a period from 1971 to 2000. It would be easy enough to calculate averages from the larger data set. Why do they take a smaller data set which would be inherently less representative and call it "normal?"