Thursday, December 31, 2015

Recapping 2015

2015 is about to be in the books and it was another super fun year. Here are some of the highlights

Favorite TV Show: Dexter. In January I began watching Dexter and after a few episode I became hooked. A lot of people like to blow through TV shows (binge watching is a popular term now.) But I like to take my time. I enjoyed many nights watching Dexter and finally finished it in September.

Favorite Movie: Jurassic World. I only saw 3 movies in theatres this year so the options are limited, but the one I would have to say was the best was Jurassic World. Props to Goosebumps though for providing a lot of nostalgia for one of my all time favorite shows and a show that is pretty much solely responsible for my love of Halloween today and all things spooky.

Favorite Song: Shut up and Dance. Definitely the highlight song of the year.

Favorite Sports Moments: The first half of 2015 provided a ton. Its truly a toss up between the Badgers beating Kentucky and the Lightning winning game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals, but a slight nod to the Badgers because of how historic the win was.

Favorite Days: A lot of days stick out in my head from 2015. A day I spent at Magic Kingdom with my friends in february starts the list, which was also one of my longest park days ever. (10AM to 11:30 PM). Going to game six of the Bolts/Canadiens and getting to see the Lightning win a playoff series in person for the second time ever. Many Universal summer evenings with my family, but particularly the first one for kicking off a great summer. Opening and closing night of HHN is always a highlight, especially the last Bill and Ted. These are the days I will remember about this year.

Finally I will always remember this year for the weather. It was unsuprisingly the hottest year on record for Orlando out of the 121 years of record keeping. 4 of the months (March, April, November, and December) were in the top 3 hottest ever for that month and broke many daily record highs. Hopefully 2016 provided some cooler temps. Heres to 2016!

Sunday, December 20, 2015

Finall Fall Statistics

"Fall" has concluded and for Orlando it was one for the record books. The statistics do not paint a pretty picture if you prefer cool weather from October-April like I do. I dont mind the summer heat of May-September, I dont like it, but I expect it so its tolerable. However when the calendar flips to October I like my nights to be sweatshirt worthy with a nice cool breeze, and this fall simply did not fit the bill. I could have tolerated a hot fall if it didnt occur in the same year we had a record hot spring as well. yeesh. Theres a lot of different stats that show how grim and hot this fall was, but lets first just start with the average high/low of the past seven falls and how much this years temps stick out.


2015: 82.8/67.2
2014: 78.8/61.0
2013: 81.0/64.6
2012: 78.6/62.7
2011: 79.2/62.4  
2010: 77.4/58.2 
2009: 80.8/64.7 


Where do we go from here? Lets start with how November saw the needle hit 90 degrees not once, but twice for just the third time in 130 years, and the first since the great depression.  Lets compare the coldest record temp of this fall compared to years past. 

2015: 48
2014: 41
2013: 39
2012: 46
2011: 42
2010: 28
2009: 44


This is a pretty staggering one. How Many Nights did the thermometer dip below 60 degrees?
2015: 8
2014: 35
2013: 16
2012: 34
2011: 32
2010: 38
2009: 23


And how Many nights did it really get cold and fall below 50?
2015: 2
2014: 15
2013: 5
2012: 4
2011: 2
2010: 19
2009: 8


Interestingly, one stat that actually comes in at below average, is the amount of days we hit 90 degrees, thanks to only one 90 degree day in October. 90 degree days in fall come in as follows
2015: 7
2014: 8
2013: 5
2012: 10
2011: 8
2010: 7
2009: 15


Unfortunately all it takes is one look at the ten day forecast and one sees winter will get off to a record start as well. Considering the trend in Orlando has been above average nearly nonstop since March 1st one has to wonder if this will ever end.

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Taking a Look at Fall 2015 in Orlando

Today December 1st marks the 70th days of Fall, or the end of 10 weeks. Fall starts on September 23rd and the final day is December 20th. Its no surprise that this fall has been a way above average one in terms of heat for Orlando. I took a look at the average highs and lows from September 23rd-December 1st of every year since I moved here and here are the results


2015: 84.1/68.6
2014: 80.7/63.0
2013: 82.0/66.5
2012: 80.0/63.4
2011: 80.4/63.9  
2010: 81.8/62.7
 

As you can see this year is significantly  warmer than any other year. This coming in the same year in which we had a ridiculous above average spring as well. (April had 24 days above average, November had 26.) March had less days above average (21) but 12 of those 21 days were at least 10 degrees above average. Crazy! I'm ready for some cooler temps but looking at the 15 day forecast December could shape up to be yet another well above average month. Yeesh.