Ticker for January 25, 2001

                
MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ... MESONET TICKER ...
January 25, 2001   January 25, 2001   January 25, 2001   January 25, 2001


What was the Deal at Kenton?

Earlier this week, while most of us in Oklahoma basked in mild
afternoon temperatures, a few Ticker users asked about the extreme cold
conditions at the Kenton Mesonet site in the far western panhandle.

Specifically, why were the Kenton morning lows so much colder than
neighboring Mesonet stations?

M i n i m u m   T e m p s
Date    Kenton    Boise City
1/17     10 F        9 F      and snow!!!
1/18     -8 F        2 F
1/19      1 F        7 F
1/20      1 F        4 F
1/21     22 F       17 F
1/22      6 F       14 F
1/23     14 F       23 F
1/24     10 F       18 F

The Mesonet Quality Assurance (QA) Manager checked these lows against
those from experimental sensors also installed at the Kenton site.
When data from the experimental sensors supported the cold
observations, he looked for answers beyond the instrument itself.

Most folks saw the snow on the ground in southern Colorado during the
media coverage of law enforcement events up there.  It just so happens
that the western panhandle received snow from the same storm that
blanketed the Colorado Springs area.

The Ticker graphics department put together the following image:


As late as January 24th (a week after the snowfall), the Kenton Mesonet
station is located just within the eastern edge of the snow cover.
Overnight temperatures are often significantly lower in areas with
snow cover (compared to those without cover), and that's exactly what
turned up in the Mesonet data.


The Mesonet's Quality Quality Assurance System

This event is a great example of how the Mesonet QA system works.
When Mesonet users, staffers or automated QA routines indicate a
potential data problem or irregularity, it is reported to Chris
Fiebrich, the Mesonet's QA Manager.  Chris then decides how to
diagnose things.

Sometimes, the answers are obvious and appropriate action is taken.
Sometimes, Chris finds answers in other Mesonet data.  Sometimes, he
needs to send a Mesonet technician to a site to find answers for him.
And sometimes he finds answers in external data sources and his
experience.

The Mesonet QA system features a combination of automated processes
and human data supervision.  This combination is beyond what is seen
in real-time at any other operational mesoscale network.

Regardless of whether the answer to a data question is "instrument
problem" or "meteorological phenomenon", the Mesonet's QA process is
thorough and well-respected (like the Mesonet's QA Manager).  You can
read more about it in Volume 17, Issue 4 of the Journal of Atmospheric
and Oceanic Technology.