Welcome to The Weather Corner
with weather data for Fairview and Western North Carolina... plus weather features, photos, and historical data.



Weather Outlook for Fairview

Dry weather through Monday, and cooler — but still above-normal temperatures for this time of the year.



A Brief Look Back at 2011

Temperatures and precipitation in 2011 were both very slightly below normal. The year's average temperature at the observation station (elevation 3,650 feet) was 54.2 degrees, or 0.4 degrees below the 12-year average of 54.6 degrees. Total precipitation (rain plus the water content of frozen precipitation like snow) was 45.92 inches and that was 1.37 inches (or 3 percent) below the station average of 47.29 inches.

Highest and lowest temperatures during 2011 were, respectively, 85 degrees on August 8 and 2 degrees above zero on January 9. In the 12 years (2000-2011) for which we have temperature data at the observation site, the all-time high and low temperatures are 92 degrees (August 9, 2007) and -2 degrees (January 24, 2003).



A Look Ahead to February

February is the third and last month of "meteorological winter" (the period from December 1 through February 28/29). With an average temperature of 38.3 degrees, February is Fairview's second-coldest month (behind January at 36.0 degrees and barely ahead of December with 38.4 degrees). With average snowfall of 4.9 inches, February is our third-snowiest month, behind January (6.8 inches) and December (5.8 inches). March (4.3 inches) ranks fourth.

The coldest portion of winter is usually mid-January, although that can vary considerably in any given year. But one item can be depended upon: the days are getting longer. (That is, the length of time the sun is above the horizon is increasing.) Days grow 57 minutes longer during the course of the month, and on February 29 (yes, 2012 is a leap year) the length of the day is 11 hours 24 minutes. That represents an increase of one hour 39 minutes of daylight since December 22, the shortest day.

The National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center has released its weather outlook for February for the United States. For Western North Carolina, the outlook calls for above-normal temperatures and near- or slightly above normal precipitation.



90-Day Temperature/Precipitation Outlook

The Climate Prediction Center of the National Weather Service has issued its 90-day outlook for February-March-April. For our area the outlook calls for above-normal temperatures and near-or above-normal precipitation.






Daily Statistics, January 2012
(Below are daily postings of weather statistics recorded at our Chestnut reporting station, elevation 3,650 ft., Fairview NC)

Date	High	Low	Precip	Snow
1	63	32	Trace
2	36	12	Trace	0.3
3	18	9	0.04	1.2
4	44	11	0
5	49	28	0
6	62	37	0
7	60	43	0.08
8	49	42	0.10
9	47	36	0.26
10	49	39	0.02
11	47	41	0.80
12	52	28	0.01	Trace
13	29	16	0.02	Trace
14	38	15	0
15	38	24	0.02	0.5
16	39	30	0
17	54	34	0.26
18	48	24	0.05
19	41	24	0
20	51	35	0.12
21	48	42	0.57
22	43	38	0.01
23	46	36	0.52
24	56	37	0
25	60	40	0
26	58	47	0.33