Definitions of symbols and terms
While viewing data, you will encounter a variety of symbols, terms and abbreviations that you may not understand at first. All of these are explained below. Be sure to check this page whenever you are not sure what a symbol or term means.
Symbol/term/abbreviation
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Signification
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T
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Indicates a trace of precipitation (snow,
rain or precip). This is used when precipitation fell, but did not accumulate
(ex: when only a few drops of rain or a few snowflakes fell).
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SOG
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‘‘Snow on ground’’ or in other words ‘‘snow
depth’’. This is the amount of snow that is on the ground at the time of
observation (4 pm). Because snow depth is inconsistent, this amount is
determined by averaging a few dozen measurements across my yard.
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Max SOG
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‘‘Maximum snow on ground’’ or in other words
‘‘maximum snow depth’’. This will be the maximum depth of snow on the ground
at the time of observation (4 pm); usually the deepest point of a snow drift.
Please note that I exclude man-made snow piles. This measurement makes
it easier to see when blowing snow was an issue.
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*
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This asterix is placed in the thunderstorm
duration column. It means that a thunderstorm reached severe limits that day
at my station. See here for severe t-storm criteria. When it comes
to wind, I have to estimate (either by viewing or by comparing with other
stations, because I do not have an anemometer).
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M
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‘‘Missing data’’
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N/A
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Data is ‘‘not available’’ at this time.
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E
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Data is ‘‘estimated’’. The reason for the
estimation varies, however missing data and inaccurate measurements are the
most common.
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Avg
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‘‘Average’’
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Xtrm
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‘‘Extreme’’
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Hard frost
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Here, I am defining a hard frost as when the
temperature reaches -2.0°C or lower.
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[Jan 1 to Feb 1] vs.
(Jan 1 to Feb 1]
|
I use a mixture of brackets and parentheses
when I give intervals of days. This is so you know how I calculated the
number of days for a given topic (for example ‘‘how long a winter snow pack
lasted’’). In the example to the left, [Jan 1 to Feb 1] would be an interval
of 32 days because Jan 1 and Feb 1 are included in the counting. (Jan 1 to
Feb 1] would be an interval of 31 days because Jan 1 is not included in the
counting but Feb 1 is included. Parentheses mean the date is not included
while brackets mean that the date is included.
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T-storm duration
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The amount of time thunderstorms were
occurring in the period, at intervals of 5 minutes.
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SWR
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‘‘Snow-water ratio’’. Sometimes, I will
include this value in the remarks column. This value indicates the amount of
snowfall (in cm) that you would get with 1 cm of water. (Ex: 10:1 means that
10 cm of snowfall equates to 1 cm of water). I determine this using my
cocorahs gauge to melt the fallen snow and a ruler to measure snowfall.
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If there are other terms that you are not familiar with that I have neglected, you can let me know on my blog.