{"id":24405,"date":"2024-08-14T08:02:51","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T14:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thorntonweather.com\/blog\/?p=24405"},"modified":"2024-08-22T08:37:27","modified_gmt":"2024-08-22T14:37:27","slug":"part-3-does-it-matter-if-denver-weather-and-climate-records-are-skewed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thorntonweather.com\/blog\/thornton-weather\/part-3-does-it-matter-if-denver-weather-and-climate-records-are-skewed\/","title":{"rendered":"Part 3: Does it matter if Denver weather and climate records are skewed?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Two
Two airports, two different climates. How Denver’s weather and climate records are skewed by a 12 mile move. (ThorntonWeather.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ThorntonWeather.com\u2019s owner and operator used to write for a now-defunct website called Examiner. This was a national site but with locally focused content. As the Denver Weather Examiner, Tony covered a number of topics related to Denver and Colorado weather.<\/p>\n

Among them, he was always quick to point out how Denver\u2019s weather records were being skewed by the move of Denver\u2019s official weather station to Denver International Airport. In 2009, he wrote a three-part series explaining why this was an issue and why it mattered.<\/p>\n

Fifteen years later, this continues to be a problem and thus we are re-publishing the series here. While the data is not current and some of the images were lost with time, readers can still understand and appreciate the problem.<\/p>\n

Part 3: Does it matter if Denver weather and climate records are skewed?<\/strong>
\nOriginally published March 5, 2009, Examiner.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fourteen years ago Denver opened its new airport and the National Weather Service followed suit and moved Denver\u2019s weather monitoring system 12 miles east further onto the plains.\u00a0 Since then, weather enthusiasts and meteorologists have said Denver\u2019s climate records were forever being altered inappropriately.<\/p>\n

Monday we provided some background on the history of Denver\u2019s weather monitoring and records.\u00a0 Yesterday we took a look at empirical data that shows that the weather at DIA does not accurately reflect the weather in town where people actually live and showed why it isn\u2019t fair to compare data from the last 14 years to measurements taken in the previous 124.\u00a0 Today we explain why all this matters and talk to the National Weather Service to see what\u00a0 they have to say about the problem.<\/p>\n

Does it matter?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Public policy decisions are made based on accurate measurements of our environment and the weather.\u00a0 Consider the debate over global warming or something on a smaller scale closer to home, water management decisions.\u00a0 Living in a semi-arid environment like we do in Colorado, much depends on water- from Colorado\u2019s largest industry of agriculture to how much water you have for your lawn in the summer.\u00a0 If measurements taken at DIA claim an abnormally dry or wet year, governments and the public make decisions based on them.\u00a0 But are those decisions accurate and are they based on valid data?<\/p>\n

I spoke to Byron Lewis, Program Manager at the National Weather Service Office in Boulder, and he stated that he felt the comparison of historical records between those taken at DIA and Stapleton should not matter \u2013 he says it is no different than when Denver\u2019s official station moved from downtown to Stapleton in 1950.\u00a0 He also felt that the issue of accuracy between precipitation and snow measurements was not noteworthy.<\/p>\n

Others see it differently.\u00a0 They point to the fact that the move from downtown to Stapleton was 6 miles \u2013 half the distance of the move from Stapleton to DIA.\u00a0 Further, they argue that the area where DIA resides in a much more \u2018plains\u2019 type climate and does not accurately reflect Denver weather.<\/p>\n

One retired NWS meteorologist told me, “It is climatologically absurd for the NWS to mix the 1872-1994 Denver city records with DIA weather data for the purposes of normals, record extremes, and top ten lists.\u00a0 Many in the public and science community can recognize this fallacy–and it’s making the Weather Service look foolish.”<\/p>\n

The Solution<\/strong><\/p>\n

The National Weather Service does at least partially recognize the problem and seems to have acknowledged that the weather at DIA is not what most folks experience within Denver.\u00a0 Mr. Lewis said that next month they hope to begin installing a new monitoring station in Denver City Park.\u00a0 This new station will provide more accurate measurements closer to where people actually live.\u00a0 However, there is a catch \u2013 official Denver records and measurements will continue to be taken at DIA.<\/p>\n

There is nothing to prevent the National Weather Service from moving the official measuring site back to Stapleton or some other more central location.\u00a0 One local news station has a statement on their website claiming that, \u201cbecause commercial airports are the origin of regular weather observations in the United States. This is mandated by the National Weather Service and the Federal Aviation Administration.\u201d\u00a0 This is absolutely untrue.<\/p>\n

While weather stations must be maintained at major airports for obvious reasons, cities do not need to use those specific stations for their official measurements.\u00a0 In fact, the United States\u2019 two largest cities \u2013 New York and Los Angeles \u2013 both take official weather measurements in different locations than their airport.\u00a0 New York measures its weather in Central Park and Los Angeles takes its measurements downtown.<\/p>\n

It is this weather enthusiast\u2019s opinion that by throwing yet another location into the mix, the water simply gets muddled further.\u00a0 As long as Denver\u2019s \u201cofficial\u201d weather measurements are taken at DIA, any records should either come with an asterisk denoting that they aren\u2019t comparable to historical records or they should only be based on data collected in the last 14 years.<\/p>\n

Unless and until a move is made, we just have to remember to take any announcement of a weather record with a grain of salt.<\/p>\n

Two airports, two different climates. Read the series:<\/strong><\/p>\n