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Physical and Biological Characteristics
Weather at the Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch
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Map of weather stations and rain gauges on the Research Ranch. Click image for a larger view.
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A variety of weather data have been collected at the Research Ranch over the years. From 1968-1971, 1974-1976, and 1978-July 1993, a rain gauge was maintained at the headquarters area. This rain gauge was reinstalled in January 2001 and continues to operate.
The United States Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Resources Service, Southwest Watershed Research Center (USDA-ARS, SWRC) as part of their Walnut Gulch watershed program, established a weather station on the Research Ranch during 1996.
For information from these stations, click here.
In October 2002, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) established a Climate Reference Network (CRN) weather station just west of headquarters. This station records hourly temperatures, wind speed, precipitation, solar radiation and other variables, and data are transmitted via modem to Knoxville, Tennessee. The location of the weather station is indicated on the Weather Station map as “USCRN.” To learn more about the Climate Reference Network and the National Climate Data Center, and access data from a variety of sites including the Research Ranch (AZ Elgin 5 S), click here.
Some graphs and a table of summary precipitation and temperatures are available below. Maximum temperatures represent the daily maximum temperature, average over the entire month. Likewise for minimum temperatures. Temperature data are only available since 2002. Also available are average monthly precipitation, and total annual precipitation for 1968-2007, with some obvious data gaps. Summary data and raw data are available by request (researchranch@audubon.org).
The table below summarizes the available data for the Research Ranch.
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Millimeters
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Inches
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Notes
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Mean
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sd
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Mean
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sd
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Precipitation
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440
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110
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17.3
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4.3
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Data range: 1968-2007 (with gaps)
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Records
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Daily maximum
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101.5
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4.0
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July 27, 2006 (data range 2002-2007)
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Monthly maximum
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266.7
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10.5
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October, 2000
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Yearly maximum
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728.9
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28.7
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1983
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Celsius
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Fahrenheit
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Temperature
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Mean
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sd
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Mean
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sd
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Overall
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16
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10.7
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60.8
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51.3
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Data range: 2002-2007
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Maximum
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24
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6.7
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75.2
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44.1
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Data range: 2002-2007
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Minimum
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7
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7.1
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44.6
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44.8
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Data range: 2002-2007
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Records
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Daily high
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39
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102
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July 12, 2005
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Daily low
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-12.1
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10
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January 15, 2007
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Seventeen more rain gauges were added in late 2003. Most of these gauges were placed to correspond with vegetation monitoring transects within Ecological Sites (see map). Direct-read rain gauges are read quarterly, and summarized below.
More long-term data are available at several weather stations within 20 miles of the Research Ranch. We are working on summarizing these and making the summaries and data available.
For additional climate data, see the Western Regional Climate Center.
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