Climate is what you expect and weather is what you get! That sums it up. Climate data is generally a 30 year averaging of weather data. Examples of climatic statements include: the average high today is 50 F, it is hot and humid in the summer, the yearly average precipitation is 37.45 inches, and the average November snowfall is 12 inches. Climate data you will often see on TV weather are the average high temperature and low temperature. Sometimes you may see it mentioned if the rainfall this year or month is above or below normal. Climate data also includes extreme weather events such as the greatest rainfall for a day, warmest and coldest temperature ever recorded on each day of the year and record snowfall events. Weather is the current conditions. It is also what the expected conditions in the near term are. Examples of weather statements include: the temperature is 80 F, it should rain tomorrow, the low today will be 40 F, and it is partly cloudy. The weather is usually different than what is expected using climate data. This is because climate data is an average. The temperature tends to either be above normal or below normal on both the high and low. When it comes to rainfall and snowfall it tends to rain or snow more or less than what is expected from climatology. |