JAMESTOWN – After breaking record highs yesterday, a Cold front passing through the area is shooting temperatures in the wrong direction.
Pockets of widespread rain are flaring just behind the front, so expect a wet day as the temperatures continue to fall into the upper 30s by evening.
A storm system passing to our south and east will give us a shot of freezing rain early tomorrow, and maybe some snow, with the best chance of accumulating snow will be off to our east and along this hills, with an inch or two possible there.
Getting back to the warmth yesterday, I sure hope you enjoyed it. Here’s just a few locations around Western New York hat broke record highs yesterday:
Rochester: 71°/Old record: 62° (1994)
Dunkirk: 70°/Old record: 63° (1994)
Buffalo: 67°/Old record: 64° (1955)
Olean: 66°/Old record: 59° (1994)
However, Jamestown did not (officially) break any records. Let me explain why:
All official weather data and observations are taken at airport sites around the country. These weather stations, known as AWOS (Automatic Weather and Observation Stations) are FAA-owned and maintained, and send off a new batch of data at the top of each hour. Airports that have these weather stations are known as METAR sites (Meteorological Terminal Aviation Routine Weather Report).
The Chautauqua County/Jamestown Airport, located just north of the city on Airport Drive, is a “major” METAR site, and holds an AWOS station for current observations for the city of Jamestown and the immediate area.
Beginning sometime late last week, the AWOS station at the airport started acting very temperamental; coming and going randomly, and sometimes coming back online with incomplete data.
Since Sunday afternoon, the site has been taken offline indefinitely by the FAA, to repair whatever the issue(s) might be. There is no given time when the site will be back online and working.
