Why Weather Derivatives?

In doing some research in another area, I came across a definition of Weather Derivatives. I had not heard of this before and thought I share this link that goes into detail as to why these things exist.

This is what it's all about, "Even in our advanced, technology-based society, we still live largely at the mercy of the weather. It influences our daily lives and choices, and has an enormous impact on corporate revenues and earnings. Until recently, there were very few financial tools offering companies' protection against weather-related risks. However, the inception of the weather derivative - by making weather a tradeable commodity - has changed all this."


The full story is here

Merry Christmas!

May you and yours have a joyful Christmas and the new year bring great adventures to your life.

This morning: 19°F, wind from the west at 4-6 mph, wind chill of 13.5°F. It’s overcast with a rising barometer.

Bob
WA-LN-2
WX Ranger NW

Wovel: The report

Simply put, the thing is great! In past winters, using my ergonomically designed snow shovel, it took me more than an hour to clear the drive and walkways here at the house. The deeper the snow the longer it took. It was the old repeated pattern of push, scoop, and throw – over an over again.


The Wovel eliminated the scoop and throw aspect. You push and push and then flick with the Wovel. It’s that simple. There is no is real strain on the lower back and the thing is always in front of you so there are no side to side motions. This past snow fall of 2.5 to 4” of snow on the drive and walkways the Wovel helped me complete the task in under an hour.


So, check it out here http://www.wovel.com/

Snow and the Wovel

Finally, we got a decent snow fall. My measurements this morning show 2.5” of snow with .31” of water. I’ll get a chance to use the Wovel on the driveway this morning – a report will follow.


Our chill seems to be abating. We should see temperatures above the freezing mark this week. My son and I are heading into Spokane on Friday to take in a hockey game – Spokane Chiefs. It’s winter! (a notation from a proud father: my son graduated from Central Washington University this month and now owns a Bachelors degree! Will work follow?)

Chilled and dry

It’s been cold. We haven’t been above freezing sense Dec. 5th. We haven’t broken any records for this region as of yet – it’s just cold. The lowest Dec. temperature was a -16°F on Dec. 30, 1968. We are 23.3°F above that record.


This cooling trend will abate by week's end with a slight warming trend and some moisture. Temperatures will remain below average for this time of year according to the NWS Spokane.

December = Real Cold

Early December had ushered in the big chill. It has been cool and it’s getting colder. This week is forecasted with highs in the teens and wind chills in the minus single to double digits.


Here is what the folks at the Spokane NWS Office are saying:

...SYNOPSIS...
BLUSTERY NORTH-NORTHEAST WINDS AND MUCH COOLER TEMPERATURES CAN BE EXPECTED ACROSS THE INLAND NORTHWEST THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEKEND. THEN DRY AND UNSEASONABLY COLD WEATHER WILL PERSIST THROUGH MUCH OF NEXT WEEK.

November: Warm with Snow

November was a bit odd. The mean temperature was 2.6° F warmer. Our warmest day was on the 17th at 55.1° F and the coldest overnight low was on the 14th at 25.6° F.

There were two snow events, the 14th and 22nd, for a total of 6/10ths of an inch. We had no snow last November. Precipitation total was 0.82” while last year we had 0.99”. The mean for November is 1.25”. So, for two years we are averaging a November shortfall in precipitation of 0.35”. Doesn’t sound too significant, all the same, in our environment it is.

We had nine wind events with gusts greater than 25 mph during November. The strongest gust was 35 mph on the 20th. Mean wind speed for November was 3.6 mph.

Nice rain event

We had our second heaviest rain event of the year [July 13th at .43" is first] in the last 12 hours. We received .41" of rain and we are now at .82" for November. For our generally dry region of the state we welcome all the rain we can get. 

We've had two snow events for a total of .6". We had no snow last November.

We are at 7.30" of precipitation for the year about 3.20" shy of our mean 10.50".

November Summary --

 Mean:             High:                           Low:

1.25” (rain)     3.95” (rain 1973)      .11” (rain 2004)
1.4” (snow)     17.5 (snow 1955)

November: On the warm side

With two-thirds of the month gone, we are trending toward a warmer November. Our current mean temperature is 40.6°F while the average is 37.5°F. Therefore, we are running 3.1°F above normal. We haven’t broken any records for highs or lows as of yet.


We are no where close to meeting the mean precipitation mark. Currently, and counting what we had today, we are at .40” of precipitation. The mean for November is 1.25”. Only twice this year did we pass the monthly mean: July–actual .58”, mean .48” and October–actual 1.36”, mean .71”.

Drought is real in our neck of the country and with El Niño in effect it should be a drier winter.

Snow accumulation

We had our first snow accumulation. The weather system looked rather strong as it moved into our region from our NW. I measured 1/4" of snow on the snow board. We should get some precipitation out if this. The photo is from the yard looking W-SW.

Update Nov. 14th: We received .09" of precipitation.