October Weather at Danmarkshavn GreenlandDaily high temperatures decrease by 14°F, from 21°F to 7°F, rarely falling below -3°F or exceeding 29°F. Daily low temperatures decrease by 15°F, from 14°F to -2°F, rarely falling below -11°F or exceeding 23°F. For reference, on July 21, the hottest day of the year, temperatures at Danmarkshavn typically range from 36°F to 44°F, while on February 21, the coldest day of the year, they range from -14°F to -3°F. The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average temperatures for the quarter of the year centered on October. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day. McMurdo Station, Antarctica (12,340 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Danmarkshavn (view comparison). CloudsThe month of October at Danmarkshavn experiences increasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy increasing from 56% to 65%. The clearest day of the month is October 1, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 44% of the time. For reference, on January 24, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 82%, while on June 11, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 54%. PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. At Danmarkshavn, the chance of a wet day over the course of October is gradually decreasing, starting the month at 13% and ending it at 11%. For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 18% on January 4, and its lowest chance is 4% on June 17. Over the course of October at Danmarkshavn, the chance of a day with only rain remains an essentially constant 1% throughout, the chance of a day with mixed snow and rain remains an essentially constant 1% throughout, and the chance of a day with only snow remains an essentially constant 10% throughout. RainfallTo show variation within the month and not just the monthly total, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day. The average sliding 31-day rainfall during October at Danmarkshavn is essentially constant, remaining about 0.1 inches throughout, and rarely exceeding 0.6 inches or falling below -0.0 inches. SnowfallAs with rainfall, we consider the snowfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day. The average sliding 31-day snowfall during October at Danmarkshavn is gradually decreasing, starting the month at 9.9 inches, when it rarely exceeds 23.3 inches or falls below 0.7 inches, and ending the month at 9.2 inches, when it rarely exceeds 22.0 inches or falls below 0.2 inches. SunDue to its extreme latitude, Danmarkshavn experiences polar day (also known as the midnight Sun) during the summer and polar night during the winter. These are periods of time in which the sun is continuously above or below the horizon for more than one day. The precise start and end dates of polar day and night vary from year to year and depend on the precise location and elevation of the observer, and the local topography. In the winter at Danmarkshavn during 2024, the Sun is continuously below the horizon for 3.4 months, setting at 11:06 AM on October 30, and not rising again until 10:38 AM on February 12. As such, polar night begins in October on and lasts beyond the end of the month. The longest day of the month is October 1, with 10 hours, 29 minutes of daylight. The earliest sunrise of the month at Danmarkshavn is 6:48 AM on October 1 and the latest sunrise is 4 hours, 0 minutes later at 10:47 AM on October 30. The latest sunset is 5:17 PM on October 1 and the earliest sunset is 6 hours, 10 minutes earlier at 11:06 AM on October 30. Daylight saving time (DST) starts at 11:00 PM on October 26, 2024, shifting sunrise and sunset to be an hour later. The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation. MoonThe figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for October 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon.
HumidityWe base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night. The chance that a given day will be muggy at Danmarkshavn is essentially constant during October, remaining around 0% throughout. WindThis section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages. The average hourly wind speed at Danmarkshavn is essentially constant during October, remaining within 0.2 miles per hour of 13.6 miles per hour throughout. For reference, on January 5, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 16.3 miles per hour, while on June 21, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 7.5 miles per hour. The hourly average wind direction at Danmarkshavn throughout October is predominantly from the north, with a peak proportion of 67% on October 21. Water TemperatureDanmarkshavn is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). This section reports on the wide-area average surface temperature of that water. The average surface water temperature at Danmarkshavn is essentially constant during October, remaining around 30°F throughout. Growing SeasonDefinitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere). Temperatures at Danmarkshavn are sufficiently cold year round that it is not entirely meaningful to discuss the growing season in these terms. We nevertheless include the chart below as an illustration of the distribution of temperatures experienced throughout the year. Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F. The average accumulated growing degree days at Danmarkshavn are essentially constant during October, remaining around 5°F throughout. Solar EnergyThis section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation. The average daily incident shortwave solar energy at Danmarkshavn is gradually decreasing during October, falling by 0.7 kWh, from 0.7 kWh to 0.0 kWh, over the course of the month. TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Danmarkshavn are 76.767 deg latitude, -18.667 deg longitude, and 95 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of Danmarkshavn contains significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 577 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 117 feet. Within 10 miles contains significant variations in elevation (1,339 feet). Within 50 miles contains very significant variations in elevation (3,314 feet). The area within 2 miles of Danmarkshavn is covered by water (85%), within 10 miles by water (53%) and sparse vegetation (28%), and within 50 miles by water (68%) and snow and glaciers (18%). Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather at Danmarkshavn, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. Temperature and Dew PointDanmarkshavn has a weather station that reported reliably enough during the analysis period that we have included it in our network. When available, historical temperature and dew point measurements are taken directly from this weather station. These records are obtained from NOAA's Integrated Surface Hourly data set, falling back on ICAO METAR records as required. There are no other weather stations in our network within 200 kilometers of this location. Consequently, in the case of missing or erroneous measurements from this station, we fall back on NASA's MERRA-2 modern-era reanalysis , adjusted according to typical seasonal and diurnal differences between this station and the wide-area MERRA-2 reconstructed values.Other DataAll data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Algorithms 2nd Edition , by Jean Meeus. All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid. Land Use data comes from the Global Land Cover SHARE database , published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database . Time zones for airports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com . Maps are © OpenStreetMap contributors. DisclaimerThe information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site. We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands. We further caution that our travel scores are only as good as the data that underpin them, that weather conditions at any given location and time are unpredictable and variable, and that the definition of the scores reflects a particular set of preferences that may not agree with those of any particular reader. Please review our full terms contained on our Terms of Service page. |