Winter Weather in Lae Marshall IslandsDaily high temperatures are around 85°F, rarely falling below 83°F or exceeding 87°F. The lowest daily average high temperature is 84°F on January 18. Daily low temperatures are around 80°F, rarely falling below 78°F or exceeding 82°F. The lowest daily average low temperature is 79°F on February 11. For reference, on September 4, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Lae typically range from 80°F to 86°F, while on February 11, the coldest day of the year, they range from 79°F to 85°F. The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average winter temperatures. 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. San Andrés, Colombia (7,549 miles away) and Fuvahmulah, Maldives (6,422 miles) are the far-away foreign places with temperatures most similar to Lae (view comparison). CloudsThe winter in Lae experiences gradually decreasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy decreasing from 81% to 75%. The clearest day of the winter is February 18, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 25% of the time. For reference, on October 25, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 85%, while on March 10, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 26%. PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Lae, the chance of a wet day over the course of the winter is very rapidly decreasing, starting the season at 48% and ending it at 21%. For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 69% on September 29, and its lowest chance is 15% on January 31. RainfallTo show variation within the season and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day. The average sliding 31-day rainfall during the winter in Lae is very rapidly decreasing, starting the season at 5.6 inches, when it rarely exceeds 9.9 inches or falls below 1.8 inches, and ending the season at 2.0 inches, when it rarely exceeds 5.7 inches. The lowest average 31-day accumulation is 1.3 inches on February 6. SunOver the course of the winter in Lae, the length of the day is gradually increasing. From the start to the end of the season, the length of the day increases by 18 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 12 seconds, and weekly increase of 1 minute, 25 seconds. The shortest day of the winter is December 23, with 11 hours, 36 minutes of daylight and the longest day is February 28, with 11 hours, 57 minutes of daylight. The earliest sunrise of the winter in Lae is 6:54 AM on December 1 and the latest sunrise is 21 minutes later at 7:16 AM on January 28. The earliest sunset is 6:33 PM on December 1 and the latest sunset is 33 minutes later at 7:05 PM on February 28. Daylight saving time is not observed in Lae during 2024. For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 6:37 AM and sets 12 hours, 39 minutes later, at 7:15 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 7:04 AM and sets 11 hours, 36 minutes later, at 6:41 PM. 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 the winter of 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 in Lae is essentially constant during the winter, remaining around 100% throughout. For reference, on February 29, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 100% of the time, while on January 28, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 100% of the time. 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 in Lae is increasing during the winter, increasing from 16.6 miles per hour to 18.3 miles per hour over the course of the season. For reference, on January 20, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 18.8 miles per hour, while on September 9, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 9.5 miles per hour. The highest daily average wind speed during the winter is 18.8 miles per hour on January 20. The hourly average wind direction in Lae throughout the winter is predominantly from the east, with a peak proportion of 96% on February 28. Water TemperatureLae 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 in Lae is essentially constant during the winter, remaining within 1°F of 83°F throughout. The lowest average surface water temperature during the winter is 82°F on February 8. 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 in Lae are sufficiently warm 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 in Lae are very rapidly decreasing during the winter, decreasing by 8,989°F, from 10,814°F to 1,825°F, over the course of the season. 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 in Lae is rapidly increasing during the winter, rising by 1.7 kWh, from 4.8 kWh to 6.5 kWh, over the course of the season. TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Lae are 8.922 deg latitude, 166.263 deg longitude, and 26 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of Lae is essentially flat, with a maximum elevation change of 59 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 2 feet. Within 10 miles is also essentially flat (59 feet). Within 50 miles is also essentially flat (72 feet). The area within 2 miles of Lae is covered by water (100%), within 10 miles by water (100%), and within 50 miles by water (100%). Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather in Lae, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. Temperature and Dew PointThere is only a single weather station, Bucholz Army Airfield, in our network suitable to be used as a proxy for the historical temperature and dew point records of Lae. At a distance of 163 kilometers from Lae, further than our threshold of 150 kilometers, this station is deemed insufficiently nearby to be relied upon as our primary source for temperature and dew point records. Consequently, the station records are blended with interpolated values from NASA's MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis , and both are corrected for elevation differences according to the International Standard Atmosphere . The weight assigned to the MERRA-2 value depends on the distance from Lae to the nearest station, increasing from 0% at 150 kilometers to 100% at 200 kilometers. In this case, the MERRA-2 weight is 21%, making the weight assigned to the weather station 79%. 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. |