Winter Weather in Rongelap Marshall IslandsDaily high temperatures are around 81°F, rarely falling below 79°F or exceeding 84°F. The lowest daily average high temperature is 80°F on February 21. Daily low temperatures are around 81°F, rarely falling below 78°F or exceeding 83°F. The lowest daily average low temperature is 80°F on February 21. For reference, on October 11, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Rongelap typically range from 82°F to 83°F, while on February 14, the coldest day of the year, they range from 80°F to 80°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 (7,463 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Rongelap (view comparison). CloudsThe winter in Rongelap experiences essentially constant cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy remaining about 69% throughout the season. The lowest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 67% on February 14. The clearest day of the winter is February 14, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 33% of the time. For reference, on September 28, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 83%, while on February 14, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 33%. PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Rongelap, the chance of a wet day over the course of the winter is very rapidly decreasing, starting the season at 24% and ending it at 7%. For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 52% on September 28, and its lowest chance is 4% on January 30. 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 Rongelap is rapidly decreasing, starting the season at 2.3 inches, when it rarely exceeds 5.0 inches or falls below 0.2 inches, and ending the season at 0.5 inches, when it rarely exceeds 1.8 inches. The lowest average 31-day accumulation is 0.3 inches on February 9. SunOver the course of the winter in Rongelap, the length of the day is gradually increasing. From the start to the end of the season, the length of the day increases by 23 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 15 seconds, and weekly increase of 1 minute, 48 seconds. The shortest day of the winter is December 21, with 11 hours, 28 minutes of daylight and the longest day is February 28, with 11 hours, 54 minutes of daylight. The earliest sunrise of the winter in Rongelap is 6:55 AM on December 1 and the latest sunrise is 21 minutes later at 7:16 AM on January 27. The earliest sunset is 6:27 PM on December 1 and the latest sunset is 35 minutes later at 7:02 PM on February 28. Daylight saving time is not observed in Rongelap during 2024. For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 6:30 AM and sets 12 hours, 47 minutes later, at 7:17 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 7:06 AM and sets 11 hours, 28 minutes later, at 6:34 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 Rongelap is essentially constant during the winter, remaining around 100% 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 in Rongelap is essentially constant during the winter, remaining within 0.5 miles per hour of 18.5 miles per hour throughout. For reference, on December 25, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 19.0 miles per hour, while on September 5, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 10.9 miles per hour. The highest daily average wind speed during the winter is 19.0 miles per hour on December 26. The hourly average wind direction in Rongelap throughout the winter is predominantly from the east, with a peak proportion of 98% on February 27. Water TemperatureRongelap 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 Rongelap is gradually decreasing during the winter, falling by 2°F, from 83°F to 81°F, over the course of the season. The lowest average surface water temperature during the winter is 81°F on February 21. 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 Rongelap 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 Rongelap are very rapidly decreasing during the winter, decreasing by 8,807°F, from 10,548°F to 1,741°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 Rongelap is increasing during the winter, rising by 1.4 kWh, from 5.1 kWh to 6.6 kWh, over the course of the season. TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Rongelap are 11.164 deg latitude, 166.894 deg longitude, and 36 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of Rongelap is essentially flat, with a maximum elevation change of 46 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 1 foot. Within 10 miles is also essentially flat (46 feet). Within 50 miles is also essentially flat (82 feet). The area within 2 miles of Rongelap 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 Rongelap, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. Rongelap is further than 200 kilometers from the nearest reliable weather station, so the weather-related data on this page were taken entirely from NASA's MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis . 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. The temperature and dew point estimates are corrected for the difference between the reference elevation of the MERRA-2 grid cell and the elevation of Rongelap, according to the International Standard Atmosphere . All 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. 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. |