Average Weather at Chibougamau/Chapais Airport Canada

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5. Chibougamau/Chapais Airport

At Chibougamau/Chapais Airport, the summers are long, comfortable, and partly cloudy and the winters are frigid, snowy, and overcast. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from -12°F to 71°F and is rarely below -32°F or above 82°F.

The warm season lasts for 3.9 months, from May 19 to September 17, with an average daily high temperature above 58°F. The hottest day of the year is July 26, with an average high of 71°F and low of 53°F.

The cold season lasts for 3.1 months, from December 4 to March 6, with an average daily high temperature below 21°F. The coldest day of the year is January 29, with an average low of -12°F and high of 9°F.

The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the entire year of hourly average temperatures. The horizontal axis is the day of the year, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day.

At Chibougamau/Chapais Airport, the average percentage of the sky covered by clouds experiences significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year at Chibougamau/Chapais Airport begins around April 17 and lasts for 6.1 months, ending around October 20. On August 11, the clearest day of the year, the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 52% of the time, and overcast or mostly cloudy 48% of the time.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 20 and lasts for 5.9 months, ending around April 17. On January 5, the cloudiest day of the year, the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 89% of the time, and clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 11% of the time.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. The chance of wet days at Chibougamau/Chapais Airport varies throughout the year.

The wetter season lasts 6.0 months, from May 15 to November 15, with a greater than 29% chance of a given day being a wet day. The chance of a wet day peaks at 42% on July 10.

The drier season lasts 6.0 months, from November 15 to May 15. The smallest chance of a wet day is 15% on March 10.

Among wet days, we distinguish between those that experience rain alone, snow alone, or a mixture of the two. Based on this categorization, the most common form of precipitation at Chibougamau/Chapais Airport changes throughout the year.

Rain alone is the most common for 7.4 months, from March 31 to November 12. The highest chance of a day with rain alone is 42% on July 10.

Snow alone is the most common for 4.6 months, from November 12 to March 31. The highest chance of a day with snow alone is 19% on December 16.

Rainfall

To show variation within the months and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day of the year. Chibougamau/Chapais Airport experiences significant seasonal variation in monthly rainfall.

The rainy period of the year lasts for 8.5 months, from March 20 to December 5, with a sliding 31-day rainfall of at least 0.5 inches. The most rain falls during the 31 days centered around July 6, with an average total accumulation of 3.7 inches.

The rainless period of the year lasts for 3.5 months, from December 5 to March 20. The least rain falls around January 30, with an average total accumulation of 0.1 inches.

Snowfall

We report snowfall in liquid-equivalent terms. The actual depth of new snowfall is typically between 5 and 10 times the liquid-equivalent amount, assuming the ground is frozen. Colder, drier snow tends to be on the higher end of that range and warmer, wetter snow on the lower end.

As with rainfall, we consider the snowfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day of the year. Chibougamau/Chapais Airport experiences significant seasonal variation in monthly liquid-equivalent snowfall.

The snowy period of the year lasts for 7.2 months, from October 7 to May 12, with a sliding 31-day liquid-equivalent snowfall of at least 0.1 inches. The most snow falls during the 31 days centered around December 4, with an average total liquid-equivalent accumulation of 1.1 inches.

The snowless period of the year lasts for 4.8 months, from May 12 to October 7. The least snow falls around August 3, with an average total liquid-equivalent accumulation of 0.0 inches.

The length of the day at Chibougamau/Chapais Airport varies extremely over the course of the year. In 2017, the shortest day is December 21, with 8 hours, 7 minutes of daylight; the longest day is June 21, with 16 hours, 20 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise is at 4:49 AM on June 16, and the latest sunrise is 3 hours, 6 minutes later at 7:55 AM on December 31. The earliest sunset is at 3:57 PM on December 11, and the latest sunset is 5 hours, 13 minutes later at 9:10 PM on June 25.

Daylight saving time (DST) is observed at Chibougamau/Chapais Airport during 2017, starting in the spring on March 12, lasting 7.8 months, and ending in the fall on November 5.

We 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 perceived humidity level at Chibougamau/Chapais Airport, as measured by the percentage of time in which the humidity comfort level is muggy, oppressive, or miserable, does not vary significantly over the course of the year, staying within 1% of 1% throughout.

This 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 predominant average hourly wind direction at Chibougamau/Chapais Airport varies throughout the year.

The wind is most often from the north for 2.0 months, from March 15 to May 16, with a peak percentage of 34% on April 23. The wind is most often from the west for 10.0 months, from May 16 to March 15, with a peak percentage of 41% on January 1.

This 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 experiences extreme seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The brighter period of the year lasts for 3.6 months, from April 28 to August 17, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 4.9 kWh. The brightest day of the year is June 19, with an average of 6.0 kWh.

The darker period of the year lasts for 3.8 months, from October 21 to February 14, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 1.8 kWh. The darkest day of the year is December 14, with an average of 0.8 kWh.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Chibougamau/Chapais Airport are 49.772 deg latitude, -74.528 deg longitude, and 1,250 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Chibougamau/Chapais Airport is essentially flat, with a maximum elevation change of 72 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 1,254 feet. Within 10 miles is essentially flat (495 feet). Within 50 miles contains significant variations in elevation (1,020 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Chibougamau/Chapais Airport is covered by trees (69%), herbaceous vegetation (19%), and water (11%), within 10 miles by trees (72%) and water (15%), and within 50 miles by trees (74%).

This report illustrates the typical weather at Chibougamau/Chapais Airport, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016.

Temperature and Dew Point

Chibougamau/Chapais Airport 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.

In the case of missing or erroneous measurements from this station, we fall back on records from nearby stations, adjusted according to typical seasonal and diurnal intra-station differences. For a given day of the year and hour of the day, the fallback station is selected to minimize the prediction error over the years for which there are measurements for both stations.

The stations on which we may fall back are Chapais, Chamouchouane Automatic Weather Reporting System, and Normandin.

Other Data

All data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Tables of the Sun, Moon and Planets , 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 aiports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com .

Maps are © Esri, with data from National Geographic, Esri, DeLorme, NAVTEQ, UNEP-WCMC, USGS, NASA, ESA, METI, NRCAN, GEBCO, NOAA, and iPC.