Weather Project

This project is an assignment in the Reporting with Data class at the University of Texas at Austin.

The data comes from Climate Data Online, a collection of official weather data from the National Centers for Environmental Information, a division of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The actual data source used is from the Global Historical Climate Network “Daily Summaries” which includes daily land surface observations from weather stations around the world.

The pulled data is from the “primary” weather station for downtown Austin, Texas: Camp Mabry station.

Takeaways

  • In Austin, days with the most rain fall between May and November, with a record breaking 7.6 inches in November 15, 2001 and August 26, 2017 (during Hurricane Harvey) as the most recent.
  • The hottest day in Austin history was August 28, 2011 with a high of 112 degrees Fahrenheit; the coldest was January 30, 1949 with the lowest recorded temperature of -2 degrees.
  • The year with the most 100+ days in Austin was 2011 (90 days), followed by 2023 and 2009.
  • The year with the most total rainfall in Austin history was 2015 with 60 inches. The least amount of rainfall in a year was in 1938 with just 11 inches total.
  • Austinites saw the most total snowfall in 1985 with a combined 8.7 inches for the entire year.
  • Within the last five years, the highest averages for both high and low temperatures are in 2023 (although the data for 2024 is still incomplete).
  • Since 1900, May is the month with the most average rainfall of 5 inches.

Bonus quests

  • Out of 30 other years since 1938, 1973 had the greatest amount of snow days in Austin.
  • The year with the most freezing temperatures of 32 degrees or below in Austin is 1983 with six days. Most recently, 2021 is on the list with five days when Austin experienced a winter freeze.
  • The greatest amount of days with 100 degrees or above in May in Austin was 2011, totaling three. There are only six other years that have had such hot days in May.
  • Last year, Austin saw a yearly average temperature of 72.3 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • The year during which Austin residents saw the earliest 100-plus degree temperature was 1984, that being May 5.
  • On the other hand, 1948 was when Austin saw the latest date when the temperature reached a freezing level, that being March 12.