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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Measure 92 recount shows little change in Jackson County Ashland: Lions Club steps up for vision tests Police allege Ashland pizza parlor owner tried to blow up building Survey: Ashland is an affordable rental market Ashland woman wins Megabucks jackpot Education Ashland: Lions Club steps up for vision tests Ashland Rotary Student Youth of the Month: Avery Nicole Jesmer AHS arts festival is Friday AHS, SOU seek arts program director In Portland, mindfulness classes ease stress of high school Environment Home Help: Make your new house feel like home ‘Tis the season — for wild mushrooms Don't like weather where you are? 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(Aiken) Stella Demo Death Notices Cynthia �Cyna� Ann Sports Latest Stories Two Grizzlies make first-team all-state Atanda named All-America honorable mention Mariota named one of three Heisman finalists Florida, here they come North Medford boys run away from Ashland with first-half surge High school Two Grizzlies make first-team all-state North Medford boys run away from Ashland with first-half surge SOU volleyball team's season ends with loss to Vanguard at nationals Southern Oregon roughed up by defending champs Six Grizzlies voted MWL first-teamers Southern Oregon University Two Grizzlies make first-team all-state Atanda named All-America honorable mention Mariota named one of three Heisman finalists Florida, here they come North Medford boys run away from Ashland with first-half surge Opinion Latest Stories Granlund cartoon: CIA torture report Guest Opinion: Shelter is a basic human right Granlund cartoon: William and Barack Letters to the Editor, Dec. 8 Guest Opinion: Refugee children at our border Editorial Our View: Raiders are winners Our View: Celebrating more students Our View: A morning well spent Other Views: Tax reform won't be easy Our View: Give market vendors a break Letters Letters to the Editor, Dec. 8 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 5 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 4 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 3 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 2 Guest opinions Guest Opinion: Shelter is a basic human right Guest Opinion: Refugee children at our border Guest Opinion: Why giving market food vendors 'a break' is poor public policy Guest Opinion: Ashland feeds them, we deal with them Guest Opinion: It's time to put a price on carbon Revels Latest Stories Community blog: William Stafford: His Writing, His Life SOU presents all-percussion concert Ashland's First Friday Art Walk showcases new exhiits by regional artists 4 Things to do this Weekend At the movies Theater Meet the real Jacob Marley New design for Bricks takes shape Hard to keep a straight face with 'Red Noses' 'Red Noses' is a romp through slapstick and pathos 'The Drunken City': Bachelorettes meet bar-crawlers Music SOU presents all-percussion concert Peter Chianca: Top 40 songs even a dad could love The Farr Side: Different artists, common songs Longtime area musician Steve Read, 64, dies The Farr Side: CMA telecast was a disappointment Visual Art Ashland's First Friday Art Walk showcases new exhiits by regional artists Movies At the movies Interview: Benedict Cumberbatch on playing ‘The Imitation Game’ Interview: Reese Witherspoon experiences life in 'The Wild' Listings for Varsity Theatre and Ashland Street Cinemas 'Citizenfour' is a matter-of-fact bore Food and Drink Blue bows out of Granite Street site, Agave moving in Cruelest Month: Poetry Blog Lifestyle Latest Stories Shayne Looper: Are you infected with ‘solution aversion?’ Peter Chianca: Our dogs do love us - it’s science! Dr. Elaine Heffner: Equal and different Food for Thought: Meal-planning hacks to help you dine fast and healthy What are you doing to get ready for winter? Aging Happens Inner Peace Column Inner Peace Blog Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Photos Videos Blogs NEWS NOW Measure 92 recount shows little change in Jackson County ... Police allege Ashland pizza parlor owner tried to blow up building ... Survey: Ashland is an affordable rental market ... Measure 92 recount shows little change in Jackson County ... Police allege Ashland pizza parlor owner tried to blow up building ... Survey: Ashland is an affordable rental market ... WEATHER OR NOT Don't like weather where you are? Move a mile or two Abundance of micro- and even nano-climates offers range of weather readings By Doyle Hirsch DailyTidings.com By Doyle Hirsch Posted Nov. 17, 2014 @ 6:03 pm By Doyle Hirsch Posted Nov. 17, 2014 @ 6:03 pm » RELATED CONTENT • Definitions that mislead, rather than inform • Definition of 'water year' is fluid • Weather figures in Ashland affected by microclimates » Social News A few weeks ago I was at the YMCA when a man I didn't know approached me and asked if I was responsible for the Ashland temperatures that appeared in the Mail Tribune. I told him I didn't have anything to do with the Tribune, but that the temps there were fairly close to what I usually had. He said they were nothing like what he got and, when I told him "micro-climates" are the reason, he walked away dissatisfied. But the fact is that the weather can be so different in Southern Oregon within just a few miles that it must drive meteorologists crazy. It's certainly different from the weather in corn-fed (GMO'ed, of course) states like Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, etc., where the temperatures and precipitation can be the same for a couple of hundred miles. Although meteorologists give just one forecast for the Rogue Valley (which actually is two discrete geographical entities: the Rogue Valley and the Bear Creek Valley), the differences from west to east can be significant. I'm sure many of you have spent a few hours in "Grants Gass" (sic) where it was cloudy, calm and rainy and got back to Ashland where it was windy, sunny and dry — or were in Phoenix/Talent where it was seriously foggy and got back to Ashland where it was nice and clear. Even within Ashland there are significant differences. I live on the east side and get around by bicycle. In the winter, I often have to call people on the west side and ask them for the temperature and fog conditions because the east side is usually warmer, drier and windier. These would all be, more or less, micro-climates. There are even finer gradations that I choose to call nano-climates. These tend to occur in the fall and winter and can be pretty disconcerting for a cyclist. A good example is my street. Quite often it's 5 to 10 degrees colder at the bottom, about a third of a mile away, than it is a my house. There are often noticeable variations from block to block as I ride through Ashland that I ascribe to small variations in the height of the inversion layer, even when there's little change in altitude. The ScienceWorks Museum weather station is less than 2 miles from my house as the crow flies and less than 200 feet lower, and yet it might as well be in another city, there's so little concurrence in temperature between our two locations, especially in the summer. This would be a nano-climate extraordinaire. Some differences are hard to explain. Adiabatic cooling rules usually state that the air temperature will drop about 3 degrees for every 1,000 feet of elevation gain, excluding temperature inversions, which tend to be the rule in the winter (particularly in lower lying areas) and result in temperatures rising with increasing altitude. The Medford airport is at 1,335 feet and my location is at 2,082, so you would expect about 2, maybe 3, degrees difference. But in the summer it's more like 8 to 10 degrees lower for the high (5 to 6 degrees in the winter on non-inversion days). I noticed this subjectively riding home from the orchards in Phoenix to my house and quantified it by putting a thermometer on my bike. Now, I'm no scientist (to borrow a quote from climate change skeptics), so I don't have an answer as to why this is so, but I'm not complaining. This is one of the reasons I put up with the high cost of living here. It's not just cause "It ain't Medford," it's as much because "It's the climate" — a slogan much more suitable for Ashland than it ever was for Grants Gass (sic). Weather or Not by Ashland weather statistician Doyle Hirsch appears periodically.   By Doyle Hirsch DailyTidings.com By Doyle Hirsch Posted Nov. 17, 2014 @ 6:03 pm » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2014 Local Media Group, Inc. 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