This report describes the historical weather record at the Boone County Airport (Harrison, Arkansas, United States) during 1968. This station has records back to December 1947.
Harrison, Arkansas has a warm humid temperate climate with hot summers and no dry season. The area within 25 mi of this station is covered by forests (97%) and lakes and rivers (3%)
Daylight saving time (DST) was observed at Harrison, Arkansas during 1968. There were two time changes during 1968:
1968 was a leap year and thus has 366 days rather than the normal 365. Leap years occur every fourth year and the extra day is always February 29th. In 1968 February 29th falls on a Thursday.
The summer and winter solstices and the spring and fall equinoxes mark the passing of the seasons. They fall on nearly the same day each year, with differences of a day or two depending on the year. In 1968 they occurred on:
|Spring Equinox||Wednesday, 20 March 1968.|
|Summer Solstice||Friday, 21 June 1968.|
|Fall Equinox||Sunday, 22 September 1968.|
|Winter Solstice||Saturday, 21 December 1968.|
The hottest day of 1968 was July 27, with a high temperature of 92°F. For reference, on that day the average high temperature is 89°F and the high temperature exceeds 97°F only one day in ten. The hottest month of 1968 was July with an average daily high temperature of 85°F.
Relative to the average, the hottest day was October 30. The high temperature that day was 88°F, compared to the average of 65°F, a difference of 23°F. In relative terms the warmest month was October, with an average high temperature of 70°F, compared to an typical value of 70°F.
The longest warm spell was from June 3 to June 17, constituting 15 consecutive days with warmer than average high temperatures. The month of June had the largest fraction of warmer than average days with 67% days with higher than average high temperatures.
The coldest day of 1968 was January 7, with a low temperature of -2°F. For reference, on that day the average low temperature is 27°F and the low temperature drops below 11°F only one day in ten. The coldest month of 1968 was February with an average daily low temperature of 25°F.
Relative to the average, the coldest day was January 7. The low temperature that day was -2°F, compared to the average of 27°F, a difference of 29°F. In relative terms the coldest month was February, with an average low temperature of 25°F, compared to an typical value of 31°F.
The longest cold spell was from January 1 to January 17, constituting 17 consecutive days with cooler than average low temperatures. The month of February had the largest fraction of cooler than average days with 72% days with lower than average low temperatures.
The clearest month of 1968 was October, with 55% of days being more clear than cloudy. The longest spell of clear weather was from October 24 to November 1, constituting 9 consecutive days that were clearer than they were cloudy.
The cloudiest month of 1968 was November, with 67% of days being more cloudy than clear. The longest spell of cloudy weather was from February 18 to February 29, constituting 12 consecutive days that were cloudier than they were clear.
Either snow is exceptionally rare at this location or this station did not reliably report it during 1968.
Humidity is an important factor in determining how weather conditions feel to a person experiencing them. Hot and humid days feel even hotter than hot and dry days because the high level of water content in humid air discourages the evaporation of sweat from a person's skin.
When reading the graph below, keep in mind that the hottest part of the day tends to be the least humid, so the daily low (brown) traces are more relevant for understanding daytime comfort than the daily high (blue) traces, which typically occur during the night. Applying that observation, the least humid month of 1968 was October with an average daily low humidity of 41%, and the most humid month was January with an average daily low humidity of 66%.
But it is important to keep in mind that humidity does not tell the whole picture and the dew point is often a better measure of how comfortable a person will find a given set of weather conditions. Please see the next section for continued discussion of this point.
Dew point is the temperature below which water vapor will condense into liquid water. It is therefore also related to the rate of evaporation of liquid water. Since the evaporation of sweat is an important cooling mechanism for the human body, the dew point is an important measurement for understanding how dry, comfortable, or humid a given set of weather conditions will feel.
Generally speaking, dew points below 50°F will feel a bit dry to some people, but comfortable to people accustomed to dry conditions; dew points from 50°F to 68°F are fairly comfortable to most people, and dew points above 68°F are increasingly uncomfortable, becoming oppressive around 77°F.
To take some examples, and basing our categorization on the daily high dew point in 1968, January had 26 dry days, 5 comfortable days, and no humid days; April had 8 dry days, 22 comfortable days, and no humid days; July had no dry days, 7 comfortable days, and 24 humid days; and October had 13 dry days, 18 comfortable days, and no humid days.
The highest sustained wind speed was 29 mph, occurring on April 23; the highest daily mean wind speed was 19 mph (January 13);
The windiest month was December, with an average wind speed of 11 mph. The least windy month was July, with an average wind speed of 6 mph.
This station did not reliably report the visibility during 1968.
This station did not reliably report the cloud ceiling during 1968.