Source - Vi.potsdam.ny.us - Potsdam

Potsdam Municipal Airport - Master Plan – Phase 1 Report
CLIMATE & TOPOGRAPHY
Potsdam Municipal Airport is located in the central part of St. Lawrence County. The
climate of the area is described in the St. Lawrence County Soil Survey published in
1989 by the United States Department of Agriculture: Natural Resources
Conservation Service. The publication states that:
In winter, the average temperature is 18 degrees F, and the average daily
minimum temperature is 8 degrees. The lowest temperature on record, which
occurred at Canton, on January 9, 1968, is -40 degrees. In summer, the
average temperature is 66 degrees, and the average daily maximum
temperature is 77 degrees. The highest recorded temperature, which occurred
at Canton on August 2, 1975, is 97 degrees....The total annual precipitation is
about 35.56 inches. Of this, 20 inches, or 57 percent, usually falls in April to
September….The heaviest 1-day rainfall during the period of record was 3.82
inches on August 10, 1959. Thunderstorms occur on about 28 days each year,
and most occur in summer. The average seasonal snowfall is about 81 inches.
The greatest snow depth at any one time during the period of record was 58
inches. On the average, 70 days of the year have at least 1 inch of snow on the
ground. The number of such days varies greatly from year to year. The
average relative humidity in midafternoon is about 60 percent. Humidity is
higher at night, and the average at dawn is about 80 percent. The sun shines
60 percent of the time possible in summer and 30 percent in winter. The
prevailing wind is from the westnorthwest. Average windspeed is highest, 11
miles per hour, in spring.
The central part of St. Lawrence County (in the vicinity of the Airport) is mainly low
open land and scattered wooded areas. Roads, hamlets, and villages are spread evenly
throughout the area. The St. Lawrence County Soil Survey provides this information
on the physiography of St. Lawrence County:
St. Lawrence County, the largest county in the State of New York, has a
surface area of about 2,821 square miles. The county is named for and is
bounded on the north by the St. Lawrence River. St. Lawrence County
comprises parts of two physiographic provinces. The northern three-fifths of
the county lies in the St. Lawrence Lowlands, and the southern two-fifths, in
the Adirondack Mountains….Four major river systems drain the county from
the higher elevations in the south to the St. Lawrence River. They are, from
west to east, those of the Oswegatchie, Grasse, Raquette, and St. Regis Rivers.
The terrain ranges in elevation from about 220 feet above mean sea level in
the northeast corner of the St. Lawrence Lowlands to 2,700 feet on Mount
Matumbla in the southeast corner of the Adirondack Mountains.
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