National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

• Home
• Site Map
• News
• Organization
• Search for: NWS All NOAA 

000
CXUS53 KIWX 011420
CLSSBN

INDCLMSBN 000
TTAA00 KIWX 011352


CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
851 AM EST FRI MAR 1 2013

...................................

...THE SOUTH BEND CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE SEASON, FROM
12/1/2012 TO 2/28/2013...

CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1981 TO 2010
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1893 TO 2013

WEATHER         OBSERVED          NORMAL  DEPART  LAST YEAR`S
                 VALUE   DATE(S)  VALUE   FROM    VALUE
                                          NORMAL
.............................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
 HIGH              74   02/25/2000
 LOW              -22   01/20/1943
                        01/25/1897
HIGHEST            65   12/03        MM      MM       66
LOWEST              3   02/01        MM      MM        3
                        01/22
AVG. MAXIMUM     37.2              33.8     3.4     39.3
AVG. MINIMUM     23.6              20.1     3.5     25.1
MEAN             30.4              27.0     3.4
DAYS MAX >= 90      0               0.0     0.0        0
DAYS MAX <= 32     29              39.1   -10.1       19
DAYS MIN <= 32     73              77.6    -4.6       76
DAYS MIN <= 0       0               5.3    -5.3        0

PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
 MAXIMUM        13.35   1950
 MINIMUM         2.77   1945
TOTALS          10.92              6.85    4.07     7.89
DAILY AVG.       0.12              0.08    0.04     0.09
DAYS >= .01        49              43.3     5.7       40
DAYS >= .10        33              18.4    14.6       24
DAYS >= .50         6               3.0     3.0        2
DAYS >= 1.00        2               0.8     1.2        1
GREATEST
 24 HR. TOTAL    2.24   MM

SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
 TOTAL          136.3   1978
 24 HR TOTAL       MM
TOTALS           47.7              52.9    -5.2     49.7
SINCE 7/1        47.7              58.1   -10.4     49.7
SNOWDEPTH AVG.      2                 3      -1        1
DAYS >= TRACE      41              33.3     7.7       32
DAYS >= 1.0        24              16.0     8.0       15
GREATEST
 SNOW DEPTH        11   02/06                          8
 24 HR TOTAL      4.3   MM

DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL    3076              3420    -344     2960
 SINCE 7/1         MM              4689      MM       MM
COOLING TOTAL       0                 0       0        0
 SINCE 1/1          0                 0       0        0
..............................................................

WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED              10.2
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION    40/330    DATE  12/21
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION    53/280    DATE  01/20

SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT)   MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER           0.60
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR           22
NUMBER OF DAYS PC             19
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY         49

AVERAGE RH (PERCENT)     75

WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM              0     MIXED PRECIP               0
HEAVY RAIN                7     RAIN                      17
LIGHT RAIN               28     FREEZING RAIN              2
LT FREEZING RAIN          3     HAIL                       1
HEAVY SNOW                5     SNOW                      15
LIGHT SNOW               40     SLEET                      0
FOG                      65     FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE      7
HAZE                     38

-  INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R  INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T  INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.

&&

...AN ACTIVE AND VARIABLE WINTER SEASON ACROSS NORTHERN INDIANA...

WHILE SNOWFALL FOR THE METEOROLOGICAL WINTER SEASON FROM DECEMBER
THROUGH FEBRUARY ENDED UP WELL BELOW NORMAL...THERE WERE NUMEROUS
STRONG WEATHER SYSTEMS WHICH BROUGHT MUCH NEEDED PRECIPITATION AND
HIGHLY VARIABLE TEMPERATURES TO THE REGION.

DECEMBER WAS CHARACTERIZED BY AN ACTIVE BUT OVERALL WARM WEATHER
PATTERN...ESPECIALLY DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE MONTH.
TEMPERATURES WERE MUCH ABOVE NORMAL FOR THE FIRST 20 DAYS OF
DECEMBER WITH DAILY AVERAGE TEMPERATURES 10 TO 20 DEGREES ABOVE
NORMAL. THIS CAUSED MOST PRECIPITATION TO FALL IN THE FORM OF RAIN
INSTEAD OF SNOW DURING THIS PERIOD. DECEMBER ALSO ENDED THE STREAK OF
BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES FROM AUGUST TO NOVEMBER. A PATTERN CHANGE
FOR THE LAST PART OF THE MONTH ALLOWED FOR COLDER AIR TO INFILTRATE
THE REGION...BRINGING TEMPERATURES CLOSER TO NORMAL WITH SEVERAL
ROUNDS OF LIGHT SNOWFALL.

TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR DECEMBER WAS 3.43 INCHES...0.82 INCHES ABOVE
NORMAL. TOTAL SNOWFALL WAS 9.1 INCHES...8.2 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THE
AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE WAS 36.3 DEGREES...7.5 DEGREES ABOVE
NORMAL AND THE 5TH WARMEST DECEMBER ON RECORD. THE HIGHEST
TEMPERATURE WAS 65 ON DECEMBER 3RD.

JANUARY WAS LIKE A WEATHER ROLLER COASTER RIDE AS DRAMATIC UP AND
DOWN SWINGS IN TEMPERATURES WERE RECORDED. HIGH TEMPERATURES
TOPPED OUT NEAR 60 DEGREES AND LOW TEMPERATURES BOTTOMED OUT AROUND
ZERO DEGREES. JANUARY ALSO SAW ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION WITH A FEW
DAYS OF MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL. THIS HELPED RAISE WATER LEVELS
ON AREA LAKES AND RIVERS AND EVEN LED TO SOME MINOR FLOODING.

SIMILAR TO DECEMBER...SNOWFALL THROUGH JANUARY 20TH WAS WELL BELOW
NORMAL WITH ONLY THREE TENTHS OF AN INCH RECORDED. THE
REMAINDER OF THE MONTH WAS A DIFFERENT STORY AS THE FIRST
SIGNIFICANT ARCTIC OUTBREAK OF THE SEASON BROUGHT TEMPERATURES
CRASHING TO THE SINGLE DIGITS BY THE 21ST AND THE 22ND WAS THE
COLDEST DAY OF THE WINTER SEASON WITH A HIGH OF ONLY 9 AND A LOW OF
3 DEGREES. LAKE EFFECT SNOWFALL KICKED IN AND SOUTH BEND RECEIVED OVER
7 INCHES OF SNOW BETWEEN THE 20TH AND 26TH WHILE SOME LOCATIONS IN
LOWER MICHIGAN RECEIVED A FOOT OR MORE.

THE AVERAGE JANUARY TEMPERATURE WAS 27.7 DEGREES...3.3 DEGREES ABOVE
NORMAL. JANUARY PRECIPITATION WAS 5.00 INCHES...2.71 INCHES ABOVE
NORMAL. JANUARY 2013 RANKED AS THE 5TH WETTEST ON RECORD. SNOWFALL
FOR THE MONTH WAS 11.9 INCHES...8.7 INCHES BELOW NORMAL.

FEBRUARY ENDED THE STRING OF MONTHS WITH BELOW NORMAL SNOWFALL THIS
WINTER AND PRECIPITATION WAS ABOVE NORMAL FOR THE THIRD STRAIGHT
MONTH. THE FEBRUARY WEATHER PATTERN WAS MORE TYPICAL OF WINTER
ACROSS OUR AREA AS WELL AS MUCH OF THE UNITED STATES WHERE SEVERAL
STRONG BLIZZARDS WITH HEAVY SNOWFALL IMPACTED PARTS OF THE ATLANTIC
SEABOARD AND THE CENTRAL UNITED STATES.

THE AVERAGE FEBRUARY TEMPERATURE WAS 27.3 DEGREES...0.5 DEGREES BELOW
NORMAL. PRECIPITATION WAS 2.49 INCHES...0.54 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL.
SNOWFALL WAS 26.7 INCHES...11.7 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKED AS
THE TIED-6TH SNOWIEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD.

THE METEOROLOGICAL WINTER SEASON RUNS FROM DECEMBER 1ST THROUGH
FEBRUARY 28TH. DURING THIS PERIOD THE MEAN TEMPERATURE WAS 30.4
DEGREES...3.4 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKED AS THE 12TH WARMEST
WINTER SEASON. THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE WAS 65 ON DECEMBER 3RD AND
THE LOWEST TEMPERATURE WAS 3 ON JANUARY 22ND.

THE SEASONAL PRECIPITATION WAS 10.92 INCHES...4.07 INCHES ABOVE
NORMAL. THIS RANKED AS THE 6TH WETTEST WINTER SEASON. SNOWFALL WAS
47.7 INCHES...5.2 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKED AS THE 44TH
SNOWIEST WINTER SEASON.

$$

LASHLEY/NG