- Warnings
- Observations
- Forecasts
- Text Messages
- Forecast Models
- Climate
- Weather Safety
- Education/Outreach
- Information Center
- Contact Us
RSS Feeds
Climatological Report (Annual)
Issued by NWS
Issued by NWS
000
CXUS53 KIWX 051905
CLASBN
CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
205 PM EST TUE JAN 05 2021
...................................
...THE SOUTH BEND CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE YEAR OF 2020...
CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1981 TO 2010
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1893 TO 2020
WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S
VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE
NORMAL
..............................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
HIGH 109 07/24/1934
LOW -22 01/20/1943
01/25/1897
HIGHEST 94 07/07 MM MM 93
06/20
08/27
LOWEST 3 02/14 MM MM -20
AVG. MAXIMUM 61.3 58.8 2.5 58.3
AVG. MINIMUM 42.3 40.8 1.5 40.3
MEAN 51.8 49.8 2.0
DAYS MAX >= 90 22 9.7 12.3 9
DAYS MAX <= 32 21 44.6 -23.6 49
DAYS MIN <= 32 129 122.7 6.3 131
DAYS MIN <= 0 0 5.3 -5.3 7
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
MAXIMUM 55.61 1990
MINIMUM 25.15 1963
TOTALS 36.58 38.00 -1.42 44.33
DAILY AVG. 0.10 0.10 -0.00 0.12
DAYS >= .01 144 145.4 -1.4 149
DAYS >= .10 77 78.3 -1.3 98
DAYS >= .50 22 23.4 -1.4 29
DAYS >= 1.00 8 7.2 0.8 8
SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
TOTAL 141.7 1978
TOTALS 50.9 66.6 -15.7 43.6
SINCE 7/1 16.7 22.5 -5.8 10.9
SNOWDEPTH AVG. 0 0
DAYS >= TRACE 63 44.9 18.1 74
DAYS >= 1.0 18 20.4 -2.4 12
GREATEST
SNOW DEPTH 9 12/25 10
12/26
DEGREE DAYS
HEATING TOTAL 5690 6298 -608 6377
SINCE 7/1 2074 2390 -316 2194
COOLING TOTAL 978 773 205 779
SINCE 1/1 978 773 205 779
..............................................................
WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED 8.7
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 38/260 DATE 03/29
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 56/240 DATE 05/23
SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.46
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 172
NUMBER OF DAYS PC 86
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 108
AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 70
WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM 33 MIXED PRECIP 0
HEAVY RAIN 36 RAIN 48
LIGHT RAIN 140 FREEZING RAIN 1
LT FREEZING RAIN 3 HAIL 0
HEAVY SNOW 3 SNOW 19
LIGHT SNOW 56 SLEET 0
FOG 160 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 22
HAZE 58
- INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.
&&
...WARMER THAN NORMAL WITH BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION AND SNOWFALL...
THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE YEAR WAS 51.8 DEGREES, WHICH IS 2.0
DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 49.8 DEGREES. THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE
FOR THE YEAR WAS 94 DEGREES ON JULY 7TH AND AUGUST 27TH. THE LOWEST
TEMPERATURE FOR THE YEAR WAS 3 DEGREES ON FEBRUARY 14TH.
THERE WERE 22 DAYS WITH A HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 90 DEGREES OR WARMER,
WHICH IS ABOUT 12 DAYS MORE THAN THE CLIMATE NORMAL OF ABOUT 10
DAYS. THERE WERE 129 DAYS WITH A LOW TEMPERATURE AT OR BELOW
FREEZING. THIS IS ABOUT 6 DAYS ABOVE THE CLIMATE NORMAL OF 123 DAYS.
THERE WERE ZERO DAYS THIS YEAR WITH A LOW TEMPERATURE BELOW ZERO.
THE CLIMATE NORMAL VALUE IS 5 DAYS PER YEAR.
THE TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR WAS 36.58 INCHES, THIS IS 1.42
INCHES BELOW THE NORMAL OF 38 INCHES. THIS RANKS AS THE 61ST DRIEST
YEAR ON RECORD. THIS IS THE DRIEST YEAR SINCE 2015; 36.30". THERE
WERE 8 DAYS THIS YEAR WITH 1 INCH OR MORE OF PRECIPITATION, WHICH IS
ABOUT 1 DAY MORE THAN NORMAL.
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE YEAR WAS 50.9 INCHES, WHICH IS 15.7 INCHES
BELOW THE NORMAL OF 66.6 INCHES. THIS IS THE 16TH LEAST SNOWIEST
YEAR ON RECORD. 2019 ONLY OBSERVED 43.6 INCHES. THERE WERE 18 DAYS
WITH AN INCH OR MORE OF SNOW, ABOUT 2 DAYS BELOW NORMAL.
JANUARY
...CONTINUED WARMTH THIS WINTER, BUT NOW A WET JANUARY...
WHERE`S WINTER?? SOUTH BEND CONTINUES TO SEE ABOVE NORMAL
TEMPERATURES AND BELOW NORMAL SNOWFALL THROUGH THE MONTH OF JANUARY.
THE MONTH`S HIGHEST TEMPERATURE WAS 57 DEGREES ON THE 11TH AND ENDED
A PERIOD OF 3 STRAIGHT DAYS REACHING 50 DEGREES. THE MONTH`S LOWEST
TEMPERATURE WAS 4 DEGREES AND OCCURRED ON THE 20TH. THIS WAS WITHIN
A STRETCH OF BELOW NORMAL AVERAGE TEMPERATURES THAT OCCURRED ON 3 OF
THE 4 DAYS BETWEEN THE 17TH AND 21ST AND WAS THE ONLY PERIOD OF
BELOW NORMAL AVERAGE TEMPERATURES THIS MONTH. THE DAY WITH THE
HIGHEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 26.1 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL, WHICH
HAPPENED TO BE AROUND THE TIME FRAME THAT THIS MONTH SAW SOME HEAVY
RAINFALL.
THIS MONTH FEATURED 3 DAYS OF PRECIPITATION TOTALING ABOVE 0.5 INCH
WITH THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL AMOUNTING TO 2.42 INCHES OCCURRING ON THE
11TH. THIS WAS A RECORD PRECIPITATION AMOUNT FOR THAT DAY. A SECOND
WAVY PATTERN OCCURRED FROM THE 17TH TO THE 21ST AND BROUGHT AROUND
AN INCH OF PRECIPITATION OVER THAT PERIOD, THIS TIME WITH MORE SNOW
INVOLVED. SO, WHILE IT MAY SEEM LIKE ALL OF THE RAIN CAME AT ONCE
AND THEN WAS OVER, IN ALL ACTUALITY, WE`VE BEEN GETTING MORE OF A
SLOW TRICKLE OF PRECIPITATION THIS MONTH. IN FACT, SOUTH BEND HAD
ONLY 10 DAYS OF NO PRECIPITATION THIS MONTH AND 6 OF THEM WERE AT
THE BEGINNING OF THE MONTH.
AT THE END OF THE MONTH, SOUTH BEND`S MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE
WAS 32.1 LEADING TO A +7.7 DEGREE DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL. THIS RANKS
AS THE 7TH WARMEST JANUARY. SOUTH BEND`S PRECIPITATION TOTALED 4.82
INCHES THIS MONTH LEADING TO A +2.53 INCH DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL.
THIS RANKS AS THE 6TH WETTEST JANUARY. SNOWFALL TOTALED 9.6 INCHES
THIS MONTH AND LEAD TO A -11 INCH DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL. THIS RANKS
AS THE 37TH LEAST SNOWIEST JANUARY.
FEBRUARY
...THE ONLY MONTH THIS WINTER WITH ABOVE-NORMAL SNOW...
FEBRUARY BEGAN INCREDIBLY WARM, WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 20 TO 16
DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL ON THE 2ND AND 3RD, RESPECTIVELY. THIS WARMTH
CONTINUED NEARLY UNINTERRUPTED UNTIL THE 13TH. THE AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE OF THE FIRST 12 DAYS OF FEBRUARY RANKED AS THE 12TH
WARMEST ON RECORD: 32.0 DEGREES. OUR HIGHEST TEMPERATURE THIS MONTH
WAS 57 ON THE 2ND. THIS SHATTERED THE PREVIOUS RECORD ON THIS DATE
OF 50 IN 1920. AN ADDITIONAL RECORD WAS SET ON THE FOLLOWING DAY,
WITH A HIGH OF 55, BREAKING THE OLD RECORD OF 52 IN 1991.
TEMPERATURES TRENDED MUCH COLDER BY MID-MONTH WITH LOWS IN THE
SINGLE DIGITS ON THE 14TH AND 15TH. THE LOWEST TEMPERATURE OF THE
MONTH WAS 3 DEGREES ON THE 14TH. NINE DAYS LATER, HIGH TEMPERATURES
RETURNED TO THE 50S! THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 29.3,
WHICH IS 1.5 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 35TH WARMEST
FEBRUARY.
PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH WAS ONLY 0.29 INCHES BELOW NORMAL,
TOTALING 1.66 INCHES. THIS RANKS AS THE 63RD DRIEST FEBRUARY. UNLIKE
THE REST OF WINTER 2019-2020, FEBRUARY SAW A MONTHLY SNOWFALL ABOVE
NORMAL. THIS WAS MAINLY DUE TO A SNOWSTORM LATE IN THE MONTH WHICH
BROUGHT 6.1 INCHES OF SNOW FROM THE 25TH TO 27TH, INCLUDING SOME
LAKE EFFECT. TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH WAS 17.9 INCHES; 2.9
INCHES ABOVE NORMAL.
MARCH
...AN UNREMARKABLE MONTH...
13 OF THE FIRST 15 DAYS OF MARCH OBSERVED A DAILY AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE ABOVE NORMAL. HIGHS IN THE 50S WERE COMMON WITH A COUPLE
OF DAYS IN THE LOW-60S. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR MARCH 9TH WAS 55
DEGREES; 20 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. NOTABLY COLDER AIR ARRIVED LATER
ON WITH HIGHS IN THE 40S AND LOWS IN THE 20S. SNOW ARRIVED ALONG
WITH THE COLD AIR. 2.6 INCHES OF SNOW WAS REPORTED THROUGH THE 22ND
AND 23RD. ONE MORE BOUT OF WARMTH WAS REALIZED BEGINNING ON THE
25TH, BEFORE A STRONG STORM SYSTEM BROUGHT COOLER AIR BACK TO THE
AREA ON THE 29TH WITH A PEAK WIND GUST OF 53 MPH OBSERVED.
THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 40.4 DEGREES, WHICH IS 3.5
DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 28TH WARMEST MARCH.
PRECIPITATION TOTALED 2.23 INCHES, WHICH IS 0.19 INCHES BELOW
NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 47TH DRIEST MARCH. THE GREATEST SINGLE-DAY
TOTAL WAS ONLY 0.47 INCHES ON THE 28TH.
SNOWFALL TOTALED 3.0 INCHES, WHICH IS 4.1 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. MOST
OF THIS SNOW FELL ON THE 22ND AND 23RD, WHEN 1.6 AND 1.0 INCHES OF
SNOW (RESPECTIVELY) WAS OBSERVED. THIS RANKS AS THE THE 32ND LEAST
SNOWIEST MARCH.
APRIL
...A COOL PATTERN OUTWEIGHS HINTS OF SPRINGTIME WARMTH...
THOSE DREAMING OF MILD SPRING DAYS OUTDOORS WERE LARGELY DISAPPOINTED
BY APRIL 2020, WHICH SAW AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 45.7 DEGREES.
THIS IS 3.3 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL AND TIES AS THE 25TH COLDEST ON
RECORD. FOLLOWING THE WARMEST DAY OF THE MONTH, 78 DEGREES ON THE
7TH, COLDER-THAN-NORMAL DAYS OUTNUMBERED WARMER-THAN-NORMAL DAYS.
FROM THE 9TH THROUGH THE 30TH, 19 OF 22 DAYS SAW AN AVERAGE DAILY
TEMPERATURE BELOW NORMAL. THIS 22-DAY PERIOD RANKS AS THE 9TH
COLDEST ON RECORD WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 44.0 DEGREES.
(APRIL 8TH SAW AN AVERAGE TEMPERATE OF 60 DEGREES, 14 DEGREES ABOVE
NORMAL). 20 OF APRIL`S 30 DAYS OBSERVED A DAILY TEMPERATURE BELOW
NORMAL.
ONE TEMPERATURE RECORD WAS TIED THIS MONTH: A RECORD LOW OF 22
DEGREES ON APRIL 16TH TIES THE RECORD FROM 1935.
THE TOTAL PRECIPITATION OF 4.18 INCHES IS 0.95 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL.
THIS RANKS AS THE 39TH WETTEST ON RECORD. A NEW DAILY PRECIPITATION
(RAINFALL IN THIS CASE) WAS SET ON THE 7TH, WHEN 1.20 INCHES WAS
OBSERVED. THIS BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 0.84 IN 1951.
THE TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH WAS 3.7 INCHES, WHICH IS 2.3 INCHES
ABOVE NORMAL. THIS TIES AS THE 20TH SNOWIEST APRIL ON RECORD. A NEW
DAILY RECORD FOR SNOWFALL WAS SET ON APRIL 17TH. 3.0 INCHES BROKE
THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 1.8 SET IN 1961.
MAY
...A COLD START GIVES WAY TO SUMMER-LIKE WARMTH...
LOWS IN THE 20S, A FEW SNOWFLAKES, AND HIGHS IN THE 40S ARE SOME OF
THE DISTANT MEMORIES OF HOW MAY 2020 BEGAN. FROM THE 1ST THROUGH
15TH, THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 50.5 DEGREES WHICH RANKS AS THE
12TH COLDEST ON RECORD. A FEW RECORDS WERE BROKEN DURING THIS TIME.
ON MAY 8TH, A RECORD LOW OF 27 BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 28 SET
IN 2017 (AND 1947). A REPEAT PERFORMANCE OCCURRED THE FOLLOWING DAY.
ON MAY 9TH, A RECORD LOW OF 25 WAS OBSERVED WHICH BROKE THE PREVIOUS
RECORD OF 27 IN 1947. THIS RECORD LOW OF 25 WAS ONE DEGREE SHY OF
THE ALL-TIME COLDEST MAY TEMPERATURE; 24 ON MAY 6TH, 1968.
WHILE ON THE SUBJECT OF COLD, THERE WERE TWO DAYS WHERE AT LEAST A
FEW SNOWFLAKES OR EVEN GRAUPEL WERE OBSERVED; MAY 10TH AND 11TH.
THE WEATHER PATTERN TURNED NOTABLY WARMER IN TIME FOR MEMORIAL DAY
WEEKEND AS TEMPERATURES SOARED INTO THE 80S, AND EVEN REACHED 90
DEGREES ON THE 26TH. USING JANUARY 1 AS A STARTING POINT, THIS TIES
AS THE 14TH EARLIEST 90-DEGREE DAY. THIS IS IN STARK CONTRAST TO
2019 WHEN THE FIRST 90-DEGREE DAY WAS ON JULY 2ND.
THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF THE MONTH WAS 58.6 DEGREES, WHICH IS ONLY
0.7 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 58TH "COLDEST" ON
RECORD. PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH TOTALED 4.58 INCHES, WHICH IS
0.75 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 41ST WETTEST ON RECORD.
JUNE
...13TH WARMEST JUNE ON RECORD; DRY UNTIL THE END...
JUNE BEGAN WITH A STRETCH OF EIGHT DRY DAYS, ASIDE FROM A TRACE
OBSERVED ON THE 3RD. THE FINAL TWO DAYS OF MAY WERE DRY AS WELL.
HIGH TEMPERATURES SOARED QUICKLY INTO THE 80S AND 90S. IT WAS BREEZY
AS WELL AND ALL OF THIS COMBINED TO QUICKLY DRY THE AREA`S TOP SOIL.
MUCH OF INDIANA WAS DECLARED "ABNORMALLY DRY" ON THE UNITED STATES
DROUGHT MONITOR THAT WAS PREPARED ON THE 16TH, AND PUBLISHED JUNE
18TH. BY JUNE 16TH, SOUTH BEND WAS ALREADY 1.42" BELOW NORMAL ON
RAINFALL, HAVING ONLY RECEIVED 0.67".
THE RAINFALL STORY CHANGED IN THE LAST HALF OF THE MONTH AS SLOW-
MOVING THUNDERSTORMS DOTTED THE AREA. THIS RESULTED IN SOAKING
RAINFALL FOR SOME, WHILE OTHERS REMAINED DRY. SOUTH BEND PICKED UP
2.69" COMBINED ON THE 21ST AND 22ND. THE MONTH`S RAINFALL TOTAL WAS
4.50", WHICH IS IS 0.71" ABOVE NORMAL. THIS TIES 1919 AS THE 38TH
WETTEST ON RECORD.
ONE RECORD WAS BROKEN THIS MONTH: DAILY PRECIPITATION ON THE 21ST.
1.70" WAS OBSERVED, WHICH BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 1.21" IN 1907.
SOUTH BEND ALSO PICKED UP FOUR DAYS WHERE THE HIGH REACHED AT LEAST
90 DEGREES. ZERO 90-DEGREE DAYS WERE OBSERVED IN JUNE 2019. FOR THE
CALENDAR YEAR, FIVE 90-DEGREE DAYS HAVE BEEN OBSERVED. THE AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 72.1 DEGREES, WHICH IS 3.0 DEGREES
ABOVE NORMAL. THIS TIES 1952 AS THE 13TH WARMEST JUNE ON RECORD.
JULY
...DRY CONDITIONS EXPAND ACROSS THE AREA...
JULY WAS NOTABLY HOT AND HUMID, WHICH OF COURSE TENDS TO HAPPEN IN
THE SUMMER MONTHS. HOWEVER, THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF JULY 2020,
76.6 DEGREES, RANKS AS THE 13TH WARMEST ON RECORD. TEN 90-DEGREE
DAYS WERE OBSERVED THIS MONTH, WHICH IS THE GREATEST SINCE 2012 WHEN
THE TALLY WAS SIXTEEN. THERE WERE EIGHT CONSECUTIVE 90-DEGREE DAYS
FROM JULY 2 TO 9. THERE HAVE BEEN FIFTEEN 90-DEGREE DAYS SO FAR THIS
YEAR, TYING AS THE 34TH GREATEST.
THERE WAS ONE TEMPERATURE RECORD THIS MONTH. THE MINIMUM TEMPERATURE
OF 74 DEGREES ON THE 8TH TIES THE RECORD FOR WARMEST MINIMUM
TEMPERATURE SET IN 1928. ON THE TOPIC OF MINIMUM TEMPERATURES, THE
AVERAGE MINIMUM TEMPERATURE THIS MONTH WAS 66.4 DEGREES, WHICH RANKS
AS THE 10TH WARMEST ON RECORD.
RAINFALL WAS HARD TO FIND FOR MUCH OF THE AREA. JULY 1 STARTED WITH
MUCH OF INDIANA DECLARED AS "ABNORMALLY DRY" ON THE U.S. DROUGHT
MONITOR. BY MID-MONTH, PORTIONS OF NORTHERN INDIANA WERE DECLARED TO
BE PART OF A "MODERATE DROUGHT". BOTH OF THESE AREAS WERE FURTHER
EXPANDED BY THE END OF THE MONTH.
ONLY 2.66 INCHES OF RAIN WERE OBSERVED AT SOUTH BEND; 1.10 INCHES OF
WHICH FELL ON JULY 10TH. THIS MONTHLY TOTAL IS 1.34 INCHES BELOW
NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 54TH DRIEST ON RECORD. THIS IS THE LEAST
AMOUNT OF RAINFALL AT SOUTH BEND SINCE JULY 2014 WHEN ONLY 1.79
INCHES FELL.
AUGUST
...SEVEN MORE 90-DEGREE DAYS...
BASED ON TOTAL RAINFALL AND AVERAGE TEMPERATURE, AUGUST 2020 WILL
GENERALLY SLIP SILENTLY INTO THE CLIMATE RECORDS. HOWEVER, THE DRY
SPELL FROM THE 11TH THROUGH 23RD EXASPERATED ALREADY DRY CONDITIONS
OVER THE AREA.
BY AUGUST 23RD, RAINFALL HAD BEEN OBSERVED ON ONLY THREE DAYS,
TOTALING 1.65". MONTH-TO-DATE PRECIPITATION WAS 1.16" BELOW NORMAL
BY THIS POINT. ZERO RAINFALL WAS OBSERVED FROM THE 11TH-23RD (13
DAYS). THE LONGEST STRETCH OF DAYS WITH ZERO PRECIPITATION IS 36
DAYS, WHICH ENDED IN SEPTEMBER OF 1908. AN AREA OF "MODERATE
DROUGHT" WAS ADDED TO PORTIONS OF NORTHERN INDIANA AND SOUTHERN
MICHIGAN ON THE AUGUST 25TH U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR MAP.
A SOAKING 1.22" OF RAIN THE 29TH, ALONG WITH A FEW OTHER RAIN EVENTS
AT THE END OF THE MONTH, BROUGHT THE RAIN TOTAL TO 3.17". THIS IS
0.59" BELOW NORMAL. THIS TIES 1968 AS THE 56TH DRIEST AUGUST ON
RECORD.
SOUTH BEND PICKED UP SEVEN 90-DEGREE DAYS THIS MONTH. THIS IS THE
GREATEST TOTAL FOR THE MONTH SINCE 2001 (7). TO FIND A GREATER TOTAL
OF 90-DEGREE DAYS, TURN TO AUGUST 1988 WITH 14 90-DEGREE DAYS. THE
ANNUAL TOTAL TO DATE IS 22 90-DEGREE DAYS. THIS IS THE GREATEST
SINCE 2012 WHICH HAD 32 THROUGH THE END OF AUGUST.
THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 72.9 DEGREES, WHICH IS 1.6
DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS TIES AS THE 33RD WARMEST ON RECORD. THERE
WERE TWO TEMPERATURE RECORDS: RECORD WARM MINIMUM TEMPERATURES FOR
THE 25TH AND 28TH. THE MINIMUM TEMPERATURE ON THE 25TH TIED THE
RECORD OF 73 SET IN 1910. ON THE 28TH, THE MINIMUM TEMPERATURE TIED
THE RECORD OF 74 SET IN 1973.
SEPTEMBER
...TWO WEEKS WITHOUT MEASUREABLE RAINFALL MARK CONTINUED DROUGHT...
THE US DROUGHT MONITOR REMAINED NEARLY STEADY THROUGH THE MONTH WITH
ALL OF NORTHERN INDIANA DECLARED TO BE EXPERIENCING AT LEAST
"ABNORMALLY DRY CONDITIONS". JUST OUTSIDE OF SOUTH BEND, COMMUNITIES
TO THE NORTHEAST AND SOUTHWEST WERE DECLARED TO BE IN A "MODERATE
DROUGHT". RAINFALL IS ONLY ONE PIECE OF DROUGHT CONSIDERATIONS.
HOWEVER, THIS MONTH WAS CERTAINLY A DRY ONE.
RAINFALL FOR THE MONTH TOTALED 1.68". THIS IS 1.85" BELOW NORMAL AND
RANKS AS THE 28TH DRIEST ON RECORD. ROUGHLY 73 PERCENT OF THE
MONTH`S RAINFALL OCCURRED ON ONE DAY; 1.23" ON THE 8TH. THERE WAS NO
MEASUREABLE PRECIPITATION (0.01" OR GREATER) FROM THE 13TH THROUGH
27TH. THIS WAS THE DRIEST SEPTEMBER SINCE 2009 (0.09").
ALSO NOTABLE THIS MONTH WERE THE TEMPERATURE SWINGS. THE DAILY MEAN
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE DEPARTURE RANGED FROM 12 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL ON
THE 19TH TO 12 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL ON THE 26TH AND 27TH. A PORTION
OF THE AREA OBSERVED ITS FIRST FROST ON THE MORNING OF SEPTEMBER
19TH WHEN A LOW OF 36 DEGREES WAS OBSERVED AT THE AIRPORT (OUTLYING
AREAS WERE COLDER, WITH SOME FROST REPORTED VIA SOCIAL MEDIA). ALL
TOLD, THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 64.3 DEGREES WHICH
IS 0.3 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL.
THERE WERE NO RECORDS SET AT SOUTH BEND THIS MONTH.
OCTOBER
...STRETCH OF WET WEATHER MIDDLE OF MONTH AND COLDER END OF MONTH...
OCTOBER BEGAN WITH SOME WELCOME RAIN AND BELOW-NORMAL TEMPERATURES.
AS TEMPERATURES WARMED TO ABOVE NORMAL BEGINNING ON THE 6TH, A DRY
STRETCH OF WEATHER BEGAN. AS A RESULT, DROUGHT CONDITIONS REMAINED
UNCHANGED FOR MUCH OF OCTOBER. THAT IS, SOUTHERN MICHIGAN WAS SAID
TO BE "ABNORMALLY DRY" ACCORDING TO THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR.
MEANWHILE, STEUBEN COUNTY THROUGH WHITE COUNTY WERE LABELED AS
"MODERATE DROUGHT". A ROUND OF THUNDERSTORMS ON THE 12TH PRODUCED A
50 MPH WIND GUST AT THE AIRPORT BUT THE RAINFALL OF 0.32 INCHES WAS
NOT ENOUGH TO EASE THE DROUGHT CONDITIONS.
DROUGHT CONDITIONS IMPROVED SLIGHTLY DURING THE SECOND HALF OF THE
MONTH. FROM THE 18TH THROUGH 23RD, 1.23 INCHES OF RAIN WAS OBSERVED.
AN ADDITIONAL 0.11 INCHES WAS OBSERVED ON THE 27TH. THIS STRETCH OF
WET WEATHER EASED THE DROUGHT FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN MICHIGAN.
TEMPERATURES TURNED NOTABLY COOLER FOR THE END OF THE MONTH AS WELL,
WITH A BELOW-NORMAL MEAN TEMPERATURE ON 13 OF THE FINAL 17 DAYS. THE
HIGH TEMPERATURE OF ONLY 41 DEGREES ON THE 27TH NEARLY BROKE THE
PREVIOUS RECORD OF 40 DEGREES SET IN 1925.
THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 51.1 DEGREES WHICH IS 1.0
DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS TIED FOR THE 32ND COLDEST ON
RECORD. TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH WAS 2.85 INCHES WHICH IS
0.47 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 59TH DRIEST OCTOBER. NO
SNOW WAS OBSERVED THIS MONTH. THE NORMAL FOR OCTOBER IS 0.4 INCHES.
NOVEMBER
...TOP 10 WARMEST NOVEMBER...
NOVEMBER 2020 WILL BE REMEMBERED AS A WARM ONE! THE 4TH THROUGH 10TH
FEATURED HIGHS IN THE UPPER-60S AND UPPER-70S, WITH LOWS IN THE 50S.
THERE WAS ONE MORE BOUT OF WARMTH ON THE 19TH AND 20TH WITH HIGHS IN
THE 60S. TEN DAYS HAD DOUBLE-DIGIT DAILY MEAN TEMPERATURE DEPARTURES
ABOVE NORMAL. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 45.7 DEGREES, WHICH IS 5.0
DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS TIES 2016 AS THE 9TH WARMEST NOVEMBER ON
RECORD.
A NUMBER OF TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE BROKEN THIS MONTH:
11/08: H:77. (PREVIOUS 72, 1931)
11/09: H:77. (75, 1999). L:58. (57, 1966)
11/10: H:75. (71, 1999). L:55. (52, 2012)
THE RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE ON NOVEMBER 8TH IS NOTEWORTHY BECAUSE IS
IS THE WARMEST TEMPERATURE RECORDED SO LATE IN THE CALENDAR YEAR.
THE PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 76 DEGREES SET ON NOVEMBER 19, 1930.
PAIRED WITH THE UNSEASONABLE WARMTH WERE DRY CONDITIONS.
PRECIPITATION TOTALED 1.88 INCHES WHICH IS 1.39 INCHES BELOW NORMAL.
THIS RANKS AS THE 26TH DRIEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD. LAST YEAR, 1.44
INCHES WAS RECORDED. AS A RESULT OF THIS DRYNESS, THE U.S. DROUGHT
MONITOR EXPANDED THE "MODERATE DROUGHT" CONDITIONS DURING THE MONTH.
THERE WAS ONE INSTANCE OF MEASURABLE SNOW (0.1" OR GREATER) THIS
MONTH (11/24). THIS TOTALED 1.3 INCHES AS IS 3.5 INCHES BELOW
NORMAL. THIS TIES AS THE 27TH LEAST SNOWIEST NOVEMBER. COMPARE THIS
TO 6.8 INCHES IN 2019, AND 12.1 INCHES IN 2018.
DECEMBER
...CHRISTMAS DAY SNOW RECORD NOT ENOUGH, AS SLOW START TO
WINTER CONTINUES...
DECEMBER 2020 WILL BE REMEMBERED FOR ITS MILD AND MAINLY DRY
CONDITIONS. ROUGHLY TWO-THIRDS OF THE DAYS FEATURED AN AVERAGE DAILY
TEMPERATURE DEPARTURE OF AT LEAST +1 DEGREE. THERE WERE TWO
STRETCHES OF DAYS WHERE THIS WARMTH WAS MOST NOTABLE. THE FIRST
STRETCH WAS FROM THE 9TH THROUGH 12TH WHEN HIGHS REACHED THE 50S
HELPING TO PROPEL THE DAY`S TEMPERATURE DEPARTURE FROM +8 (ON 12/9)
TO +15 (ON 12/12) DEGREES. THE SECOND STRETCH OCCURRED FROM THE 19TH
THROUGH 23RD. HERE, DEPARTURES RANGED FROM +10 (ON 12/19) TO +18 (ON
12/23) DEGREES. THROUGH THE 23RD, SOUTH BEND WAS TIED WITH 1956 AND
1920 FOR THE 17TH WARMEST START TO WINTER WITH AN AVERAGE DAILY
TEMPERATURE OF 35.0 DEGREES. THIS WAS THE WARMEST START SINCE 2015;
40.8 DEGREES.
BY THE END OF THE MONTH, THE AVERAGE DAILY TEMPERATURE WAS 32.5
DEGREES WHICH IS 3.7 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 32ND
WARMEST ON RECORD.
PRECIPITATION WAS LARGELY ABSENT FOR THE FIRST ONE-THIRD OF THE
MONTH. IN FACT, THROUGH 12/10, IT WAS THE DRIEST START TO WINTER ON
RECORD. SECOND PLACE GOES TO 1988 WITH 0.05". IT WAS NOT UNTIL THE
11TH THAT MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION (0.01" OR GREATER) WAS OBSERVED.
MUCH OF THE MONTH`S PRECIPITATION OCCURRED ON THE 12TH (1.24") AND
DURING THE LAST WEEK OF THE MONTH. ALL TOLD, PRECIPITATION TOTALED
2.37 INCHES WHICH IS ONLY 0.24 INCH BELOW NORMAL.
LIKE PRECIPITATION, SNOWFALL WAS LARGELY ABSENT THIS MONTH. AT ITS
PEAK, THE SNOWFALL DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL WAS -11.4" FOR THE MONTH ON
THE 23RD. AT THAT POINT, ONLY 0.8" HAD BEEN OBSERVED. AT THE TIME,
THIS WAS TIED WITH 2018 AS THE LEAST SNOWIEST START TO WINTER. THE
FOLLOWING TWO DAYS BROUGHT A WALLOP OF LAKE EFFECT SNOW. A TOTAL OF
12.8" WAS OBSERVED FROM THE 24TH TO 25TH. THE 11.8" THAT FELL ON THE
25TH WAS A RECORD (PREVIOUS: 6.0" IN 1915). THIS WAS THE ONLY RECORD
SET IN DECEMBER 2020. TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH WAS 15.4 INCHES
WHICH IS 1.9 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 54TH SNOWIEST
DECEMBER ON RECORD.
$$
BROWN/ROLLER
- National Weather Service
- Central Illinois Weather Forecast Office
- 1362 State Route 10
- Lincoln, IL 62656
- 217-732-7321 (forecast recording) or 217-732-3089
- Page Author: ILX Webmaster
- Web Master's E-mail: w-ilx.webmaster@noaa.gov
- Page last modified: Sep 19th, 2023 19:10 UTC