Climatological Report (Annual)
Issued by NWS Portland, ME
Issued by NWS Portland, ME
000 CXUS51 KGYX 111125 CLACON PWMCLACON 000 TTAA00 GYX 032139 CLIMATE REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME 438 PM EST TUE JAN 03 2023 ................................... ...THE CONCORD NH CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE YEAR OF 2022... CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD: 1991 TO 2020 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD: 1868 TO 2023 WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE DATE(S) NORMAL ................................................................ TEMPERATURE (F) RECORD HIGH 102 07/03/1966 07/04/1911 LOW -37 02/16/1943 HIGHEST 98 08/04 96 2 97 06/28 LOWEST -10 01/22 -15 5 -3 01/31 02/10 AVG. MAXIMUM 60.3 58.3 2.0 59.9 AVG. MINIMUM 36.5 36.1 0.4 38.3 MEAN 48.4 47.2 1.2 49.1 DAYS MAX >= 90 26 13.7 12.3 17 DAYS MAX <= 32 38 43.5 -5.5 36 DAYS MIN <= 32 154 164.8 -10.8 148 DAYS MIN <= 0 11 12.8 -1.8 2 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 57.99 2008 MINIMUM 24.17 1965 TOTALS 40.74 41.95 -1.21 44.02 DAILY AVG. 0.11 0.11 -0.00 0.12 DAYS >= .01 122 132.8 -10.8 138 DAYS >= .10 82 79.6 2.4 84 DAYS >= .50 33 28.0 5.0 30 DAYS >= 1.00 8 9.5 -1.5 10 GREATEST 24 HR. TOTAL 2.06 02/03 TO 02/04 SNOWFALL (INCHES) RECORDS TOTAL 128.4 1956 TOTALS 42.3 67.7 -25.4 35.1 SINCE 7/1 5.8 17.6 -11.8 8.1 SNOWDEPTH AVG. 2 DAYS >= TRACE 36 30.3 5.7 52 DAYS >= 1.0 11 16.5 -5.5 12 GREATEST SNOW DEPTH 13 01/30 24 HR TOTAL 7.4 02/25 DEGREE DAYS HEATING TOTAL 6578 6980 -402 6322 SINCE 7/1 2355 2610 -255 2246 COOLING TOTAL 650 528 122 658 FREEZE DATES RECORD EARLIEST 08/29/1986 LATEST 06/26/1979 EARLIEST 09/30 LATEST 05/11 ................................................................ WIND (MPH) AVERAGE WIND SPEED 6.9 HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 33/290 DATE 03/08 HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 51/180 DATE 12/23 SKY COVER AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.39 AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 67 WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORM 24 HEAVY RAIN 35 RAIN 57 LIGHT RAIN 129 FREEZING RAIN 4 LT FREEZING RAIN 3 HEAVY SNOW 4 SNOW 8 LIGHT SNOW 35 FOG 150 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 45 HAZE 17 - INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED. MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT. && COLD WEATHER WAS ABLE TO TAKE HOLD OVER NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND DURING JANUARY AS A RIDGE IN THE JET STREAM DEVELOPED OVER WESTERN NORTH AMERICA WITH A DOWNSTREAM TROUGH CENTERED OVER THE GREAT LAKES. THIS PATTERN ALLOWED FOR SEVERAL INTRUSIONS OF ARCTIC AIR INTO NEW ENGLAND AS WELL AS A STORM TRACK ALIGNED NEAR THE EAST COAST. THIS STORM TRACK ALLOWED FOR THREE MODERATE SNOW EVENTS IN THE CONCORD AREA WITH THE PEAK SNOW DEPTH OF THE YEAR OCCURRING ON JANUARY 30TH WITH A DEPTH OF 13 INCHES. THE LOWEST TEMPERATURE OF THE YEAR ALSO OCCURRED ON JANUARY 22ND WHEN THE LOW TEMPERATURE DROPPED TO 10 DEGREES BELOW ZERO. ANOTHER IMPACTFUL WINTER STORM TO AFFECT NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND UNFOLDED ON FEBRUARY 3RD TO 4TH WHEN A STALLED FRONTAL BOUNDARY REMAINED DRAPED THROUGH SOUTHERN MAINE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE WITH WAVES OF LOW PRESSURE TRACKING ALONG THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY. THE CONCORD AREA WAS ON THE WARM SIDE OF THIS FRONTAL BOUNDARY WHICH RESULTED IN A MIX OF RAIN, SNOW, AND FREEZING RAIN WHILE IN THE MOUNTAINS UPWARDS OF 18 INCHES OF SNOW FELL. THIS EVENT DID RESULT IN THE GREATEST PRECIPITATION OF THE YEAR WITH A LIQUID EQUIVALENT OF 2.06 INCHES. THE GREATEST SNOWFALL OF THE YEAR OCCURRED ON FEBRUARY 25TH INTO THE 26TH WHEN 7.4 INCHES WAS MEASURED IN 24 HOURS AND A STORM TOTAL OF 7.6 INCHES. ADDITIONAL LIGHT SNOWFALL EVENTS OCCURRED THROUGH EARLY MARCH, BUT ON THE WHOLE WINTER WENT OUT WITH A WHIMPER WITH THE LAST OF THE WINTER SNOWPACK MELTING ON MARCH 19TH. AFTER A SHOT OF COLD AIR AT THE END OF MARCH TEMPERATURES TRENDED CLOSE TO NORMAL THROUGH APRIL. ON THE WHOLE, APRIL WAS UNEVENTFUL FOR IMPACTFUL WEATHER WITH PRECIPITATION ALSO TRACKING CLOSE TO NORMAL, ALTHOUGH NO SNOW OCCURRED. THE LAST FREEZE OF THE SPRING SEASON OCCURRED ON MAY 11TH WHEN THE LOW TEMPERATURE DROPPED TO 30 DEGREES. THEREAFTER, CONDITIONS TURNED VERY WARM WITH THE FIRST 90 DEGREE DAY OCCURRING ON MAY 14TH WHEN THE HIGH TEMPERATURE REACHED 91 DEGREES. TEMPERATURES THEN AVERAGED WELL ABOVE NORMAL THROUGH THE END OF SPRING. THE SUMMER SEASON STARTED OFF COOLER THAN NORMAL WITH A PERIOD OF BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES EARLY IN JUNE. ANOTHER PERIOD OF COOL CONDITIONS ARRIVED DURING THE THIRD WEEK OF JUNE WHEN AN ANOMALOUS UPPER LOW SETTLED OVER NEW ENGLAND WITH MEASURABLE SNOWFALL OCCURING ON MT WASHINGTON ON JUNE 19TH. JUNE WAS ALSO DRY IN THE CONCORD AREA WITH DROUGHT CONDITIONS EXPANDING AND INTENSIFYING ACROSS NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND. TEMPERATURES THEN TRENDED WELL ABOVE NORMAL THROUGH JULY WHILE PRECIPITATION CONTINUED TO RUN BELOW NORMAL FOR THE THIRD MONTH IN A ROW. THE DOMINANT WEATHER FEATURE WAS A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE OVER EASTERN CANADA THAT OFTEN FAVORED DRY CANADIAN HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEMS TO MOVE OVER NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND. THIS MADE FOR VERY WARM AND SUNNY DAYS LEADING TO THE ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES BEING DRIVEN BY DAY TIME HIGHS. FROM JULY 19TH THROUGH THE 24TH THE HIGH TEMPERATURE IN CONCORD ECLIPSED THE 90 DEGREE MARK FOR 6 STRAIGHT DAYS. THE TREND IN ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES CONTINUED INTO AUGUST. FROM AUGUST 2ND TO THE 9TH THE HIGH TEMPERATURE IN CONCORD ECLIPSED THE 90 DEGREE MARK FOR 8 STRAIGHT DAYS WITH THE HOTTEST DAY OF THE YEAR OCCURRING ON AUGUST 4TH WHEN THE HIGH REACHED 98 DEGREES. THIS WAS ALSO THE FIRST TIME ON RECORD WHEN THE CONCORD AREA EXPERIENCED TWO HEAT WAVES WHEN THE HIGH TEMPERATURE EXCEEDED 90 DEGREES FOR AT LEAST 6 DAYS. IN ADDITION TO THE HEAT, AUGUST WAS ALSO HUMID AS A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE BECAME ESTABLISHED IN THE WESTERN ATLANTIC AND ADVECTED MOISTURE INTO NEW ENGLAND. DESPITE THE HUMIDITY IN AUGUST, PRECIPITATION FELL SHORT OF NORMAL FOR THE FOURTH STRAIGHT MONTH LEADING TO EXPANDING AND INTENSIFYING DROUGHT CONDITIONS. THE HEAT GRADUALLY ABATED THROUGH SEPTEMBER WITH MULTIPLE RAIN EVENTS ALLOWING THE CONCORD AREA TO RECEIVE ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL FOR THE FIRST MONTH SINCE APRIL. THE FIRST FREEZE OF THE FALL SEASON OCCURRED ON SEPTEMBER 30TH WHEN THE LOW TEMPERATURE DROPPED TO 32 DEGREES. A RELATIVE ACTIVE PATTERN DEVELOPED IN OCTOBER AS A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE DEVELOPED OVER WESTERN NORTH AMERICA WITH A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE OVER THE GREAT LAKES. DESPITE THE ACTIVE PATTERN, THE CONCORD AREA WAS OFTEN TOO FAR WEST OF THE AXIS OF HEAVIEST RAINFALL AND PRECIPITATION FINISHED BELOW NORMAL FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER. A PERIOD OF EXCEPTIONAL WARMTH THEN DEVELOPED IN EARLY NOVEMBER WHEN THE HIGH TEMPERATURE EXCEEDED 70 DEGREES FOR 4 STRAIGHT DAYS FROM NOVEMBER 4TH TO THE 7TH. AFTER THIS PERIOD OF WARMTH, CONDITIONS TURNED COLDER THAN NORMAL BY MID NOVEMBER WITH THE FIRST SNOWFALL OCCURRING ON THE 15TH INTO THE 16TH WHEN 0.7 INCHES FELL. SNOWFALL WAS HARD TO COME BY THROUGH THE REST OF NOVEMBER WHILE TEMPERATURES CONTINUED TO AVERAGE BELOW NORMAL. A SLOW MOVING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM TRACKED ACROSS SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND INTO THE GULF OF MAINE DECEMBER 16TH AND 17TH THAT BROUGHT A MIX OF RAIN AND HEAVY WET SNOW TO THE CONCORD AREA WITH A STORM TOTAL SNOW OF 3.6 INCHES. FURTHER NORTH THIS SYSTEM BROUGHT SIGNIFICANT WET SNOW ACCUMULATIONS THAT RESULTED IN POWER OUTAGES WITH THE MOUNTAINS RECEIVING UPWARDS OF TWO FEET OF SNOW. THE LAST SIGNIFICANT WEATHER MAKER OF THE YEAR OCCURRED ON DECEMBER 22ND AND 23RD WHEN A POWERFUL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM DEEPENED OVER THE GREAT LAKES AND TRACKED INTO QUEBEC. THIS SYSTEM BROUGHT DAMAGING SOUTH TO SOUTHEASTERLY WINDS WITH THE PEAK GUST AT CONCORD TOPPING OUT AT 51 MPH AND WAS ALSO THE STRONGEST WIND GUST OF THE YEAR. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE YEAR WAS 48.4 DEGREES, WHICH WAS 1.2 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL AND THE 11TH WARMEST YEAR ON RECORD. THE WARMEST YEAR WAS 49.3 DEGREES IN 2016. THE COLDEST WAS 1918 AT 41.1 DEGREES. AVERAGE TEMPERATURES BY MONTH IN 2022 MONTH MAXIMUM MINIMUM AVERAGE NOTES JANUARY 29.9 (-1.7) 7.2 (-5.7) 18.5 (-3.8) FEBRUARY 38.5 (+3.7) 16.8 (+2.1) 27.6 (+2.9) MARCH 46.9 (+3.3) 25.2 (+1.9) 36.1 (+2.7) APRIL 57.2 (-0.3) 33.7 (+0.4) 45.5 (+0.1) MAY 73.3 (+4.0) 46.1 (+2.0) 59.7 (+3.0) JUNE 76.3 (-1.5) 52.1 (-1.6) 64.2 (-1.6) JULY 85.9 (+2.9) 58.6 (-0.6) 72.3 (+1.2) AUGUST 86.4 (+4.7) 60.6 (+3.4) 73.5 (+4.0) WARMEST ON RECORD SEPTEMBER 71.9 (-1.8) 49.3 (+0.3) 60.6 (-0.8) OCTOBER 63.3 (+2.4) 37.1 (-0.7) 50.2 (+0.9) NOVEMBER 54.0 (+5.6) 29.9 (+1.2) 42.0 (+3.4) 9TH WARMEST DECEMBER 39.7 (+2.6) 21.3 (+1.8) 30.5 (+2.2) ANNUAL 60.3 (+2.0) 36.5 (+0.4) 48.4 (+1.2) THE GROWING SEASON, AS DEFINED AS THE LONGEST CONSECUTIVE DAYS ABOVE FREEZING, LASTED FOR 142 DAYS IN 2022 FROM MAY 11 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30. THIS IS 4 DAYS SHORTER THAN THE NORMAL OF 146 DAYS. THE LONGEST GROWING SEASON ON RECORD WAS IN 2021 WITH 180 DAYS. THE SHORTEST WAS ONLY 86 DAYS IN 1979. A TOTAL OF 40.74 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION FELL, WHICH WAS 1.21 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THE HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION FELL ON FEBRUARY 3RD AND 4TH WHEN WAVES OF LOW PRESSURE TRACKED ALONG A SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT THAT SLOWLY SANK SOUTH THROUGH NEW ENGLAND BEFORE STALLING OVER SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE. THE DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD WAS IN 1965 WHEN ONLY 24.17 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION WAS RECORDED. THE WETTEST WAS IN 2008 WITH 57.97 INCHES. THE FOLLOWING TABLE LISTS THE PRECIPITATION AND SNOWFALL AMOUNTS FOR EACH MONTH OF 2022 INCLUDING DEPARTURES FROM NORMAL. MONTHLY PRECIPITATION AND SNOWFALL TOTALS FOR 2022 MONTH PRECIPITATION SNOWFALL NOTES JANUARY 2.21 (-0.59) 16.8 (-0.3) FEBRUARY 4.35 (+1.60) 11.8 (-5.1) MARCH 3.50 (+0.22) 7.9 (-5.7) APRIL 3.60 (+0.17) 0.0 (-2.5) MAY 2.99 (-0.48) 0.0 JUNE 3.24 (-0.53) 0.0 JULY 3.03 (-0.59) 0.0 AUGUST 3.54 (-0.09) 0.0 SEPTEMBER 4.16 (+0.53) 0.0 OCTOBER 2.74 (-1.69) 0.0 (-0.8) NOVEMBER 3.36 (-0.08) 0.7 (-1.8) DECEMBER 4.02 (+0.32) 5.1 (-9.2) ANNUAL 40.74 (-1.21) 42.3 (-25.4) DAYS WITH AT LEAST 1.00 INCH OF PRECIPITATION IN 2022 DAY PRECIPITATION JANUARY 17 1.01 FEBRUARY 4 1.54 APRIL 8 1.03 JUNE 9 1.06 JULY 12 1.23 SEPTEMBER 5 1.41 SEPTEMBER 22 1.04 DECEMBER 23 1.45 DAYS WITH AT LEAST 6 INCHES OF SNOWFALL IN 2022 DAYS SNOWFALL JANUARY 17 6.1 FEBRUARY 25 7.4 THE FOLLOWING DAILY RECORDS WERE SET OR TIED IN 2022... DATE RECORD PREVIOUS FEB 4 1.54 -GREATEST PRECIPITATION 0.90 IN 1882 FEB 17 59 -WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 58 IN 1883, 1880 MAR 7 39 -WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 38 IN 1894, 1876 MAR 18 58 -WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 55 IN 2012 MAR 27 27 -COLDEST HIGH TEMPERATURE 29 IN 1966 APR 8 1.03 -GREATEST PRECIPITATION 0.75 IN 1940 MAY 14 91 -WARMEST HIGH TEMPERATURE 91 IN 1961 (TIED) MAY 15 64 -WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 60 IN 2004 AUG 4 98 -WARMEST HIGH TEMPERATURE 97 IN 1944 AUG 8 96 -WARMEST HIGH TEMPERATURE 95 IN 2001, 1970 SEP 5 1.41 -GREATEST PRECIPITATION 0.97 IN 1944 OCT 26 61 -WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 52 IN 1918 NOV 5 78 -WARMEST HIGH TEMPERATURE 75 IN 1994 NOV 6 62* -WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 60 IN 1938 NOV 6 75 -WARMEST HIGH TEMPERATURE 75 IN 1948 (TIED) NOV 12 53 -WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 48 IN 1882 DEC 23 1.45 -GREATEST PRECIPITATION 1.09 IN 2004 $$ DS/HAT