Climatological Report (Annual)
Issued by NWS Northern Indiana
Issued by NWS Northern Indiana
000 CXUS53 KIWX 021552 CLAFWA CLIMATE REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 1052 AM EST MON JAN 02 2023 ................................... ...THE FORT WAYNE CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE YEAR OF 2022... CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1991 TO 2020 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1897 TO 2022 WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE NORMAL .............................................................. TEMPERATURE (F) RECORD HIGH 106 06/28/2012 06/25/1988 07/14/1936 LOW -24 01/12/1918 HIGHEST 96 06/14 MM MM 92 06/21 LOWEST -9 01/26 MM MM -6 AVG. MAXIMUM 60.9 60.3 0.6 61.9 AVG. MINIMUM 40.8 41.4 -0.6 42.9 MEAN 50.9 50.9 -0.0 DAYS MAX >= 90 13 15.7 -2.7 7 DAYS MAX <= 32 47 39.7 7.3 29 DAYS MIN <= 32 121 123.6 -2.6 119 DAYS MIN <= 0 7 6.2 0.8 3 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 54.58 1990 MINIMUM 24.40 1962 TOTALS 33.59 39.48 -5.89 44.14 DAILY AVG. 0.09 0.11 -0.02 0.12 DAYS >= .01 125 135.4 -10.4 133 DAYS >= .10 67 77.3 -10.3 75 DAYS >= .50 22 25.2 -3.2 34 DAYS >= 1.00 5 8.9 -3.9 11 SNOWFALL (INCHES) RECORDS TOTAL 68.6 2014 TOTALS 27.6 33.6 -6.0 35.2 SINCE 7/1 7.0 9.6 -2.6 2.6 SNOWDEPTH AVG. 0 0 DAYS >= TRACE 66 34.0 32.0 57 DAYS >= 1.0 9 10.7 -1.7 8 GREATEST SNOW DEPTH 9 02/04 15 02/05 DEGREE DAYS HEATING TOTAL 5945 5968 -23 5483 SINCE 7/1 2200 2257 -57 1848 COOLING TOTAL 925 849 76 1062 SINCE 1/1 925 849 76 1062 .............................................................. WIND (MPH) AVERAGE WIND SPEED 9.2 HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 74/360 DATE 06/13 HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 98/360 DATE 06/13 SKY COVER POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.65 NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 57 NUMBER OF DAYS PC 143 NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 165 AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 70 WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORM 35 MIXED PRECIP 0 HEAVY RAIN 25 RAIN 48 LIGHT RAIN 133 FREEZING RAIN 0 LT FREEZING RAIN 10 HAIL 0 HEAVY SNOW 0 SNOW 9 LIGHT SNOW 64 SLEET 2 FOG 183 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 12 HAZE 40 - INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED. MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT. && ...DRIEST YEAR SINCE 2012... THE TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR WAS 33.59 INCHES. THIS IS 5.89 INCHES BELOW THE NORMAL OF 39.48 INCHES. THIS RANKS AS THE 45TH DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD. THIS WAS THE DRIEST YEAR SINCE 28.58 INCHES IN 2012. DUE TO THE DRY CONDITIONS, ALLEN COUNTY (IN) AND SURROUNDING AREAS EXPERIENCED "MODERATE DROUGHT" CONDITIONS THIS SUMMER AND FALL ACCORDING TO THE US DROUGHT MONITOR. IN MID-NOVEMBER, 55% OF THE NWS NORTHERN INDIANA FORECAST AREA WAS EXPERIENCING "MODERATE DROUGHT". THIS VALUE GREW TO 64% IN THE FINAL WEEK OF DECEMBER. DESPITE THIS, THERE WERE VERY FEW IMPACTS TO CROPS; LIKELY DUE TO THE LATE DEVELOPMENT OF DROUGHT CONDITIONS. ALTERNATIVELY, CONDITIONS WERE DRIEST DURING FALL HARVEST WHICH RESULTED IN SOME FIELD FIRES. TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE YEAR WAS 27.6 INCHES, WHICH IS 6.0 INCHES BELOW THE NORMAL OF 33.6. THIS IS THE 45TH LEAST SNOW ON RECORD. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE YEAR WAS 50.9 DEGREES WHICH MATCHES THE NORMAL AVERAGE TEMPERATURE. THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE FOR THE YEAR WAS 96 DEGREES ON JUNE 14TH AND 21ST (GREATEST SINCE 97 DEGREES IN 2018). THE LOWEST TEMPERATURE FOR THE YEAR WAS -9 DEGREES ON JANUARY 26TH. NOTABLE WEATHER EVENTS THIS YEAR INCLUDE: --FEBRUARY BEGAN WITH 9.2" OF SNOW OVER TWO DAYS. BY MID-MONTH, TEMPERATURES SOARED INTO THE 50S AND RAIN ARRIVED. AROUND 1 INCH OF PRECIPITATION OCCURRED, BUT DUE TO THE SNOWPACK AND FROZEN GROUND, FLOODING OCCURRED. AS THIS SYSTEM DEPARTED, 1 TO 4 INCHES OF SNOW FELL. --MAY FEATURED ANOMALOUS WARMTH IN THE FIRST HALF. TWO TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE SET. --A DERECHO MOVED THROUGH ON JUNE 13TH. FORT WAYNE INT`L AIRPORT REPORTED ITS HIGHEST WIND GUST EVER ON RECORD; 98MPH (PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 91MPH ON JUNE 30, 2012). THIS DERECHO PRODUCED SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE IN ALLEN COUNTY AND SURROUNDING AREAS. --JULY RANKED AS THE 8TH WETTEST. --OCTOBER FEATURED THE SECOND EARLIEST MEASUREABLE SNOW ON RECORD. THE MONTH BEGAN WITHIN THE TOP-15 COLDEST, BUT ENDED WITHIN THE TOP- 20 WARMEST. --A DECEMBER STORM BROUGHT BLIZZARD CONDITIONS TO THE REGION. WIND GUSTS OF 45-55MPH RESULTED IN SIGNIFICANT BLOWING SNOW AND WIND CHILLS OF 35 TO 40 DEGREES BELOW ZERO. BROWN JANUARY ...MUCH BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION WITH A VERY COLD END TO THE MONTH... THE MONTH FINISHED VERY COLD WITH THE LAST 10 DAYS OF THE MONTH EXPERIENCING MINIMUM TEMPERATURES COLDER THAN 10 DEGREES. FOUR OF THESE DAYS HAD MINIMUM TEMPERATURES BELOW ZERO WITH THE COLDEST MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF -9 DEGREES ON JANUARY 26TH. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 20.9 DEGREES WHICH WAS 4.6 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 27TH COLDEST ON RECORD. THE MONTH WAS VERY DRY WITH ONLY 0.83 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION, MORE THAN HALF OF WHICH FELL ON THE 1ST AND 23RD OF THE MONTH. THIS RANKS AS THE 17TH DRIEST ON RECORD. SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH TOTALED ONLY 4.6 INCHES WITH MOST OF THIS SNOW FALLING ON THE 23RD AND 24TH OF THE MONTH. THIS RANKS AS THE 37TH LEAST SNOWIEST AT FORT WAYNE. THERE WERE 2 RECORDS SET FOR THE MONTH. A DAILY RECORD SNOWFALL OF 2.7 INCHES WAS SET AT FORT WAYNE FOR THE DATE OF JANUARY 23RD. THIS BROKE THE OLD RECORD OF 2.0 INCHES SET BACK IN 2004. A RECORD DAILY LOW TEMPERATURE OF -9 DEGREES WAS SET ON JANUARY 26TH WHICH BROKE THE OLD RECORD OF -8 DEGREES SET BACK IN 1936. FEBRUARY 2022 ...ABOVE NORMAL SNOWFALL AND ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION... THIS MONTH WAS CHARACTERIZED BY THE ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION OCCURRED. THE TOTAL OF 2.94 INCHES IS 0.88 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKED AS THE 20TH WETTEST MONTH AND FINISHED WITH RECORD DAILY MAXIMUM PRECIPITATION TOTALS ON THE 17TH AND 2ND OF THE MONTH. WHILE THE TEMPERATURE FINISHED OUT NORMAL FOR THE MONTH, WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 27.7 DEGREES WHEN COMPARED WITH THE NORMAL OF 28.7 DEGREES, FEBRUARY WILL BE MORE NOTABLE FOR ITS TEMPERATURE SWINGS. FOR INSTANCE, SIX OF THE MONTH`S MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES WERE HIGHER THAN FEBRUARY`S AVERAGE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE BY 7 DEGREES. IN ADDITION, SEVEN OF THE MONTH`S MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WERE LOWER THAN FEBRUARY`S AVERAGE MINIMUM TEMPERATURE BY 7 DEGREES. THE LOWER TEMPERATURES AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MONTH LEAD TO THE CREATION OF ICE ON AREA RIVERS THAT BROKE UP LATER IN THE MONTH WITH THE WARM TEMPERATURES AND RAIN. FEBRUARY ALSO BROUGHT THE HIGHEST MONTHLY SNOWFALL TOTALS OF THIS WINTER. THE 13.7 INCHES OF SNOW THAT WAS OBSERVED THIS MONTH SURPASSED THE 7.8 INCHES OF NORMAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH. THIS RANKED AS THE 20TH SNOWIEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD. A DAILY MAXIMUM SNOWFALL RECORD OF 4.4 INCHES OCCURRED ON THE 2ND THIS YEAR, WHICH BROKE THE OLD RECORD OF 3.3 INCHES SET IN 1973. WITH SNOWPACK MELT, ICE JAMS, A FROZEN GROUND SURFACE, AND RAINFALL, STANDING WATER AND RIVER FLOODING OCCURRED BETWEEN THE 17TH AND 23RD OF THE MONTH. ROLLER MARCH 2022 ...WARM WITH ABOVE AVERAGE PRECIPITATION... AS IS USUALLY THE CASE FOR SPRING, TEMPERATURES WERE TOPSY-TURVY. FORT WAYNE HAD A FEW TASTES OF SPRING DURING THIS MONTH AS TEMPERATURES ROSE INTO THE 70S ON THREE SEPARATE DAYS. WITH REALLY ONLY TWO COLD BLASTS THIS MONTH, THE MEAN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FINISHED ABOVE NORMAL BY 3.1 DEGREES. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 50.4 DEGREES RECORDED FROM MARCH 14TH TO MARCH 23RD WAS THE 6TH WARMEST ON RECORD. IF YOU GUESSED 2012 HAD A WARMER PERIOD OF AVERAGE TEMPERATURES, YOU`D BE RIGHT; AT 16 DEGREES WARMER THAN 50.4 DEGREES. THIS MONTH`S ABOVE AVERAGE PRECIPITATION TOTAL OF 3.18 INCHES WAS ATTAINED THROUGH A COUPLE MODERATE RAINFALL DAYS. THREE DAYS THIS MONTH HAD RAIN TOTALING GREATER THAN 0.5 INCH INCLUDING THE 7TH, THE 18TH, AND THE 22ND. OVER HALF OF THE DAYS THIS MONTH OBSERVED PRECIPITATION OF A TRACE OR HIGHER. THE AVERAGE SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH IS 4 INCHES. HOWEVER, THE STORM TRACK KEPT THE SNOW FARTHER WEST OF FORT WAYNE AND THIS RESULTED IN BELOW NORMAL SNOWFALL; ONLY TOTALING 1.0 INCH OF SNOW. ROLLER APRIL 2022 ...DRIER AND COOLER WITH SLIGHTLY MORE SNOW THAN NORMAL... THIS MONTH CONTAINED UPS AND DOWNS AS FAR AS TEMPERATURE GOES. DESPITE A PLEASANT WARM UP BETWEEN THE 21ST AND THE 24TH, THE MONTH STILL FINISHED BELOW NORMAL FOR MEAN AVERAGE TEMPERATURES. DUE TO THE AFOREMENTIONED LATE MONTH WARM UP, THE GROWING SEASON STARTED AND A FREEZE WARNING WAS ISSUED FOR THE MORNING OF THE 27TH WITH A LOW TEMPERATURE OF 31 DEGREES RECORDED. A RECORD WARM LOW TEMPERATURE WAS ACHIEVED ON THE 13TH AT 61 DEGREES, WHICH BROKE THE OLD RECORD SET BACK IN 1955. THIS IS ALSO THE 10TH EARLIEST INSTANCE OF AN OBSERVED MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 60 DEGREES OR WARMER. OVER HALF, 16 DAYS, OF THE MONTH OBSERVED MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION. HOWEVER, THE MONTH STILL FINISHED BELOW NORMAL FOR PRECIPITATION. ONLY TWO DAYS, THE 13TH AND 30TH, RECORDED 0.50 INCHES OR MORE. FORT WAYNE ACTUALLY HAD AN ABOVE NORMAL APRIL WHEN IT COMES TO SNOWFALL. BUT THAT ISN`T SAYING MUCH SINCE THE NORMAL IS 0.8 INCHES OF SNOW. THERE WERE THREE DAYS OF MEASUREABLE SNOW THIS MONTH WITH THE HIGHEST SNOWFALL OCCURRING ON THE 18TH AT 0.6 INCHES, WHICH BROKE THE OLD DAILY SNOWFALL RECORD FOR THAT DAY THAT WAS SET BACK IN 1956. ROLLER/MURPHY MAY 2022 ...A WARM AND DRY MONTH... MAY BEGAN WITH NEAR AVERAGE TEMPERATURES UNTIL THE 9TH. MUCH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES FOLLOWED FROM THE 10TH TO THE 15TH WITH AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AS MUCH AS 10 TO 20 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES WERE SET ON THE 11TH AND 12TH FOR FORT WAYNE. THESE WERE THE WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURES THIS STRETCH OF SIX DAYS HAS SEEN IN THE PERIOD OF RECORD. A VARIABLE PATTERN FOLLOWED WITH A MIX OF ABOVE AND BELOW AVERAGE TEMPERATURES INTO THE LATTER HALF OF THE MONTH. OVERALL THE MONTH FINISHED OUT WARMER THAN NORMAL. A WET START TO MAY BROUGHT 1.80 INCHES OF RAIN FROM THE 1ST TO 6TH OF THE MONTH. THIS IS THE 6TH WETTEST 6-DAY STRETCH TO BEGIN THE MONTH OF MAY. 2003 (3.01 INCHES) AND 2017 (2.80 INCHES) ARE THE TOP 2 WETTEST OF THIS STRETCH. FOLLOWING THIS STRETCH, A PERIOD OF MOSTLY DRY WEATHER TOOK OVER THROUGH THE END OF THE MONTH. THIS MOSTLY DRY PERIOD HELPED THE MONTH FINISH OUT BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION-WISE. ROLLER/MURPHY ...JUNE A WARM AND DRY MONTH... JUNE BEGAN WITH AROUND NORMAL TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE 10TH BEFORE TWO PERIODS OF ABOVE NORMAL HIGH TEMPERATURES TOOK OVER FROM THE 13TH TO THE 16TH AND FROM THE 20TH TO THE 22ND. THE MONTH FINISHED OUT WITH AVERAGE TO BELOW AVERAGE TEMPERATURES. A RECORD WARM LOW TEMPERATURE WAS SET ON THE 15TH (75, TYING 75 IN 1981). EIGHT DAYS THIS MONTH HAD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO 90 DEGREES ALLOWING THIS MONTH TO FINISH WITHIN THE TOP 15 MONTHS WITH THE GREATEST AMOUNT OF 90 DEGREE DAYS. THESE WARM WEATHER CHARACTERISTICS HELPED FORT WAYNE TO FINISH OUT THE MONTH AS THE 20TH WARMEST JUNE WHEN COMPARED TO THE PERIOD OF RECORD. FORT WAYNE SAW ONLY THREE DAYS OF PRECIPITATION ABOVE 0.1 INCH (6TH- 0.28, 8TH--.59, 13-2.03, 26TH-0.28). THIS WAS THE 8TH LEAST WITHIN ITS PERIOD OF RECORD. THE 0.23 PRECIPITATION OBSERVED FROM JUNE 14TH THROUGH THE 30TH IS THE 3RD DRIEST ON RECORD. THE 2.03 INCHES OF RAIN THAT FORT WAYNE SAW ON THE 13TH HELPED IT FINISH WITH THE 55TH DRIEST JUNE WHEN COMPARED TO THE PERIOD OF RECORD. WITH THE WARM TEMPERATURES, MANY DAYS WITH PLENTY OF SUNSHINE, AND MINIMAL PRECIPITATION, THE DROUGHT MONITOR BEGAN TO PICK UP SIGNS OF DROUGHT WITH OVER 60 PERCENT OF THE AREA NOW EXPERIENCING SOME SORT OF DROUGHT. A FLASH DROUGHT WAS ALSO MENTIONED WITH HOW QUICK THE DRY CONDITIONS DEVELOPED. THE DRYNESS THAT THE AREA HAS SUSTAINED ALSO HELPED FT WAYNE COME WITHIN 1 DEGREE (47) OF THE RECORD LOW 6/28 (46 SET ON 1992). STORMS, LATER CALLED A DERECHO MOVED ACROSS THE AREA ON THE OF THE 13TH LEAVING A TRAIL OF THUNDERSTORM WIND DAMAGE BEHIND IT. ROLLER JULY JULY BROUGHT TWO PERIODS OF ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES: FROM THE 4TH TO THE 6TH AND FROM THE 20TH TO THE 22ND. THERE WERE ALSO THREE PERIODS OF BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES: FROM THE 8TH TO THE 10TH, THE 14TH AND 15TH, AS WELL AS THE 25TH AND 26TH. JULY ONLY FEATURED THREE DAYS WITH 90 DEGREES OR GREATER, WHICH IS BELOW THE AVERAGE OF 6 DAYS. FORT WAYNE ALSO SAW 19 DAYS WITH DEW POINT GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO 68 DEGREES, WHICH IS HIGHER THAN THE MONTHLY AVERAGE AMOUNT OF 15 DAYS (DEW POINT DATA THROUGH 1941). THIS COMBINATION OF SLIGHTLY ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AND ABOVE AVERAGE HUMIDITY RESULTED IN A MEAN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 73.5 DEGREES, WHICH IS NEAR THE NORMAL OF 73.8 DEGREES. JULY BROUGHT THREE DAYS OF PRECIPITATION GREAT THAN OR EQUAL TO 0.50 INCH, WHICH IS ABOVE THE NORMAL JULY AVERAGE OF THREE DAYS. AS SUCH, FORT WAYNE SAW RECORD RAINFALL ON THE 5TH (2.83 INCH), WHICH IS ALSO TIED FOR THE HIGHEST DAILY TOTAL EVER IN THE MONTH OF JULY (JULY 18, 1996). THIS HELPED FORT WAYNE SURPASS ITS NORMAL JULY PRECIPITATION TOTAL (4.05 INCHES) AND ATTAIN A RANK AS 8TH WETTEST ON RECORD WITH 6.34 INCHES OBSERVED. AS A RESULT OF THIS ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL, THE DROUGHT MONITOR`S D0 THAT STARTED JULY WAS REMOVED BY THE END OF JULY. ROLLER/BROWN AUGUST AUGUST STARTED OUT WITH A SLIGHT ABOVE NORMAL LEAN THROUGH THE 8TH BEFORE A SLIGHT BELOW NORMAL LEAN TOOK OVER THROUGH THE MIDDLE TO LATTER PORTION OF THE MONTH. THESE TWO LEANS AVERAGED OUT AND THE MONTH FINISHED OUT RIGHT AROUND NORMAL FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST, WHICH RESULTS IN THE 61ST WARMEST AUGUST WHEN COMPARED TO THE PERIOD OF RECORD. THERE WERE NO DAILY TEMPERATURE RECORDS SET THIS MONTH. PRECIPITATION FINISHED OUT JUST OVER A HALF INCH BELOW NORMAL. DESPITE SEEING 0.1 INCH OR GREATER SIX DAYS THIS MONTH, WHICH IS GREATER THAN THE MONTHLY AVERAGE OF FIVE DAYS, THE RAINFALL TOTALS THOSE DAYS WERE STILL NOT ENOUGH TO PUSH THE MONTHLY TOTAL ABOVE THE MONTHLY NORMAL. AS SUCH, THE MONTH FINISHED OUT AS THE 71ST DRIEST AUGUST WHEN COMPARED TO THE PERIOD OF RECORD. THERE WERE NO DAILY PRECIPITATION RECORDS SET THIS MONTH. ROLLER/FISHER SEPTEMBER 2022. SEPTEMBER FEATURED TIMES OF BOTH WARM AND COOL TEMPERATURES. THERE WERE PLENTY OF DAYS WITH HIGHS IN THE 80S TO BEGIN THE MONTH. FALL- LIKE TEMPERATURES SETTLED IN FOR THE LAST WEEK OF THE MONTH WHERE HIGHS IN THE 60S WERE COMMON WITH LOWS IN THE 40S. THE COLDEST LOW OF THE MONTH WAS 37 DEGREES ON THE 29TH. THERE WAS SOME PATCHY FROST IN OUTLYING AREAS. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 64.8 DEGREES WHICH IS ONLY 0.1 DEGREE BELOW NORMAL. ABNORMALLY DRY CONDITIONS WERE VARIABLE THIS MONTH IN NORTHEAST INDIANA, ACCORDING TO THE US DROUGHT MONITOR. THESE DRY CONDITIONS WERE MOST PREVALENT SOUTHWEST OF FORT WAYNE TO START THE MONTH. THERE WAS IMPROVEMENT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MONTH WHEN THERE WAS A FOUR-DAY STRETCH OF RAIN. BY THE END OF THE MONTH, ABNORMALLY DRY CONDITIONS RESUMED. SEPTEMBER PRECIPITATION ENDED 1.08 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 42ND DRIEST ON RECORD. NO RECORDS WERE SET THIS MONTH. BROWN OCTOBER 2022 ...SECOND EARLIEST MEASURABLE SNOW ON RECORD... OCTOBER FEATURED SEVERAL BEAUTIFUL AFTERNOONS PRECEDED BY CHILLY AND SOMETIMES FROSTY MORNINGS. THE FIRST 20 DAYS OF THE MONTH FREQUENTLY RECORDED A DAILY TEMPERATURE ANOMALY BELOW NORMAL. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR OCTOBER 1-20 WAS 50.8 DEGREES; THE 14TH COLDEST (TIE) ON RECORD AND THE COLDEST FOR THIS STRETCH SINCE 2009 (47.9 DEGREES). NOTE THAT OCT 1-20, 2012 HAD AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 50.9 DEGREES. THE FINAL 10 DAYS OF THE MONTH WERE A DIFFERENT STORY, WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 55.0 DEGREES RANKING AS THE 18TH WARMEST ON RECORD. IT WAS THE WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THAT PERIOD SINCE 56.7 DEGREES IN 2004. OVERALL, THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 52.3 DEGREES WHICH IS 0.9 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. OCTOBER 17TH WAS WHEN THE FIRST SNOWFLAKES WERE OBSERVED THIS FALL. THIS OCCURRED AS A STRONG LAKE EFFECT SNOW BAND MOVED INLAND, DUMPING 1 TO 3 INCHES OF SNOW OVER ALLEN (IN), ELKHART, KOSCIUSKO, NOBLE, AND WHITLEY COUNTIES. FORT WAYNE RECORDED 0.7 INCHES OF SNOW, A NEW RECORD FOR THAT DATE (PREVIOUS RECORD WAS A TRACE IN 1943). THIS RANKS AS THE 2ND EARLIEST MEASURABLE SNOW ON RECORD, BEHIND 0.3 INCHES ON OCTOBER 14, 1937. THE DATE OF THE AVERAGE FIRST MEASURABLE SNOWFALL AT FORT WAYNE IS NOVEMBER 14TH. THE EARLIEST DATE FOR A TRACE OF SNOW ON RECORD IS SEPTEMBER 25TH. OCTOBER`S TOTAL SNOW OF 0.7 INCHES TIES 1952 AS THE 9TH MOST AMOUNT OF SNOW ON RECORD. THE FIRST 15 DAYS OF THE MONTH (0.22") WAS THE DRIEST START TO OCTOBER SINCE 2019 (0.21"). IN THE LAST HALF OF THE MONTH, THERE WERE A FEW MORE DAYS WITH MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION, BRINGING THE MONTH`S TOTAL TO 1.74 INCHES. THIS IS 1.21 INCHES BELOW NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 35TH DRIEST ON RECORD. LOCATIONS SOUTH OF FORT WAYNE RECEIVED LESS PRECIPITATION, RESULTING IN A WORSENING OF THE DROUGHT CONDITIONS THERE ACCORDING TO THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR WHICH DEEMED "MODERATE DROUGHT" CONDITIONS WERE PRESENT. BROWN NOVEMBER 2022 ...A WILD, MEMORABLE MONTH... AFTER A RECORD-WARM START TO THE MONTH (NOVEMBER 1-10 WAS THE 3RD WARMEST ON RECORD, BEHIND 1977 AND 1975, WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 54.7 DEGREES), A WINTER CHILL QUICKLY DESCENDED OVER THE REGION. SHORTS AND T-SHIRTS WERE REPLACED WITH WINTER HATS AND GLOVES AS MORNING LOWS DIPPED AS LOW AS 13 DEGREES ON THE 20TH. THE GREATEST SINGLE-DAY TEMPERATURE DEPARTURE BELOW NORMAL WAS 18 DEGREES ON THE 20TH. MEANWHILE, NOVEMBER 4TH HAD A DAILY TEMPERATURE DEPARTURE 18 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THE COLD AIR RUSHING OVER MILD LAKE MICHIGAN WATER TEMPERATURES RESULTED IN INTENSE BOUTS OF LAKE EFFECT SNOW THAT DRIFTED INTO THE FORT WAYNE AREA AT TIMES. AHEAD OF THE LAKE EFFECT, HOWEVER, WAS A ROUND OF SYNOPTIC SNOW THAT BROUGHT 1.9 INCHES TO FORT WAYNE ON THE 12TH. THEN, FROM THE 15TH THROUGH 18TH, FORT WAYNE SLOWLY ACCUMULATED AN ADDITIONAL 1.6 INCHES OF LAKE EFFECT SNOW. THE TOTAL SNOW FOR THE MONTH WAS 3.5 INCHES WHICH IS 1.6 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 39TH SNOWIEST ON RECORD. THIS IS THE GREATEST NOVEMBER SNOW TOTAL SINCE 6.4 INCHES IN 2019. FOLLOWING THE SNOW AND COLD, A MILD, MORE SEASONABLE AIRMASS RETURNED. AS A RESULT, NOVEMBER ENDED 1.7 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 42.8 DEGREES. THIS RANKS AS TIED WITH THE NOVEMBER OF 1915 AND 2006 AS THE 30TH WARMEST ON RECORD. DROUGHT CONDITIONS OVER NORTHERN INDIANA WERE NEARLY STEADY THIS MONTH; "ABNORMALLY DRY" TO "MODERATE DROUGHT" ACCORDING TO THE US DROUGHT MONITOR. A SOAKING RAIN AT THE END OF THE MONTH PROVIDED SOME RELIEF AND SET A DAILY PRECIPITATION RECORD ON THE 27TH (1.24 INCHES BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 1.14 SET IN 1983). THE TOTAL PRECIPITATION THIS MONTH WAS 1.90 INCHES WHICH IS 1.06 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 36TH DRIEST ON RECORD. DESPITE THE WARMTH AT THE MONTH`S START, NO TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE SET. BROWN DECEMBER 2022 ...WINTER STORM BRINGS WIND, SNOW, AND ARCTIC AIR... A WELL-ADVERTISED BLAST OF ARCTIC AIR CHILLED THE REGION, AND MUCH OF THE UNITED STATES, IN THE DAYS LEADING UP TO CHRISTMAS. WHILE NO DAILY TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE BROKEN AT FORT WAYNE, IT WAS THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2017 THAT DECEMBER RECORDED A TEMPERATURE BELOW ZERO. THE ARCTIC FRONT FEATURED 45-55 MPH WIND GUSTS AND SNOW. THE COLDEST WIND CHILL AT FORT WAYNE DURING THIS EVENT WAS -38 ON THE MORNING OF THE 23RD. THE PEAK WIND GUST WAS 51 MPH THAT SAME MORNING. WIND CHILLS ANYWHERE CLOSE TO THIS MAGNITUDE WERE LAST RECORDED IN JANUARY 2019. FORT WAYNE RECORDED A WIND CHILL AS LOW AS -40 ON THE MORNING OF JANUARY 30, 2019. PRIOR TO THIS COLD AIR MASS, DECEMBER WAS MILD. THROUGH THE 16TH, THE TEMPERATURE DEPARTURE WAS 3.0 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. BETWEEN THIS MILD START AND THIS ARCTIC BLAST, THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH, 30.4 DEGREES, ENDED JUST SHY OF THE NORMAL. FORT WAYNE RECORDED 2.8 INCHES OF SNOW THIS MONTH. THIS IS 4.8 INCHES BELOW NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 33RD LEAST AMOUNT OF DECEMBER SNOW ON RECORD. MUCH-NEEDED PRECIPITATION ARRIVED AT THE END OF THE MONTH. PRIOR TO DECEMBER 30, THE MONTH WAS OVER 1 INCH BELOW NORMAL. IN THE FINAL TWO DAYS OF DECEMBER, 1.61 INCHES OF RAIN WAS RECORDED. THE TOTAL OF 1.33 INCHES ON THE 30TH WAS NEARLY A RECORD (1.49 IN 1936). THE TOTAL FOR THE MONTH WAS 2.57 INCHES. THIS RANKS AS THE 53RD WETTEST ON RECORD. THERE WERE TWO RECORDS SET THIS MONTH. ON THE 30TH, A NEW WARM RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE WAS SET; 44 DEGREES BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 43 SET IN 1897. ON THE 22ND, 1.2 INCHES OF SNOW BROKE THE PREVIOUS DAILY RECORD OF 0.9 SET IN 1953. BROWN $$