Climatological Report (Annual)
Issued by NWS Little Rock, AR
Issued by NWS Little Rock, AR
000 CXUS54 KLZK 042109 CLALIT CLIMATE REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 309 PM CST TUE JAN 04 2022 ................................... ...THE LITTLE ROCK ADAMS FIELD CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE YEAR OF 2021... CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1991 TO 2020 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1874 TO 2022 WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE DATE(S) NORMAL ................................................................ TEMPERATURE (F) RECORD HIGH 114 08/03/2011 LOW -12 02/12/1899 HIGHEST 100 09/01 73 27 97 08/11 08/10 LOWEST -1 02/16 52 -53 22 02/14 01/20 AVG. MAXIMUM 73.2 72.3 0.9 72.2 AVG. MINIMUM 52.6 51.1 1.5 52.4 MEAN 62.9 61.7 1.2 62.3 DAYS MAX >= 90 66 76.4 -10.4 62 DAYS MAX <= 32 8 3.1 4.9 1 DAYS MIN <= 32 47 50.1 -3.1 35 DAYS MIN <= 0 1 0.0 1.0 0 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 81.79 2009 MINIMUM 28.26 1963 TOTALS 43.71 50.42 -6.71 60.04 DAILY AVG. 0.12 0.14 -0.02 0.16 DAYS >= .01 116 105.9 10.1 134 DAYS >= .10 74 71.3 2.7 88 DAYS >= .50 37 34.2 2.8 41 DAYS >= 1.00 12 14.6 -2.6 13 GREATEST 24 HR. TOTAL 3.13 06/07 TO 06/08 3.74 08/26 TO 08/27 SNOWFALL (INCHES) RECORDS TOTAL 32.6 1960 24 HR TOTAL 13.0 01/17/1893 TO 01/18/1893 SNOW DEPTH 15 02/18/2021 02/21/1918 TOTALS 20.3 3.8 16.5 T LIQUID EQUIV 2.00 0.40 1.60 T SINCE 7/1 0.0 0.6 -0.6 MM LIQUID 7/1 0.00 0.00 0.00 MM SNOWDEPTH AVG. 0 0 DAYS >= TRACE 7 2.2 4.8 5 DAYS >= 1.0 2 1.1 0.9 0 GREATEST SNOW DEPTH 15R 02/18 0 MM 24 HR TOTAL 11.8 02/17 TO 02/17 T 12/14 TO 12/15 02/20 TO 02/20 02/06 TO 02/06 DEGREE DAYS HEATING TOTAL 2803 3165 -362 2805 SINCE 7/1 832 1264 -432 MM COOLING TOTAL 2164 1989 175 1935 SINCE 1/1 2164 1990 174 MM FREEZE DATES RECORD EARLIEST 10/20/1989 LATEST 04/19/1983 EARLIEST 11/05 LATEST 03/03 ................................................................ WIND (MPH) AVERAGE WIND SPEED 6.9 HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 37/350 DATE 05/04 HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 43/320 DATE 04/18 SKY COVER AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.56 NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 107 NUMBER OF DAYS PC 130 NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 128 WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORM 69 MIXED PRECIP 1 HEAVY RAIN 43 RAIN 64 LIGHT RAIN 128 FREEZING RAIN 1 LT FREEZING RAIN 2 HAIL 0 HEAVY SNOW 2 SLEET 2 FOG 164 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 18 HAZE 32 - INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED. MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT. && ...A REVIEW OF 2021 WEATHER AND CLIMATE DATA FOR LITTLE ROCK ADAMS FIELD... SUMMARY ====================================================================== 2021 AT LITTLE ROCK WAS THE FIRST YEAR IN THREE YEARS TO FEATURE A TRIPLE-DIGIT READING AND THE FIRST YEAR IN 32 YEARS TO FEATURE A BELOW ZERO TEMPERATURE. IN FACT, IT WAS THE FIRST YEAR SINCE 1985 TO ACCOMPLISH A TRIPLE-DIGIT AND BELOW ZERO TEMPERATURE IN THE SAME YEAR. THIS MADE THE ANNUAL RANGE, OR DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE HIGHEST AND LOWEST TEMPERATURE, 101 DEGREES AND THE HIGHEST SINCE 2011. PRELIMINARILY, THIS WAS THE WARMEST YEAR SINCE 2017. THIS WAS LARGELY DUE TO SIGNIFICANTLY ANOMALOUS WARMTH DURING THE MONTHS OF OCTOBER AND DECEMBER. THERE WERE 46 DAYS WITH LOWS AT OR BELOW FREEZING, WHICH WAS THE MOST IN 2 YEARS (SINCE 2019). FOR THE 1ST TIME SINCE 2018, THE TEMPERATURE HIT 100 DEGREES, THOUGH IT WAS ONLY ON ONE DAY (SEPTEMBER 1ST). FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1989, LITTLE ROCK RECORDED A TEMPERATURE AT OR BELOW ZERO DURING THE YEAR (FEBRUARY 16TH). IN TERMS OF DEPARTURES FROM NORMAL (OR COMPARISON WITH THE 30-YEAR AVERAGE 1991-2020), DECEMBER SHOWED THE MOST ANOMALOUS/SIGNIFICANT WARMTH, WITH A DEPARTURE OF +11.8 DEGREES. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT COLD, BY FAR, OCCURRED IN FEBRUARY, WITH A DEPARTURE OF -8.7. IN TERMS OF ACTUAL TEMPERATURES, THOUGH THE WARMEST MONTH WAS AUGUST, AND THE COLDEST MONTH WAS FEBRUARY. RAINFALL WAS BELOW AVERAGE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOUR YEARS. IN FACT, 2021 WAS THE DRIEST YEAR IN NINE YEARS (SINCE 2012). THERE WERE 105 DAYS WITH MEASURABLE RAINFALL, WHICH WAS THE FEWEST SINCE 2017. THE WETTEST MONTH WAS, ODDLY ENOUGH, JUNE, AND THE DRIEST MONTH WAS SEPTEMBER. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THREE YEARS, MEASURABLE SNOW FELL AT LITTLE ROCK IN 2021. IT WAS ALL IN FEBRUARY, IT WAS ALL WITHIN A SEVEN-DAY PERIOD, AND IT CAME IN RECORD AMOUNTS. IT WAS THE SNOWIEST YEAR IN 55 YEARS (SINCE 1966), AND THE 3RD SNOWIEST YEAR SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1874. ONLY 1966 (21.8 INCHES), AND 1960 (32.6 INCHES) HAD MORE SNOW. IN TERMS OF AVERAGE SNOW DEPTH, IN 146 FULL YEARS OF RECORDS, 2021 HAD THE 2ND HIGHEST AVERAGE SNOW DEPTH OF ANY GIVEN YEAR AT LITTLE ROCK, WITH 0.2 INCHES. ONLY 1918 HAD A HIGHER AVERAGE DEPTH, WITH 0.4 INCHES. ====================================================================== PLEASE REMEMBER, ALL DATA LISTED BELOW IS PRELIMINARY UNTIL FINAL QUALITY CONTROL BY THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION IN ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA. (DFN = DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL) 2021 TEMPERATURE AVERAGES AND EXTREMES LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS --------------------------------------------------------------------- AVERAGE TEMPERATURES TEMPERATURE EXTREMES MONTH HIGH LOW MONTHLY DFN MAX DATE(S) MIN DATE(S) --------------------------------------------------------------------- JAN 51.9 33.9 42.9 +2.2 75 25 22 12 FEB 44.4 27.6 36.0 -8.7 76 28 -1 16 MAR 67.6 44.6 56.1 +3.4 82 27 32 3 APR 71.3 48.1 59.7 -1.7 84 12 33 2 MAY 78.4 58.6 68.5 -1.4 89 27 47 14 JUN 87.7 69.6 78.7 +0.7 96 12 57 23 JUL 90.8 71.9 81.4 0.0 99 31, 30 60 4 AUG 92.1 72.9 82.5 +1.7 98 12, 11 65 5 SEP 88.1 64.7 76.4 +2.4 100 1 50 24 OCT 78.0 56.6 67.3 +4.7 88 8 42 31 NOV 62.5 38.1 50.3 -0.8 77 17 29 26 DEC 65.3 44.4 54.8 +11.8 78 25, 10, 2 27 20, 13 --------------------------------------------------------------------- ANNUAL 73.2 52.6 62.9 +1.2 100 SEP. 1 -1 FEB. 16 2021 RAINFALL, DEPARTURES, AND EXTREMES LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS --------------------------------------------------------------------- MONTH RAINFALL DFN MAX/CALENDAR DAY MAX/24 HOURS --------------------------------------------------------------------- JAN 2.49 -1.01 0.80/24TH 1.92/24TH-25TH FEB 5.02 +1.36 1.34/26TH 1.61/25TH-26TH MAR 4.58 -0.88 1.28/25TH 1.28/25TH APR 4.02 -1.57 1.42/23RD 1.93/23RD-24TH MAY 4.48 -0.60 1.10/18TH 1.39/17TH-18TH JUN 7.11 +3.56 2.56/8TH 3.13/7TH-8TH JUL 3.62 +0.29 1.00/22ND 1.20/22ND-23RD AUG 1.31 -1.85 0.98/15TH 0.98/14TH-15TH SEP 1.10 -1.91 0.82/17TH 0.82/17TH OCT 3.89 -0.58 1.56/2ND 1.57/1ST-2ND NOV 2.02 -2.70 0.99/11TH 1.00/10TH-11TH DEC 4.07 -1.01 1.46/18TH 1.46/18TH --------------------------------------------------------------------- ANNUAL 43.71 -6.71 2.56 JUN. 8TH 3.13 JUN. 7TH-8TH 2021 SNOWFALL, DEPARTURES, AND EXTREMES LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS --------------------------------------------------------------------- MONTH SNOW DFN MAX/CALENDAR DAY MAX/24-HOUR GREATEST DEPTH/DATE --------------------------------------------------------------------- JAN T -1.1 T/11TH T/11TH 0 FEB 20.3 +18.7 11.8/17TH 11.8/17TH 15/18TH MAR 0.0 -0.5 0.0 0.0 0 APR 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 OCT 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 NOV 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 DEC 0.0 -0.6 0.0 0.0 0 --------------------------------------------------------------------- ANN. 20.3 +16.5 11.8/FEB. 17TH 11.8/FEB. 17TH 15/FEB. 18TH --------------------------------------------------------------------- MISCELLANEOUS DATA (FIRST/LAST DATES, ETC.) --------------------------------------------------------------------- DAYS WITH MINIMUMS AT OR BELOW FREEZING 46 MOST SINCE 2019 DAYS WITH MINIMUMS AT OR BELOW ZERO 1 MOST SINCE 1989 DAYS WITH MAXIMUMS AT OR BELOW FREEZING 8 MOST SINCE 2011 DAYS WITH MAXIMUMS AT OR ABOVE 90 DEGREES 66 MOST SINCE 2019 DAYS WITH MAXIMUMS AT OR ABOVE 100 DEGREES 1 MOST SINCE 2018 LAST FREEZE MARCH 3RD LATEST SINCE 2019 FIRST 80-DEGREE DAY MARCH 27TH LATEST SINCE 2019 FIRST 90-DEGREE DAY JUNE 10TH LATEST SINCE 2017 LAST 90-DEGREE DAY SEPTEMBER 20TH LATEST SINCE 2019 LAST 80-DEGREE DAY OCTOBER 24TH LATEST SINCE 2018 FIRST FREEZE NOVEMBER 5TH EARLIEST SINCE 2019 DAILY RECORD TEMPERATURES TIED OR BROKEN DURING THE YEAR --------------------------------------------------------------------- DATE RECORD TYPE NEW RECORD PREVIOUS RECORD --------------------------------------------------------------------- FEB. 14TH COLDEST HIGH TEMPERATURE 23 IN 2021 33 IN 1914, 1902 FEB. 15TH COLDEST HIGH TEMPERATURE 14 IN 2021 30 IN 1905 LOW TEMPERATURE 7 IN 2021 13 IN 1905 FEB. 16TH COLDEST HIGH TEMPERATURE 20 IN 2021 25 IN 1958, 1900 LOW TEMPERATURE -1 IN 2021 14 IN 1900 FEB. 17TH COLDEST HIGH TEMPERATURE 21 IN 2021 23 IN 1910 FEB. 19TH LOW TEMPERATURE 6 IN 2021 17 IN 1910 FEB. 20TH LOW TEMPERATURE 9 IN 2021 20 IN 1936, 1929 FEB. 21ST LOW TEMPERATURE 16 IN 2021 16 IN 1968 APR. 21ST LOW TEMPERATURE 35 IN 2021 39 IN 1983, 1953, 1936 APR. 22ND LOW TEMPERATURE 38 IN 2021 38 IN 1927 JUN. 23RD LOW TEMPERATURE 57 IN 2021 57 IN 1902 OCT. 13TH WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 71 IN 2021 69 IN 1886 DEC. 10TH HIGH TEMPERATURE 78 IN 2021 78 IN 1889 WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 63 IN 2021 58 IN 1946 DEC. 25TH HIGH TEMPERATURE 78 IN 2021 73 IN 1942 DEC. 27TH WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 63 IN 2021 62 IN 1971 DEC. 28TH WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 63 IN 2021 61 IN 1984 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND HONORABLE MENTION (TEMPERATURE DATA) --------------------------------------------------------------------- DATE PARAMETER AND DATE(S) INFORMATION --------------------------------------------------------------------- FEB. 15TH HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 14 2ND COLDEST ON RECORD FOR FEB. FEB. 15TH DAILY AVERAGE OF 10.5 6TH COLDEST ON RECORD FOR FEB. FEB. 16TH LOW TEMPERATURE OF -1 5TH COLDEST ON RECORD FOR FEB. LATEST BELOW ZERO TEMP ON RECORD FEB. 16TH DAILY AVERAGE OF 9.5 5TH COLDEST ON RECORD FOR FEB. DEC. 2ND, 10TH, 25TH HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 78 4TH WARMEST ON RECORD FOR DEC. DEC. 10TH DAILY AVERAGE OF 70.5 7TH WARMEST ON RECORD FOR DEC. DAILY RECORD RAINFALL TIED OR BROKEN DURING THE YEAR --------------------------------------------------------------------- DATE NEW RECORD PREVIOUS RECORD --------------------------------------------------------------------- DEC. 18TH 1.46 IN 2021 0.94 IN 2002 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND HONORABLE MENTION (RAINFALL DATA) --------------------------------------------------------------------- DATE PARAMETER INFORMATION --------------------------------------------------------------------- NONE. DAILY RECORD SNOWFALL TIED OR BROKEN DURING THE YEAR --------------------------------------------------------------------- DATE NEW RECORD PREVIOUS RECORD --------------------------------------------------------------------- FEB. 15TH 7.7 IN 2021 2.3 IN 1969 FEB. 17TH 11.8 IN 2021 6.1 IN 1910 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND HONORABLE MENTION (SNOWFALL DATA) --------------------------------------------------------------------- -FEB. 17TH 11.8 INCHES SNOW --HIGHEST CALENDAR DAY SNOWFALL IN FEB. PREVIOUS RECORD 8.5 INCHES ON FEBRUARY 23, 1966. --HIGHEST 24-HOUR SNOWFALL IN FEB. PREVIOUS RECORD 11.2 INCHES FEBRUARY 18-19, 1921. --2ND HIGHEST CALENDAR DAY SNOWFALL ON RECORD. ONLY MARCH 6, 1875 WAS HIGHER (12.0 INCHES). -FEB. 15TH 7.7 INCHES SNOW --4TH HIGHEST CALENDAR DAY SNOWFALL IN FEB. -FEB. 14TH-15TH 8.2 INCHES SNOW --4TH HIGHEST 24-HOUR SNOWFALL IN FEB. OTHER NOTEWORTHY PHENOMENA DURING THE YEAR --------------------------------------------------------------------- -FEB. 18TH --SNOW DEPTH OF 15 INCHES MARKED THE HIGHEST MEASURED SNOW DEPTH SINCE JANUARY 21, 1918 AND TIED JANUARY 21, 1918 FOR THE GREATEST SNOW DEPTH ON RECORD AT LITTLE ROCK. --HIGHEST FEBRUARY SNOW DEPTH ON RECORD. PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 9 INCHES ON FEBRUARY 19, 1921. -FEB. --AVERAGE SNOW DEPTH OF 2.1 INCHES WAS HIGHEST FOR ANY GIVEN MONTH SINCE JANUARY 1918 AND 2ND HIGHEST ON RECORD. $$ 57