Climatological Report (Seasonal)
Issued by NWS Northern Indiana
Issued by NWS Northern Indiana
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000 CXUS53 KIWX 012100 CLSFWA CLIMATE REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 0400 PM EST WED MAR 01 2023 ................................... ...THE FORT WAYNE CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE SEASON, FROM 12/1/2022 TO 2/28/2023... CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1991 TO 2020 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1897 TO 2023 WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE NORMAL .............................................................. TEMPERATURE (F) RECORD HIGH 73 02/25/2000 LOW -24 01/12/1918 HIGHEST 62 01/03 MM MM 62 LOWEST -8 12/23 MM MM -9 AVG. MAXIMUM 40.7 35.5 5.2 37.3 AVG. MINIMUM 26.2 21.2 5.0 20.4 MEAN 33.5 28.4 5.1 DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 0 DAYS MAX <= 32 14 35.5 -21.5 37 DAYS MIN <= 32 67 76.7 -9.7 76 DAYS MIN <= 0 2 6.1 -4.1 5 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 17.85 1950 MINIMUM 1.58 1920 TOTALS 9.48 7.07 2.41 8.04 DAILY AVG. 0.11 0.08 0.03 0.09 DAYS >= .01 33 36.3 -3.3 29 DAYS >= .10 17 17.1 -0.1 17 DAYS >= .50 5 4.3 0.7 8 DAYS >= 1.00 3 0.9 2.1 0 GREATEST 24 HR. TOTAL 1.93 02/22 TO 02/22 SNOWFALL (INCHES) RECORDS TOTAL 61.1 1982 24 HR TOTAL 6.7 02/02/2022 TO 02/03/2022 TOTALS 13.4 26.2 -12.8 19.3 SINCE 7/1 17.6 28.2 -10.6 20.9 SNOWDEPTH AVG. 0 1 DAYS >= TRACE 28 25.3 2.7 40 DAYS >= 1.0 4 8.4 -4.4 6 GREATEST SNOW DEPTH 7 01/26 9 24 HR TOTAL 6.2 01/25 TO 01/25 DEGREE DAYS HEATING TOTAL 2821 3298 -477 3224 SINCE 7/1 3958 4497 -539 4245 COOLING TOTAL 0 0 0 0 SINCE 1/1 0 0 0 0 .............................................................. WIND (MPH) AVERAGE WIND SPEED 10.5 HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 43/240 DATE 02/09 HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 61/230 DATE 02/09 SKY COVER POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.80 NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 5 NUMBER OF DAYS PC 21 NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 64 AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 75 WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORM 3 MIXED PRECIP 0 HEAVY RAIN 7 RAIN 12 LIGHT RAIN 37 FREEZING RAIN 1 LT FREEZING RAIN 4 HAIL 1 HEAVY SNOW 2 SNOW 3 LIGHT SNOW 27 SLEET 2 FOG 50 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 11 HAZE 19 - INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED. MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT. && WINTER 2022-2023 OVERALL, WINTER 2022-2023 CAN BE DESCRIBED AS MILD AND WET. TEMPERATURE-WISE, MUCH OF DECEMBER FEATURED TEMPERATURES THAT WERE NEAR NORMAL TO SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL. THE EXCEPTION WOULD BE THE ARCTIC AIR OUTBREAK IN THE DAYS LEADING UP TO CHRISTMAS, WHERE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES WERE 20 TO 30 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL AND OVERNIGHT LOWS DROPPED NEAR TO BELOW ZERO SEVERAL NIGHTS IN A ROW. WIND CHILLS WERE AS LOW AS -38 BELOW ZERO ON DECEMBER 23RD AND 24TH. JANUARY AND FEBRUARY BOTH FEATURED TEMPERATURES THAT WERE WELL ABOVE NORMAL FOR THE MAJORITY OF THE MONTH. MANY DAYS IN JANUARY SAW AVERAGE TEMPERATURES THAT WERE 5 TO 20 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THERE WERE ONLY THREE DAYS IN JANUARY THAT WERE COOLER THAN NORMAL: JANUARY 27TH, 30TH, AND 31ST. IN FEBRUARY, TEMPERATURES FLUCTUATED MORE THAN IN JANUARY BUT OVERALL, REMAINED WARM. THIS WINTER AVERAGED 33.5 DEGREES AND RANKS AS THE 5TH WARMEST WHEN COMPARED TO THE PERIOD OF RECORD. PRECIPITATION-WISE, DECEMBER WAS SLIGHTLY WETTER THAN NORMAL WITH ONLY 4 DAYS OF PRECIPITATION TOTALS HIGHER THAN 0.25 INCH. THERE WAS ONE DAY, DECEMBER 30TH, WITH OVER AN INCH OF PRECIPITATION. A SLIGHTLY WETTER THAN NORMAL JANUARY WAS ALSO OBSERVED, BUT ONLY 1 DAY OF PRECIPITATION HAD A TOTAL HIGHER THAN 0.5 INCH. FEBRUARY ENDED WETTER THAN NORMAL WITH 2 DAYS OF PRECIPITATION TOTALS HIGHER THAN 1.0 INCH. OVERALL, THIS WINTER TOTALED 9.48 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION. THIS WAS THE 14TH WETTEST WINTER WHEN COMPARED TO THE PERIOD OF RECORD. SNOWFALL-WISE, SNOW WAS NOTABLY LACKING DURING ALL THREE MONTHS, WITH A TOTAL DEFICIT OF 12.8 INCHES FROM DECEMBER THROUGH FEBRUARY. THE LACK OF COLD AIR MADE IT DIFFICULT FOR PRECIPITATION TO FALL AS SNOW. THERE WERE ONLY 4 DAYS THIS WINTER WITH SNOW TOTALS EQUAL TO OR GREATER THAN 1 INCH, WHEREAS THE AVERAGE IS USUALLY 6 DAYS. THE MOST NOTABLE SNOW CAME IN JANUARY, AS THERE WAS ENOUGH COLD AIR AND PRECIPITATION TO PRODUCE 7.1 INCHES OF SNOW FROM JANUARY 25TH TO 27TH. THIS WINTER TOTALED 13.4 INCHES OF SNOW AND WAS THE 24TH LEAST SNOWIEST WHEN COMPARED TO THE PERIOD OF RECORD. A MONTH BY MONTH SUMMARY IS BELOW. 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 1936. ON THE 22ND, 1.2 INCHES OF SNOW BROKE THE PREVIOUS DAILY RECORD OF 0.9 SET IN 1953. JANUARY 2023 ...WINTER STORM BRINGS WIND, SNOW, AND ARCTIC AIR... FOLLOWING THE ARCTIC BLAST THAT OCCURRED NEAR CHRISTMAS, ONE MIGHT HAVE ASSUMED THAT WE WERE IN STORE FOR A BRUTAL WINTER PERIOD AHEAD. THAT WAS FAR FROM THE TRUTH. JANUARY ENDED WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 34.2 DEGREES WHICH IS 8.7 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 6TH WARMEST ON RECORD. THIS WAS THE MILDEST JANUARY SINCE 2006, WHICH WAS ALSO THE RECORD WARMEST WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 36.9 DEGREES. HOW DID WE GET HERE? ANOMALOUS RIDGING ALOFT EVENTUALLY ALLOWED ARCTIC AIR TO RETREAT BY DECEMBER 28TH (HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 44). UNSEASONABLE WARMTH VARIED AT TIMES BUT LASTED THROUGH NEARLY ALL OF JANUARY. SOME ADDITIONAL FACTS: --THE MAXIMUM HIGH TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 62 ON THE 3RD. THIS BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 61 SET IN 2004. THIS WAS THE FIRST 60- DEGREE TEMPERATURE IN JANUARY SINCE 2017. --THERE WERE FIVE DAYS WITH A HIGH OF 50 OR WARMER; THE MOST SINCE 2018 WHEN THERE WERE SEVEN. HIGH TEMPERATURES WERE ONLY A PART OF THE STORY, HOWEVER. FROM THE 1ST THROUGH 26TH, THE AVERAGE MINIMUM TEMPERATURE WAS THE SECOND WARMEST ON RECORD, 30.8 DEGREES. THE RECORD FOR THAT PERIOD WAS 32.8 DEGREES IN 1932. BY THE END OF THE MONTH, THE OBSERVED MINIMUM TEMPERATURE WAS 28.5 DEGREES. THIS IS THE FOURTH WARMEST ON RECORD. THE NORMAL AVERAGE MINIMUM TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH IS 18.4 DEGREES. DESPITE THE WARMTH DESCRIBED ABOVE, SNOWFALL WAS RIGHT NEAR NORMAL BECAUSE OF A SNOWSTORM THAT DROPPED 6.2 INCHES (NEW RECORD FOR THE DAY. PREVIOUS, 5.4 INCHES IN 1978). A SYSTEM PRIOR TO THAT RESULTED IN A 2-DAY SNOW TOTAL OF 3.0 INCHES. SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH WAS 0.4 INCHES BELOW NORMAL AND TIES (WITH 2021) AS THE 43RD MOST AMOUNT OF JANUARY SNOW ON RECORD. PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH WAS NEAR NORMAL, AT 2.75 INCHES. FEBRUARY 2023 TOP-TEN WARMEST, WETTEST, AND LEAST AMOUNT OF SNOW. ASIDE FROM TWO OF THE FIRST FOUR DAYS OF FEBRUARY LEANING BELOW NORMAL AVERAGE-TEMPERATURE WISE, ONLY TWO OTHER DAYS DURING THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY LEANED BELOW NORMAL (THE 17TH AND THE 24TH). THIS ALLOWED THE MONTH TO FINISH OUT ABOVE NORMAL AND AS THE 5TH WARMEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD. THIS IS THE WARMEST SINCE 2017 (RANKS AS #1, 39.8 DEGREES) THIS IS THANKS TO THE PREVAILING PATTERN INCLUDING AN EAST COAST RIDGE AND TRACES OF A WEST COAST TROUGH ALLOWING WARM AIR TO STREAM INTO THE AREA FROM THE PLAINS AND GULF STATES. MOST DAYS WITH OBSERVED PRECIPITATION WERE NEAR 0.10". OFTEN TIMES THIS LEADS TO BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION OVERALL FOR THE MONTH. HOWEVER, THE 22ND, AND 27TH BOTH SAW PRECIPITATION EXCEEDING 1 INCH. TWO 1-INCH RAIN EVENTS IN THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY TIES AS A RECORD FOR THE MONTH (2014, 1990, 1900). AS A RESULT, FEBRUARY FINISHED AS THE 10TH WETTEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD. THE CONNECTION TO THE GULF AIR MASS AS WELL AS A LOOSE CONNECTION TO PACIFIC AIR HELPED PROMOTE THESE HEAVY RAIN EVENTS. IN LIGHT OF THE ANOMALOUS WARMTH, SNOW WAS HARD TO COME BY THIS MONTH WITH ONLY 0.2 INCHES OBSERVED. THIS IS THE 3RD LEAST AMOUNT OF SNOW ON RECORD (1998 AND 1899 REPORTED A TRACE OF SNOW.) BROWN/ROLLER/JOHNSON $$