Climatological Report (Annual)
Issued by NWS
Issued by NWS
000 CXUS53 KIWX 021458 CLASBN CLIMATE REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 958 AM EST MON JAN 02 2023 ................................... ...THE SOUTH BEND CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE YEAR OF 2022... CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1991 TO 2020 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1893 TO 2022 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 99 06/21 MM MM 95 LOWEST -8 12/23 MM MM -4 AVG. MAXIMUM 60.2 58.7 1.5 61.7 AVG. MINIMUM 41.1 39.9 1.2 43.1 MEAN 50.7 49.3 1.4 DAYS MAX >= 90 17 13.5 3.5 14 DAYS MAX <= 32 49 44.7 4.3 33 DAYS MIN <= 32 125 126.4 -1.4 126 DAYS MIN <= 0 3 5.8 -2.8 2 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 55.61 1990 MINIMUM 25.15 1963 TOTALS 35.15 39.23 -4.08 42.17 DAILY AVG. 0.10 0.11 -0.01 0.12 DAYS >= .01 144 147.5 -3.5 143 DAYS >= .10 81 80.0 1.0 76 DAYS >= .50 24 24.6 -0.6 26 DAYS >= 1.00 6 7.5 -1.5 8 SNOWFALL (INCHES) RECORDS TOTAL 141.7 1978 TOTALS 91.8 64.5 27.3 39.0 SINCE 7/1 39.1 19.0 20.1 3.3 SNOWDEPTH AVG. 1 1 DAYS >= TRACE 74 42.2 31.8 70 DAYS >= 1.0 27 20.3 6.7 14 GREATEST SNOW DEPTH 15 11/20 16 DEGREE DAYS HEATING TOTAL 5742 6400 -658 5599 SINCE 7/1 2196 2404 -208 1871 COOLING TOTAL 1003 722 281 1167 SINCE 1/1 1003 723 280 1167 .............................................................. WIND (MPH) AVERAGE WIND SPEED 9.4 HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 47/210 DATE 11/05 HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 66/200 DATE 11/05 SKY COVER POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.47 NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 155 NUMBER OF DAYS PC 112 NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 98 AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 68 WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORM 27 MIXED PRECIP 0 HEAVY RAIN 32 RAIN 49 LIGHT RAIN 124 FREEZING RAIN 0 LT FREEZING RAIN 7 HAIL 0 HEAVY SNOW 9 SNOW 24 LIGHT SNOW 69 SLEET 1 FOG 168 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 23 HAZE 90 - INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED. MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT. && ...12TH MOST SNOW ON RECORD... TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE YEAR WAS 91.8 INCHES, WHICH IS A WHOPPING 27.3 INCHES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 64.5 INCHES. THIS IS THE 12TH MOST SNOW ON RECORD AND THE GREATEST TOTAL SINCE 98.7 INCHES IN 2014. NOVEMBER WAS THE MONTH THAT TRULY TIPPED THE SNOW-SCALES ABOVE NORMAL. 30.2 INCHES WAS REPORTED, WHICH WAS ONLY ONE-TENTH OF AN INCH SHY OF THE NOVEMBER RECORD SET IN 1977. ALSO OF NOTE WAS FEBRUARY`S SNOW TOTAL OF 23.9 INCHES, WHICH WAS THE 14TH GREATEST ON RECORD. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE YEAR WAS 50.7 DEGREES, WHICH IS 1.4 DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 49.3 DEGREES. THIS TIES AS THE 28TH WARMEST YEAR ON RECORD. THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE FOR THE YEAR WAS 99 DEGREES ON JUNE 21ST (GREATEST SINCE 102 DEGREES IN 2012). THE LOWEST TEMPERATURE FOR THE YEAR WAS -8 DEGREES ON DECEMBER 23RD. THE TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR WAS 35.15 INCHES. THIS IS 4.08 INCHES BELOW THE NORMAL OF 39.23 INCHES. THIS RANKS AS THE 48TH DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD. NOTABLE WEATHER EVENTS THIS YEAR INCLUDE: --FEBRUARY BEGAN WITH AN 11.2" SNOW STORM. 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, 3 TO 6 INCHES OF SNOW FELL. --MAY FEATURED ANOMALOUS WARMTH IN THE FIRST HALF. FOUR TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE SET IN FOUR DAYS. --A DERECHO SWEPT THROUGH THE REGION ON JUNE 13TH. THE MOST INTENSE WIND DAMAGE OCCURRED TOWARD FORT WAYNE. --JULY RANKED AS THE 20TH WETTEST AT SOUTH BEND. ALTERNATIVELY, AUGUST RANKED AS THE TOP TEN DRIEST AND WARMEST. --OCTOBER BEGAN WITHIN THE TOP-20 COLDEST, BUT ENDED WITHIN THE TOP- 15 WARMEST. THE SEASON`S FIRST TRACE OF SNOW OCCURRED IN OCTOBER. --SECOND-MOST NOVEMBER SNOW ON RECORD. --A DECEMBER STORM BROUGHT BLIZZARD CONDITIONS TO MUCH OF MICHIANA AND WIND CHILLS OF 35 TO 40 DEGREES BELOW ZERO. BROWN JANUARY 2022: ...BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES WITH A VERY COLD END TO THE MONTH... THE MONTH WAS CHARACTERIZED BY BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES DUE TO COUPLE OF ARCTIC INTRUSIONS. SINGLE DIGIT LOWS ABOVE ZERO WERE COMMON FOR THE LAST 11 DAYS OF THE MONTH, WITH 8 OF THE 11 DAYS EXPERIENCING LOW TEMPERATURES BELOW 10 DEGREES. THE COLDEST MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF THE MONTH WAS -1 ON THE 26TH. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 21.1 DEGREES WHICH IS 3.0 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 32ND COLDEST ON RECORD. OVERALL THE MONTH WAS DRY, WITH A FEW SYSTEM AND LAKE EFFECT SNOW EVENTS. PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH TOTALED 1.13 INCHES OR 1.56 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS IS THE 17TH DRIEST ON RECORD. DESPITE THE MUCH BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION, THE TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH OF 21.5 INCHES WAS RIGHT NEAR THE NORMAL OF 21.6 INCHES DUE TO HIGH SNOW TO LIQUID RATIOS ACCOMPANYING THE ARCTIC AIR. THERE WERE NO RECORDS SET THIS MONTH. FEBRUARY 2022 ...ABOVE NORMAL SNOWFALL AND ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION... THIS MONTH WAS CHARACTERIZED BY THE ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION, TOTALING 2.96 INCHES, WHICH IS 0.65 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKED AS THE 20TH WETTEST ON RECORD AND FINISHED WITH RECORD DAILY MAXIMUM PRECIPITATION TOTALS ON THE 2ND AND 17ND OF THE MONTH. WHILE THE AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE WAS JUST SHY OF NORMAL, MEASURING 26.8 DEGREES WHEN COMPARED WITH THE NORMAL OF 26.5 DEGREES, FEBRUARY WILL BE MORE NOTED 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, FOUR 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 RESULTED IN ICE ON AREA RIVERS, WHICH BROKE UP LATER IN THE MONTH AS WARMTH AND RAIN ARRIVED. FEBRUARY ALSO BROUGHT THE HIGHEST MONTHLY SNOWFALL TOTALS OF THE WINTER. THE 23.9 INCHES OF OBSERVED SNOW SURPASSED THE 16.1 INCHES OF NORMAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH. THIS RANKED AS THE 14TH SNOWIEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD. DAILY MAXIMUM SNOWFALL RECORDS WERE BROKEN ON THE 2ND (5.3 INCHES)AND THE 17TH (11.2 INCHES). WITH SNOWPACK MELT, ICE JAMS, A FROZEN GROUND SURFACE, AND RAINFALL OCCURRING AT OPTIMAL TIMES, 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. SOUTH BEND HAD A FEW TASTES OF SPRING THIS MONTH AS TEMPERATURES ROSE INTO THE 70S ON FOUR SEPARATE DAYS. WITH REALLY ONLY TWO COLD BLASTS THIS MONTH, THE MEAN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FINISHED ABOVE NORMAL BY 3.6 DEGREES. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 50.2 DEGREES RECORDED FROM MARCH 14TH TO MARCH 23RD RANKED AS THE 5TH WARMEST MEAN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE IN SOUTH BEND`S 100-YEAR-PLUS PERIOD OF RECORD. IF YOU GUESSED 2012 HAD A WARMER PERIOD OF AVERAGE TEMPERATURES, YOU`D BE RIGHT; ALMOST 19 DEGREES WARMER THAN 50.2 DEGREES. THIS MONTH`S ABOVE AVERAGE PRECIPITATION TOTAL OF 3.22 INCHES WAS ATTAINED THROUGH SMALL DAILY TOTALS. TWO DATES, THE 18TH AND 30TH, MANAGED TO SEE DAILY RAINFALL TOTALS OVER A HALF INCH. WHEREAS OVER HALF THE DAYS THIS MONTH SAW OBSERVED PRECIPITATION OF A TRACE OR HIGHER. SYSTEM SNOW AND THEN LAKE EFFECT SNOW BLANKETED THE REGION BETWEEN MARCH 10TH AND MARCH 12TH PROVIDING 5.1 INCHES OF SNOW DURING THOSE THREE DAYS. THIS HELPED SOUTH BEND APPROACH ITS MARCH AVERAGE SNOWFALL TOTAL. SNOW THIS MONTH TOTALED 6.1 INCHES, JUST SEVEN- TENTHS SHY OF NORMAL, 6.8 INCHES. ROLLER/FISHER APRIL 2022 ...COOLER AND 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 TEMPERATURE. DUE TO THE AFOREMENTIONED LATE-MONTH WARM UP, THE GROWING SEASON STARTED IN THE AREA AND A FREEZE WARNING WAS ISSUED FOR THE MORNING OF THE 27TH WHEN A LOW TEMPERATURE OF 27 DEGREES WAS RECORDED. THIS WAS ONE DEGREE ABOVE THE RECORD LOW FOR THAT DATE. SOUTH BEND WAS SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL FOR APRIL SNOWFALL. BUT THAT ISN`T SAYING MUCH SINCE THE NORMAL IS JUST 1.0 INCHES. THERE WERE TWO DAYS OF MEASUREABLE SNOW THIS MONTH WITH 1.0 INCHES ON THE 1ST AND 0.2 INCHES ON THE 19TH. ROLLER/MURPHY MAY 2022 ...A WARM AND WET MONTH... MAY BEGAN WITH AROUND AVERAGE TEMPERATURES UNTIL THE 8TH. MUCH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES FOLLOWED FROM THE 10TH TO THE 15TH WITH AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AS MUCH AS 10 TO 25 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES WERE SET FROM THE 11TH TO THE 14TH FOR SOUTH BEND. THESE ARE THE WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURES THIS STRETCH OF 6 DAYS HAS SEEN IN THE PERIOD OF RECORD. THE 90 DEGREE HIGH THAT OCCURRED ON THE 11TH HELPED THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE BE AROUND 23 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL FOR THAT DAY. A VARIABLE PATTERN FOLLOWED FROM MID MONTH UNTIL THE END OF MAY WITH A MIX OF ABOVE AND BELOW AVERAGE TEMPERATURES INTO THE LATTER PART OF THE MONTH. A WET START TO MAY BROUGHT 1.58 INCHES OF RAIN FROM THE 1ST TO 6TH OF THE MONTH. FOLLOWING THIS STRETCH, A PERIOD OF MOSTLY DRY WEATHER TOOK OVER THROUGH THE 13TH. AND, WHILE THERE WERE THREE DAYS THAT RECEIVED GREATER THAN 0.25 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION (THE 18TH, 21ST, AND 25TH), THIS WAS NOT ENOUGH TO RECOUP FROM THE MID-MONTH DRY PERIOD SO WE ENDED UP BELOW NORMAL FOR PRECIPITATION. ROLLER/MURPHY JUNE ...A WARM BUT DRY MONTH... JUNE BEGAN WITH NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE 12TH 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 HIGH TEMPERATURE WAS SET ON THE 16TH (96 DEGREES, BEATING 95 IN 1918) AND A RECORD WARM LOW TEMPERATURE WAS SET ON THE 15TH (77 DEGREES, BEATING 75 IN 1994). 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. THIS WARM WEATHER HELPED SOUTH BEND TO FINISH OUT THE MONTH AS THE 41ST WARMEST JUNE WHEN COMPARED TO THE PERIOD OF RECORD. SOUTH BEND SAW ONLY THREE DAYS OF PRECIPITATION ABOVE 0.1 INCH (6TH- 1.09, 8TH-0.56, 13TH-0.19). IT ALSO HAD 26 DAYS WITH BELOW 0.1 INCH OF RAIN: THE 16TH MOST WITHIN ITS PERIOD OF RECORD. THE 0.30 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION OBSERVED FROM JUNE 14TH THROUGH 30TH IS THE 5TH DRIEST FOR THAT PERIOD WHEN COMPARED TO THE PERIOD OF RECORD. THIS HELPED THE MONTH FINISH AS THE 33RD DRIEST JUNE. WITH THE WARM TEMPERATURES, MANY DAYS WITH PLENTY OF SUNSHINE, AND MINIMAL PRECIPITATION, THE DROUGHT MONITOR BEGAN TO PICK UP SIGNS OF DROUGHT. A FLASH DROUGHT WAS ALSO MENTIONED DUE TO THE QUICK ONSET OF DROUGHT CONDITIONS. STORMS, LATER CALLED A DERECHO, MOVED ACROSS THE AREA ON THE EVENING OF THE 13TH LEAVING A TRAIL OF THUNDERSTORM WIND DAMAGE BEHIND IT. ROLLER JULY JULY FEATURED TWO PERIODS OF ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES: FROM THE 4TH TO THE 8TH AND FROM THE 24TH TO THE 28TH. OTHERWISE TEMPERATURES REMAINED AROUND AVERAGE FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. JULY FEATURED FOUR DAYS WITH 90 DEGREES OR GREATER MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE, WHICH IS NORMAL FOR THE MONTH. HOWEVER, SOUTH BEND SAW 18 DAYS WITH DEW POINT GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO 68 DEGREES, WHICH IS HIGHER THAN THE MONTHLY AVERAGE OF 15 DAYS (DEW POINT DATA THROUGH 1948). THIS COMBINATION OF SLIGHTLY ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AND ABOVE AVERAGE HUMIDITY RESULTED IN A MEAN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 74.3 DEGREES, WHICH IS 1.9 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. JULY BROUGHT FOUR DAYS OF PRECIPITATION GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO 0.5 INCH, WHICH IS ABOVE THE JULY AVERAGE OF JUST OVER TWO DAYS. SOUTH BEND SAW A RECORD RAINFALL ON THE 23RD (1.53 INCH). THIS HELPED SOUTH BEND TO SURPASS ITS NORMAL JULY PRECIPITATION TOTAL OF 3.78 INCHES, ON ITS WAY TO A TOTAL OF 5.63 INCHES. THIS IS THE 20TH WETTEST JULY ON RECORD. 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 ...TOP 30 WARMEST AND DRIEST... AUGUST TEMPERATURES STARTED OUT WITH A SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL LEAN THROUGH THE 8TH BEFORE A SLIGHT BELOW NORMAL LEAN TOOK OVER FROM THE 9TH TO 14TH. FOR THE MOST PART, A NEAR NORMAL LEAN OCCURRED FROM THE MIDDLE TO LATTER PART OF THE MONTH. THE STRONG ABOVE NORMAL LEAN TO START THE MONTH AT SOUTH BEND HELPED AUGUST FINISH OUT ABOUT 2.0 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL, RANKING AS THE 26TH WARMEST AUGUST ON RECORD. THERE WERE NO DAILY TEMPERATURE RECORDS SET THIS MONTH. PRECIPITATION FINISHED NEARLY 2 INCHES 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 28TH DRIEST AUGUST WHEN COMPARED TO THE PERIOD OF RECORD. ROLLER/FISHER SEPTEMBER 2022 SEPTEMBER WAS MILD, FEATURING TWO EPISODES WHERE TEMPERATURES IN THE 80S WERE COMMON. ONE OF THESE MILD PERIODS FEATURED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN THE REGION. 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 65.6 DEGREES WHICH RANKS AS THE 46TH WARMEST ON RECORD. ABNORMALLY DRY CONDITIONS PREVAILED THIS MONTH IN NORTHWEST INDIANA, ACCORDING TO THE US DROUGHT MONITOR. AUGUST PRECIPITATION ENDED 1.98 INCHES BELOW NORMAL, AND NOW SEPTEMBER ENDED 1.08 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 44TH DRIEST ON RECORD. NO RECORDS WERE SET THIS MONTH. BROWN OCTOBER 2022 ...DROUGHT CONDITIONS WORSEN, BUT LATE MONTH RAIN PROVIDES SOME RELIEF... 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 50.9 DEGREES; THE 18TH COLDEST (TIE) ON RECORD AND THE COLDEST FOR THIS STRETCH SINCE 2012 (50.9 DEGREES AS WELL). ONE RECORD WAS TIED DURING THAT PERIOD. THE HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 43 ON THE 17TH TIED THE COLDEST HIGH TEMPERATURE SET WAY BACK IN 1896. THE FINAL 10 DAYS OF THE MONTH WERE A DIFFERENT STORY, WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 56.5 DEGREES RANKING AS THE 14TH WARMEST ON RECORD. IT WAS THE WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THAT PERIOD SINCE 57.8 DEGREES IN 2000. OVERALL, THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 52.9 DEGREES WHICH IS 0.9 DEGREES ABOVE 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. ONLY A TRACE OF SNOW OCCURRED AT SOUTH BEND. AS SUCH, SOUTH BEND STILL AWAITS ITS FIRST "MEASUREABLE" SNOWFALL OF THE SEASON WHICH TYPICALLY OCCURS NEAR NOVEMBER 8TH. DROUGHT WORSENED THROUGH OCTOBER IN MICHIANA. THE FIRST 15 DAYS OF THE MONTH (0.57") WAS THE DRIEST START TO OCTOBER SINCE 2015 (0.12"). A SOAKING RAIN ARRIVED TO SOUTH BEND IN THE DAYS THAT FOLLOWED, BUT LOCATIONS SOUTH OF HERE MISSED OUT. AS A RESULT, WHEN THE OCTOBER 18TH EDITION OF THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR WAS RELEASED, NORTHWEST INDIANA WAS DEEMED TO BE EXPERIENCING "MODERATE DROUGHT" CONDITIONS. THIS AREA OF MODERATE DROUGHT EXPANDED SOUTHEAST THROUGH THE STATE THE FOLLOWING WEEK. BY THE END OF THE MONTH, SOUTH BEND RECEIVED ADDITIONAL RAIN AND THE MONTHLY TOTAL WAS A HEALTHY 3.85 INCHES WHICH IS ACTUALLY 0.13 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 41ST WETTEST OCTOBER ON RECORD. IN THE WEEKS TO COME, IMPROVEMENT OF DROUGHT CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED. RECALL THAT OCTOBER 2021 RECORDED A WHOPPING 6.03 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION WHICH NEGATIVELY IMPACTED FALL HARVEST. BROWN NOVEMBER 2022 ...A WILD, MEMORABLE MONTH, JUST SHY OF A MONTHLY SNOWFALL RECORD... AFTER A RECORD-WARM START TO THE MONTH (NOVEMBER 1-10 WAS THE 4TH WARMEST ON RECORD WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 56.1 DEGREES), A WINTER CHILL QUICKLY DESCENDED OVER THE REGION. SHORTS AND T-SHIRTS WERE REPLACED WITH WINTER HATS AND GLOVES AS MORNING LOWS DIPPED TO 12 DEGREES ON THE 20TH. THE GREATEST SINGLE-DAY TEMPERATURE DEPARTURE BELOW NORMAL WAS 18 DEGREES ON THE 20TH. MEANWHILE, BACK ON THE 4TH, THE DAILY TEMPERATURE DEPARTURE WAS 23 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THE COLD AIR RUSHING OVER A MILD LAKE MICHIGAN WATER TEMPERATURE RESULTED IN INTENSE BOUTS OF LAKE EFFECT SNOW. ROUND ONE OCCURRED ON THE 12TH AND 13TH TOTALING 7.5 INCHES. THE NEXT ROUND OCCURRED OVER THE COURSE OF FIVE DAYS (16TH-20TH) AS LAKE EFFECT SNOW BANDS WAVERED OVER THE REGION. THE FIVE-DAY TOTAL WAS A WHOPPING 22.7 INCHES. THIS IS THE GREATEST 5-DAY NOVEMBER TOTAL SINCE 1977. REGARDLESS OF MONTH, THIS IS THE GREATEST 5-DAY TOTAL SINCE 30.4 INCHES ENDING ON JANUARY 12, 2011. THE TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATION THIS MONTH, 30.2 INCHES, IS ONLY ONE- TENTH OF AN INCH SHY OF THE ALL-TIME NOVEMBER RECORD SET IN 1977. 30.2 INCHES IS A WHOPPING 25.1 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. TWO DAILY SNOWFALL RECORD WERE SET: 1) 6.5 INCHES ON THE 18TH BROKE THE PREVIOUS TOTAL OF 4.0 INCHES SET IN 1989. 2) 9.0 INCHES ON THE 20TH SHATTERED THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 5.8 INCHES SET IN 2000. FOLLOWING THE SNOW AND COLD, A MILD, MORE SEASONABLE AIRMASS RETURNED. AS A RESULT, NOVEMBER ENDED 3.1 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 42.9 DEGREES. THIS RANKS AS TIED WITH THE NOVEMBER OF 1948 AND 1978 AS THE 25TH WARMEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD. DROUGHT CONDITIONS OVER NORTHERN INDIANA WERE NEARLY STEADY THIS MONTH; "ABNORMALLY DRY" TO "MODERATE DROUGHT" ACCORDING TO THE US DROUGHT MONITOR. BUT, THE LAKE EFFECT PRECIPITATION DID BEGIN TO EASE THE DROUGHT STARTING WITH ST. JOSEPH COUNTY. THE TOTAL PRECIPITATION THIS MONTH WAS 3.41 INCHES WHICH IS 0.63 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 37TH WETTEST ON RECORD. TWO TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE TIED THIS MONTH, BOTH ON THE 10TH. THE HIGH OF 75 AND THE LOW OF 55 BOTH TIED A RECORD SET IN 2020. 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 SOUTH BEND, IT WAS THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2017 THAT DECEMBER RECORDED A TEMPERATURE BELOW ZERO. THE ARCTIC FRONT FEATURED 35-45 MPH WIND GUSTS AND SNOW. THE COLDEST WIND CHILL AT SOUTH BEND DURING THIS EVENT WAS -34 ON THE MORNING OF THE 23RD. THE PEAK WIND GUST WAS 39 MPH THAT SAME MORNING. WIND CHILLS ANYWHERE CLOSE TO THIS MAGNITUDE WERE LAST RECORDED IN JANUARY 2019. SOUTH BEND RECORDED A WIND CHILL AS LOW AS -48 ON THE MORNING OF JANUARY 30, 2019. PRIOR TO THIS COLD AIR MASS, DECEMBER WAS MILD. THROUGH THE 16TH, THE TEMPERATURE DEPARTURE WAS 4.3 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL (21ST WARMEST ON RECORD FOR THAT PERIOD). BETWEEN THIS MILD START AND THIS ARCTIC BLAST, THE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH ENDED ONLY 0.9 DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 29.6 DEGREES. SOUTH BEND RECORDED 8.9 INCHES OF SNOW THIS MONTH, 6.4 INCHES WHICH FELL FROM THE AFORMENTIONED STORM SYSTEM. THIS IS SIGNIFICANTLY MORE SNOW THAN DECEMBER 2021 (1.5 INCHES), BUT RANKS AS THE 44TH LEAST AMOUNT OF DECEMBER SNOW ON RECORD. THIS IS 4.8 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH TOTALED 1.52 INCHES. THIS IS 0.88 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 27TH DRIEST DECEMBER ON RECORD. BROWN $$