Climatological Report (Annual)
Issued by NWS
Issued by NWS
000 CXUS53 KIWX 012251 CLASBN CLIMATE REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 551 PM EST SAT JAN 01 2022 ................................... ...THE SOUTH BEND CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE YEAR OF 2021... CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1991 TO 2020 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1893 TO 2021 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 95 08/24 MM MM 94 LOWEST -4 02/17 MM MM 3 AVG. MAXIMUM 61.7 58.7 3.0 61.3 AVG. MINIMUM 43.1 39.9 3.2 42.3 MEAN 52.4 49.3 3.1 DAYS MAX >= 90 14 13.5 0.5 22 DAYS MAX <= 32 33 44.7 -11.7 21 DAYS MIN <= 32 126 126.4 -0.4 129 DAYS MIN <= 0 2 5.8 -3.8 0 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 55.61 1990 MINIMUM 25.15 1963 TOTALS 42.17 39.23 2.94 36.58 DAILY AVG. 0.12 0.11 0.01 0.10 DAYS >= .01 143 147.5 -4.5 144 DAYS >= .10 76 80.0 -4.0 77 DAYS >= .50 26 24.6 1.4 22 DAYS >= 1.00 8 7.5 0.5 8 SNOWFALL (INCHES) RECORDS TOTAL 141.7 1978 TOTALS 39.0 64.5 -25.5 50.9 SINCE 7/1 3.3 19.0 -15.7 16.7 SNOWDEPTH AVG. 1 0 DAYS >= TRACE 70 42.2 27.8 63 DAYS >= 1.0 14 20.3 -6.3 18 GREATEST SNOW DEPTH 16 02/16 9 DEGREE DAYS HEATING TOTAL 5599 6400 -801 5690 SINCE 7/1 1871 2404 -533 2074 COOLING TOTAL 1167 722 445 978 SINCE 1/1 1167 723 444 978 .............................................................. WIND (MPH) AVERAGE WIND SPEED 8.4 HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 43/240 DATE 12/11 HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 58/240 DATE 05/27 SKY COVER POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.45 NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 147 NUMBER OF DAYS PC 100 NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 87 AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 68 WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORM 44 MIXED PRECIP 0 HEAVY RAIN 36 RAIN 52 LIGHT RAIN 143 FREEZING RAIN 1 LT FREEZING RAIN 2 HAIL 0 HEAVY SNOW 2 SNOW 11 LIGHT SNOW 62 SLEET 2 FOG 174 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 30 HAZE 80 - INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED. MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT. && ...TOP TEN WARMEST AND LEAST SNOWIEST... A MAJORITY OF MONTHS THIS YEAR FEATURED ABOVE-NORMAL TEMPERATURES. MARCH 2021 WAS THE 7TH WARMEST ON RECORD AS WAS SEPTEMBER. OCTOBER RANKED AS THE 8TH WARMEST ON RECORD AND DECEMBER RANKED AS THE 5TH WARMEST ON RECORD. THESE NOTABLY WARM MONTHS PROPELLED US TO THE 5TH WARMEST YEAR ON RECORD. RECORDS AT SOUTH BEND BEGAN IN 1893. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE YEAR WAS 52.4 DEGREES, WHICH IS 3.1 DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 49.3 DEGREES. THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE FOR THE YEAR WAS 95 DEGREES ON AUGUST 24TH. THE LOWEST TEMPERATURE FOR THE YEAR WAS -4 DEGREES ON FEBRUARY 17TH. THERE WERE 14 DAYS WITH A HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 90 DEGREES OR WARMER, WHICH IS NEAR NORMAL. THERE WERE 126 DAYS WITH A LOW TEMPERATURE AT OR BELOW FREEZING. THIS IS ALSO NEAR NORMAL. THERE WERE TWO DAYS THIS YEAR WITH A LOW TEMPERATURE BELOW ZERO. THE CLIMATE NORMAL VALUE IS 6 DAYS PER YEAR. TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE YEAR WAS 39.0 INCHES, WHICH IS A WHOPPING 25.5 INCHES BELOW THE NORMAL OF 64.5 INCHES. THIS IS THE 8TH LEAST SNOWIEST YEAR ON RECORD. THIS IS THE LEAST SNOWIEST SINCE 2006 WHEN 18.9 INCHES WAS OBSERVED (THE RECORD FOR LEAST AMOUNT OF SNOW IN A YEAR). THERE WERE 14 DAYS WITH AN INCH OR MORE OF SNOW, ABOUT 6 DAYS BELOW NORMAL. THE TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR WAS 42.17 INCHES, THIS IS 2.94 INCHES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 39.23 INCHES. THIS RANKS AS THE 27TH WETTEST YEAR ON RECORD. THERE WERE 8 DAYS THIS YEAR WITH 1 INCH OR MORE OF PRECIPITATION, WHICH IS NEAR NORMAL. A MONTH-BY-MONTH SUMMARY FOLLOWS. JANUARY 2021 ...MILD WITH A SNOW DEFICIT... MUCH OF THE MONTH WAS MILD WITH A NOTABLE DRY SPELL FROM THE 4TH THROUGH 13TH. MOST OF THE MONTH`S PRECIPITATION FELL AT THE START OF THE MONTH, BUT THE LATTER PART BECAME MORE ACTIVE. IT WAS NOT UNTIL JANUARY 23RD THAT SOUTH BEND RECORDED A DAILY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE DEPARTURE BELOW NORMAL. OUR AVERAGE TEMPERATURE THROUGH THE 22ND WAS 30.1 DEGREES, WHICH TIES FOR THE 18TH WARMEST ON RECORD. I SHOULD NOTE THAT THIS SAME STRETCH OF DAYS IN 2020 RECORDED AN AVERAGE OF 31.5 DEGREES. THE OVERALL WARMTH WE EXPERIENCED THIS MONTH WAS NOT ONLY A RESULT WARM HIGH TEMPERATURES, THOUGH FOUR DAYS OBSERVED A HIGH OF AT LEAST 40 DEGREES. INSTEAD, MILD LOW TEMPERATURES REALLY TIPPED THE SCALES. THE (CLIMATE) NORMAL LOW TEMPERATURE FOR JANUARY IS TYPICALLY 17.6 DEGREES. INSTEAD, SOUTH BEND OBSERVED 23.8 DEGREES. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE ENTIRE MONTH WAS 28.8 DEGREES WHICH IS 4.4 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 33RD WARMEST ON RECORD. A RAIN-CHANGING-TO-SNOW EVENT BEGAN THE MONTH WITH 0.96" OF PRECIPITATION AND 1.9" OF SNOW. THERE WERE A COUPLE OTHER INSTANCES OF SNOW AND PRECIPITATION MID-MONTH. SNOW WAS EXPERIENCED IN SMALL DOSES, WITH THE GREATEST SINGLE-DAY TOTAL OF 3.6 INCHES ON THE 31ST. SNOWFALL FOR THIS MONTH TOTALED 14.6 INCHES WHICH IS 6.0 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THE RANKS AS THE 63RD LEAST SNOWIEST JANUARY. TO DATE, SNOWFALL FOR THE ENTIRE WINTER IS 30.0 INCHES WHICH IS 7.9 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. PRECIPITATION FOR THIS MONTH TOTALED 2.33 INCHES WHICH IS ONLY 0.04 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. THE RANKS AS THE 56TH WETTEST JANUARY. THERE WERE NO RECORDS SET THIS MONTH. BROWN FEBRUARY 2021 ...SNOW AND COLD ARRIVE... FOLLOWING A MILD JANUARY AND THE MONTH`S SIX-INCH SNOWFALL DEFICIT, FEBRUARY OFFERED A CORRECTION SO TO SPEAK. TEMPERATURES WERE BELOW NORMAL FROM THE 2ND THROUGH 21ST. THE GREATEST AVERAGE DAILY TEMPERATURE DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL WAS ON THE 17TH, WHEN THE DAY WAS 20 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THIS WAS ALSO THE DATE OF THE MONTH`S LOWEST MINIMUM TEMPERATURE; -4 DEGREES. THE STRETCH OF DAYS FROM THE 1ST THROUGH 21ST RANKED AS THE 13TH COLDEST ON RECORD, WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 16.4 DEGREES. THE VERY END OF THE MONTH OFFERED RELIEF FROM THE COLD AS HIGH TEMPERATURES OF AT LEAST 40 DEGREES WERE OBSERVED FROM THE 23RD THROUGH 28TH. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 21.6 DEGREES WHICH IS 6.2 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 22ND COLDEST FEBRUARY. THE MONTH`S SNOWFALL PILED UP IN A PERIOD FROM THE 4TH TO 21ST. THE GREATEST SINGLE-DAY TOTAL FOR THE MONTH WAS 6.5 INCHES ON THE 15TH. THIS WAS THE GREATEST SINGLE-DAY FEBRUARY SNOWFALL SINCE 10.3 INCHES IN 2018. AN ADDITIONAL 1.4 INCHES OF SNOW FELL FROM THIS SAME STORM SYSTEM ON THE FOLLOWING DAY, RESULTING IN A TWO-DAY TOTAL OF 7.9 INCHES. THE TOTAL SNOW FOR THE MONTH WAS 20.4 INCHES WHICH IS 5.4 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 21ST SNOWIEST ON RECORD. THIS IS THE SNOWIEST FEBRUARY SINCE 2018 WHEN 29.6 INCHES WERE OBSERVED. THE GREATEST SNOW DEPTH (7AM) WAS 16 INCHES ON THE 16TH. THIS TIES FOR THE 20TH GREATEST MAXIMUM SNOW DEPTH ON RECORD. THIS IS THE GREATEST SNOW DEPTH SINCE JANUARY 8TH, 2011, WHICH HAD A MAXIMUM OF 23 INCHES. I SHOULD NOTE THAT 2018 (FEB 2ND) HAD A MAXIMUM SNOW DEPTH OF 15 INCHES. MARCH 2021 ...WARM WITH A DRY START, BUT A WET FINISH... MARCH WILL BE KNOWN AS A WARM MONTH. THIS IS MAINLY BECAUSE THE AVERAGE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 54.9 DEGREES AND RANKED AS THE 7TH WARMEST. SOUTH BEND HAD AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 43.1 DEGREES FOR MARCH, WHICH RANKED AS THE 14TH WARMEST MARCH. WITH HOW WARM MARCH WAS FOR SOUTH BEND, THERE WAS ONLY A TRACE OF SNOW FOR THE MONTH. A TRACE OF SNOW WAS REPORTED ON THE 1ST AND 31ST OF THE MONTH. THIS RANKED AS TIED FOR THE LEAST SNOWIEST MARCH. SOUTH BEND HAD A VERY DRY START TO MARCH WITH MARCH 1 TO MARCH 24 RECEIVING ONLY 0.36 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION. THIS RANKED AS THE SECOND DRIEST STRETCH BEHIND ONLY 1981. FURTHERMORE, 14 STRAIGHT DAYS OF PRECIPITATION TOTALING LESS THAN 0.02 INCHES OCCURRED FROM MARCH 1ST TO MARCH 14TH. THIS RANKED AS THE 7TH LONGEST STRETCH OF "DRY" WEATHER IN MARCH. AFTER THE DRY START, A PERIOD OF ACTIVE WEATHER MOVED IN FOR THE LATTER PART OF THE MONTH WITH MARCH 24TH TO MARCH 31ST RECEIVING 2.00 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION. THIS RANKED AS THE 13TH WETTEST STRETCH FOR THIS PERIOD. OVERALL, SOUTH BEND RECEIVED 2.36 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH, RANKING AS THE 52ND DRIEST MARCH. APRIL 2021 ...DROUGHT CONDITIONS CONTINUE WITH ROLLER COASTER TEMPERATURES... FROM A TEMPERATURE POINT OF VIEW, APRIL FEATURED TWO LARGE EPISODES OF TEMPERATURE SWINGS. AFTER A CRISP START ON THE 1ST AND 2ND, TEMPERATURES WARMED DRAMATICALLY THEREAFTER. THE PERIOD FROM APRIL 1 TO APRIL 13TH RANKS AS THE 8TH WARMEST ON RECORD, WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 53.3 DEGREES. WITHIN THIS STRETCH, ON THE 6TH, SOUTH BEND PICKED UP ITS FIRST 80-DEGREE DAY OF THE YEAR. THIS IS ABOUT 20- DAYS SOONER THAN AVERAGE AND IS THE EARLIEST 80-DEGREE DAY SINCE MARCH 14, 2012. THIS TIES 1921 AND 1988 AS THE 11TH EARLIEST 80- DEGREE DAY ON RECORD (14TH EARLIEST IF DUPLICATES ARE CONSIDER TO EACH HAVE THEIR OWN RANK). FOLLOWING THAT WARM SPELL, A STRETCH OF DAYS WITH BELOW-NORMAL TEMPERATURES WAS OBSERVED FROM THE 14TH TO 25TH. THIS PERIOD RANKED AS THE 10TH COLDEST ON RECORD. THE HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 40 DEGREES ON THE 20TH NARROWLY MISSED THE RECORD OF 38 SET IN 1947. SOON AFTER, HIGH TEMPERATURES SOARED INTO THE 80S ONCE MORE. THE HIGH OF 85 DEGREES ON THE 27TH BEAT THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 84 IN 1986. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 49.8 DEGREES WHICH IS NEAR THE NORMAL OF 49.0. DROUGHT CONDITIONS REMAINED LARGELY THE SAME IN THE GREATER SOUTH BEND AREA THROUGH THE MONTH. THERE WAS A PERIOD OF SOME IMPROVEMENT MID-MONTH THANKS TO THE COOL CONDITIONS AND ABOUT ONE INCH OF RAIN FROM THE 8TH THROUGH 12TH. HOWEVER, CONDITIONS DETERIORATED BY THE END OF THE MONTH WITH A CONTINUED LACK OF PRECIPITATION. ALL TOLD, PRECIPITATION TOTALED 2.24 INCHES AND IS 0.99 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 32ND DRIEST ON RECORD. SINCE JANUARY 1ST, PRECIPITATION IS 1.88 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. LASTLY, IT WOULD NOT BE APRIL IN THE MIDWEST WITHOUT SOME SNOW! SNOW OCCURRED ON THREE DAYS THIS MONTH TOTALING 0.7 INCHES. THIS IS 0.7 INCHES BELOW THE NORMAL OF 1.4 INCHES. APRIL OF 2020 RECORED 3.7 INCHES! MAY 2021 ...FROSTY NIGHTS AND CONTINUED DROUGHT... THE MONTH BEGAN WITH FOLKS BREAKING OUT THEIR SUMMER ATTIRE AS A HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 79 AND 82 WERE OBSERVED ON THE 1ST AND 2ND, RESPECTIVELY. TEMPERATURES QUICKLY TUMBLED THEREAFTER. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE DEPARTURE FROM THE 5TH THROUGH 15TH RANGED FROM 4 TO 15 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. A NUMBER OF FROST ADVISORIES WERE ISSUED DURING THIS STRETCH. PATIENCE PAID OFF AS SUMMER-LIKE TEMPERATURES RETURNED FROM THE 16TH TO 27TH WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE DEPARTURE AS GREAT AS 16 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL (20TH, 22ND, 25TH). THE MONTH ENDED WITH PATCHY FROST IN OUTLYING AREAS ON THE 29TH AND 30TH WITH A LOW OF 38 REPORTED AT THE AIRPORT. SUCH A MINIMUM TEMPERATURE THIS LATE IN THE SPRING IS UNFORTUNATE, BUT IT OCCURS MORE OFTEN THAN YOU MAY THINK. LET ME EXPLAIN: BY SEARCHING THE CLIMATE DATA BY FIRST AND LAST DATE FOR A MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF LESS THAN 40 DEGREES, I FOUND THAT THE MEAN LAST DATE IS 5/21. THE LATEST THIS HAS OCCURRED IS 6/22(!) IN 1992. SORTING THIS LIST BY YEAR, 5/21/2019 SAW A LOW OF 39 DEGREES AS DID 5/29/2008. HOWEVER, OUR LOW OF 38 ON 5/30/2021 IS THE LATEST IT HAS BEEN THIS COLD SINCE 2003 WHEN A LOW OF 37 WAS REPORTED ON JUNE 2ND. THOSE TEMPERATURE SWINGS NEARLY CANCELED EACH OTHER OUT IN THE END, AS THE MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 58.9 DEGREES IS ONLY 0.2 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. PRECIPITATION CONTINUED TO BE ELUSIVE FOR SOME. ONLY 2.97 INCHES WAS OBSERVED WHICH IS 1.23 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. MOST OF THE MONTH`S RAIN FELL ON MOTHER`S DAY: 1.10 INCHES. THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY 15 DAYS WITHOUT MEASURABLE RAINFALL. DURING THAT TIME, DROUGHT CONDITIONS WORSENED. TO EASE THE BURDEN, HOWEVER, WAS 1.42 INCHES FROM THE 25TH THROUGH 28TH. EVEN WITH THIS LATE-MONTH RAIN, MAY 2020 TIES 1898 AS THE 50TH DRIEST MAY ON RECORD. THIS IS THE DRIEST MAY SINCE 2.49" IN 2016. SOUTH BEND IS CURRENTLY 4.04 INCHES BELOW-NORMAL FOR THE CALENDAR YEAR. ...JUNE 2021... ON JUNE 1, THE TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR WAS 4.17 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. ACCORDING TO THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR, EXTREME NORTHERN INDIANA WAS DECLARED "ABNORMALLY DRY", WHILE SOUTHERN MICHIGAN WAS IN A "MODERATE DROUGHT". BY THE END OF THIS MONTH, THE YEAR`S PRECIPITATION TOTAL WAS 1.59 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS CHANGE IS LARGELY THE RESULT OF A STATIONARY FRONT THAT MOVED IN LATE IN THE MONTH WHICH BECAME THE FOCUS FOR NUMEROUS ROUNDS OF RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS. FOUR TO SEVEN INCHES OF RAIN FELL IN THE GREATER SOUTH BEND AREA FROM THE 25TH AND 26TH. THE SOUTH BEND AIRPORT RECEIVED AN IMPRESSIVE 1.84 INCHES (25TH), FOLLOWED BY AN INCREDIBLE 4.30 INCHES THE NEXT DAY! OF COURSE, THAT SHATTERED THE OLD RECORD OF 1.87 INCHES IN 1994. THE GREATEST SINGLE-DAY PRECIPITATION TOTAL FOR JUNE IS 4.69 INCHES WHICH OCCURRED ON JUNE 25, 1968. THE RAIN TOTAL FOR THE MONTH WAS 9.67 INCHES WHICH IS 5.63 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 2ND WETTEST JUNE ON RECORD. TEMPERATURES WERE GENERALLY ABOVE NORMAL FOR THE MONTH WITH THE EXCEPTION OF A COOL SPELL FROM THE 21ST TO 23RD. THE MORNING LOW OF 46 ON THE 22ND WAS 14 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL AND SEVEN DEGREES AWAY FROM THE RECORD LOW. ON THE OTHER HAND, SOUTH BEND RECORDED ITS FIRST THREE 90-DEGREE DAYS (6/5, 11, 12). THE AVERAGE FIRST 90- DEGREE DAY IS JUNE 11TH. BY THE END OF JUNE LAST YEAR, SOUTH BEND HAD ALREADY OBSERVED FIVE 90-DEGREE DAYS. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 73.0 DEGREES WHICH IS 4.2 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 8TH WARMEST JUNE ON RECORD. JULY ...SLIGHTLY COOL AND DRY, BUT HUMID... THIS MONTH`S AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FINISHED AT 73.4 DEGREES, WHICH IS 0.1 DEGREE ABOVE NORMAL AND RANKED AS THE 53RD WARMEST JULY ALL TIME. SOUTH BEND HAD 3 DAYS REACHING 90 DEGREES OR HIGHER, WHICH IS THE LOWEST TOTAL SINCE 2017 WHEN IT HAD 0 90+ DEGREE DAYS AND IS 3.3 DAYS BELOW THE NORMAL NUMBER OF 90+ DEGREE DAYS (6.3). IT ALSO HAD 16 DAYS ONLY FALLING TO 65 DEGREES OR GREATER AS A LOW TEMPERATURE, WHICH IS 4.4 DAYS ABOVE THE NORMAL TOTAL OF 12.4 DAYS DURING THE MONTH OF JULY. THIS IS AS A RESULT OF THE HIGH RESIDENCE TIME OF HIGH HUMIDITY IN THE AREA. PUTTING THAT ALL TOGETHER, THE COOLER HIGH TEMPERATURES, BUT HIGHER HUMIDITY ALLOWS THE MONTH TO FINISH OFF AROUND NORMAL IN THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE CATEGORY. THIS MONTH`S PRECIPITATION TOTALED 2.39, WHICH IS 1.39 INCH BELOW THE NORMAL JULY TOTAL OF 3.78. THIS RANKED AS THE 42ND DRIEST JULY ALL TIME. SOUTH BEND HAD A WET MIDDLE PART OF THE MONTH WHEN IT SAW 8 STRAIGHT DAYS OF RAINFALL (ABOVE 0 INCHES) FROM THE 10TH TO THE 17TH. 8 OR MORE STRAIGHT DAYS OF RAINFALL HAS ONLY HAPPENED 5 OTHER TIMES IN SOUTH BEND`S PERIOD OF RECORD (2003,1992,1990,1915,1905). HOWEVER, THE HIGHEST AMOUNT OF RAINFALL THAT FELL ON A SINGLE DAY IN JULY STAYED BELOW 0.75 INCHES HELPING TO KEEP THE TOTAL RAINFALL FOR THE MONTH BELOW NORMAL AND REFLECTED THE SUMMER TIME HIT-OR-MISS NATURE OF STORMS, WHICH WERE COMMON THIS MONTH. AUGUST ...HOT AND WET... THIS MONTH`S AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FINISHED AT 75.6 DEGREES, WHICH IS 4.9 DEGREE(S) ABOVE NORMAL AND RANKED AS THE 10TH WARMEST AUGUST WHEN COMPARED TO THE PERIOD OF RECORD. SOUTH BEND HAD 5 DAYS REACHING 90 DEGREES OR HIGHER, WHICH IS ABOUT 2 DAYS GREATER THAN THE AVERAGE OF 2.6 DAYS. IT ALSO HAD 18 DAYS ONLY FALLING TO 65 DEGREES OR GREATER AS A LOW TEMPERATURE, WHICH IS 8.2 DAYS ABOVE THE NORMAL TOTAL OF 9.8 DAYS DURING THE MONTH OF AUGUST. THIS IS AS A RESULT OF THE HIGH RESIDENCE TIME OF HIGH HUMIDITY IN THE AREA. PUTTING THAT ALL TOGETHER, THE WARMER HIGH TEMPERATURES, AND HIGHER HUMIDITY ALLOWS THE MONTH TO FINISH OFF ABOVE NORMAL IN THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE CATEGORY. SOUTH BEND HAD 3 SEVERE WEATHER-AIDED RAINFALL TOTALS EXCEEDING 0.5 INCH ON THE 6TH (1.16), 10TH (2.55), AND 11TH (0.65) AND ANOTHER RAINFALL EVENT TOTALING 0.86 INCH ON THE 24TH. THESE RAINFALL TOTALS HELPED SOUTH BEND REACH 5.50 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH, WHICH IS 1.49 ABOVE THE NORMAL AUGUST TOTAL OF 4.01 INCHES. THIS RANKED AS THE 19TH WETTEST AUGUST WHEN COMPARED TO THE PERIOD OF RECORD. SEPTEMBER 2021 ...WARMEST SEPTEMBER IN 88 YEARS... PLENTY OF WARM AFTERNOONS WERE OBSERVED THIS MONTH, INCLUDING THREE DAYS WHERE THE HIGH REACHED 90 DEGREES OR WARMER. SEPTEMBER HAS FEATURED THREE OR MORE 90-DEGREE DAYS SEVEN TIMES IN LAST 21 YEARS. OUR ANNUAL TOTAL IS NOW UP TO FOURTEEN 90-DEGREE DAYS. THE AVERAGE DAILY TEMPERATURE WAS AT OR BELOW NORMAL ON ONLY SEVEN DAYS THIS MONTH. AS A RESULT, THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 69.2 DEGREES WHICH IS 5.3 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 7TH WARMEST SEPTEMBER ON RECORD. THERE WERE A FEW EPISODES OF RAIN, THE BULK OF WHICH OCCURRED FROM THE 20TH THROUGH 23RD WHEN A SLOW-MOVING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVED THROUGH. NORTHEAST INDIANA AND NORTHWEST OHIO WERE ABSOLUTELY DRENCHED BY THIS SYSTEM; RAIN TOTALS IN EXCESS OF 5 INCHES WERE REPORTED. THAT WAS NOT QUITE THE STORY AT SOUTH BEND WHERE THE TOTAL FOR THE MONTH WAS 1.96 INCHES, WHICH IS 1.42 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 35TH DRIEST ON RECORD. THIS DEFICIT PRACTICALLY "ERASES" THE SURPLUS OF 1.49 INCHES AT THE END OF AUGUST. OCTOBER ...TOP TEN WARMEST AND WETTEST... THIS WAS A REMARKABLE MONTH WITH RECORD-WARMTH THROUGH THE 21ST AND RELENTLESS RAIN. SOUTH BEND EXPERIENCED ITS WARMEST OCTOBER ON RECORD THROUGH OCTOBER 21ST WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 64.6 DEGREES. BY THE 22ND, OCTOBER 1920 SURPASSED THIS YEAR`S WARMTH WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 64.3 (VS 63.6 OCTOBER 2021). WITHIN THIS STRETCH OF WARMTH, THREE RECORDS WERE TIED OR BROKEN: ON 10/7: THE RECORD WARMEST LOW WAS TIED (66 IN 2007) ON THE 10/10: A NEW RECORD WARMEST LOW OF 70 (PREVIOUS 66 IN 1904) ON 10/11: THE RECORD WARMEST LOW WAS TIED (64 IN 1920) A SEASONABLE CHILL FINALLY ARRIVED TO THE AREA ON THE 22ND WHEN THE AVERAGE DAILY TEMPERATURE WAS SIX DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THE FINAL TEN DAYS OF THE MONTH ALSO FEATURED THE FIRST 32-DEGREE FROST WITH A MORNING LOW OF 31 ON THE 27TH. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 58.9 DEGREES WHICH IS 6.9 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 8TH WARMEST OCTOBER ON RECORD. A PROGRESSIVE WEATHER PATTERN BROUGHT SEVERAL ROUNDS OF RAIN TO THE AREA TO START THE MONTH. THERE WAS A BRIEF DRY PERIOD FROM THE 16TH TO 19TH BEFORE A SOAKING ROUND OF RAIN ARRIVED. THESE FREQUENT RAIN EVENTS HAMPERED FALL HARVEST, ESPECIALLY BY THE END OF THE MONTH WHEN SOILS WERE SATURATED BY 1.60 INCHES ON THE 24TH AND 1.12 INCHES ON THE 25TH. EIGHTEEN DAYS THIS MONTH FEATURED MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION; TIED FOR THE 4TH MOST ON RECORD (22 DAYS IN 1898 IS THE RECORD). THIS IS THE MOST SINCE 2012 WHEN THERE WERE 20 DAYS WITH MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION. ALL TOLD, PRECIPITATION TOTALED 6.03 INCHES AND RANKS AS THE 9TH WETTEST ON RECORD. THIS IS 2.31 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS IS THE WETTEST OCTOBER SINCE 9.13 INCHES IN 2017. ONE DAILY PRECIPITATION RECORDS WAS SET THIS MONTH: 1.60 INCHES ON THE 24TH BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 1.04 IN 2008. NO SNOW WAS REPORTED THIS MONTH WHICH IS BELOW THE NORMAL OF 0.2 INCH. NOVEMBER ...TEMPERATURE SWINGS AND BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION... THIS MONTH FEATURED A NUMBER OF TEMPERATURE SWINGS THAT RESULTED IN AN AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE NEAR NORMAL: 39.9 DEGREES. THIS IS ONLY 0.1 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THE FIRST SIX DAYS OF THE MONTH WERE SEASONABLY CHILLY, BUT AFTERNOON HIGH TEMPERATURES ROCKETED INTO THE 60S ON THE 7TH AND 8TH. A COOL-DOWN FOLLOWED UNTIL ANOTHER AFTERNOON HIGH IN THE 60S OCCURRED ON THE 17TH. THIS FIRST SNOW OF THIS UPCOMING WINTER SEASON WAS REPORTED ON THE 2ND (TRACE) AND THE FIRST MEASURABLE SNOW OCCURRED ON THE 14TH WHEN 1.2 INCHES OF SNOW WAS OBSERVED. THIS DATE IS NEAR-NORMAL FOR THE FIRST 1-INCH SNOWFALL. THE MONTH`S TOTAL SNOW WAS 1.8 INCHES WHICH IS 3.3 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 35TH LEAST SNOWIEST ON RECORD. PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH TOTALED 1.79 INCHES WHICH IS 0.99 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 23RD DRIEST ON RECORD. NO RECORDS WERE SET THIS MONTH. DECEMBER 2021 ...DECEMBER RANKS WITHIN THE TOP TEN WARMEST AND LEAST SNOWIEST... SNOW LOVERS WERE DISAPPOINTED THIS MONTH WHILE THOSE WHO DETEST WINTER CELEBRATED THE MILD AIR AND LACK OF SNOW. COLD AIR WAS LOCKED OUT OF OUR AREA, INSTEAD RESIDING OFF TO OUR NORTHWEST. ONLY TWO DAYS THIS MONTH REPORTED AN AVERAGE DAILY TEMPERATURE DEPARTURE BELOW NORMAL. THE WARMEST DAYS OF THE MONTH, THE 15TH AND 16TH, WERE 26 AND 19 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL FOR THE DAY. NEW RECORD HIGH AND LOW TEMPERATURES WERE SET ON THE 15TH; 64 BREAKS THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 62 IN 1971 WHILE THE LOW OF ONLY 47 DEGREES BREAKS THE PREVIOUS (WARM) LOW TEMPERATURE RECORD OF 44 IN 1928. THE HIGH ON THE 16TH MISSED THE RECORD BY 1 DEGREE (65 IN 1984). WITH THE ABOVE IN MIND, IT IS NO SURPRISE THAT THIS RANKS AS THE 5TH WARMEST DECEMBER ON RECORD. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES THIS MONTH WAS 37.1 DEGREES WHICH IS 7.5 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS IS THE WARMEST DECEMBER SINCE 2015 (39.4 DEGREES; THE WARMEST ON RECORD). PRECIPITATION THIS MONTH, MAINLY RAIN, WAS COMMON WITH 3.86 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION REPORTED. THIS IS 1.46 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 23RD WETTEST DECEMBER ON RECORD. THE LACK OF SNOWFALL THIS MONTH WAS RECORD-BREAKING UNTIL THE VERY END WHEN 1.5 INCHES WAS OBSERVED ON THE 28TH. UNTIL THEN, ONLY A TRACE OF SNOW HAD BEEN OBSERVED. SNOW THIS MONTH TOTALED 1.5 INCHES WHICH IS 12.2 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. DECEMBER 2021 RANKS AS THE 7TH LEAST AMOUNT OF SNOW ON RECORD. DECEMBER 2021 WAS NOTABLE FROM A NATIONAL WEATHER PERSPECTIVE AS THERE WERE TWO DEVASTATING SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAKS. THE FIRST OCCURRED ON THE NIGHT OF DECEMBER 10TH RESULTING IN NEARLY 400 SEVERE WEATHER REPORTS. THERE WERE 66 CONFIRMED TORNADOES INCLUDING TWO SUPERCELLS WHICH TRAVELED WELL OVER 100 MILES. THIS INCLUDES THE TORNADO THE IMPACTED MAYFIELD, KY. NEXT, AN ANOMALOUSLY DEEP LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM PRODUCED A SERIAL DERECHO AS IT MOVED FROM THE ROCKIES TO THE PLAINS AND INTO THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY BEGINNING ON DECEMBER 15TH. THUNDERSTORMS ASSOCIATED WITH THE DERECHO PRODUCED HUNDREDS OF WIND DAMAGE REPORTS AND OVER 90 CONFIRMED TORNADOES. DUE TO THE DEEP NATURE OF THE LOW, THERE WERE WIDESPREAD SYNOPTIC WIND GUSTS OF 50 TO 70 MPH, WITH SEVERAL SITES RECORDING WIND GUSTS AS GREAT AS 90 TO 100 MPH. (SOURCE: CENTRAL REGION HEADQUARTERS) BROWN/LEWIS/ROLLER $$