Climatological Report (Annual)
Issued by NWS
Issued by NWS
000 CXUS53 KIWX 051905 CLASBN CLIMATE REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 205 PM EST TUE JAN 05 2021 ................................... ...THE SOUTH BEND CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE YEAR OF 2020... CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1981 TO 2010 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1893 TO 2020 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 94 07/07 MM MM 93 06/20 08/27 LOWEST 3 02/14 MM MM -20 AVG. MAXIMUM 61.3 58.8 2.5 58.3 AVG. MINIMUM 42.3 40.8 1.5 40.3 MEAN 51.8 49.8 2.0 DAYS MAX >= 90 22 9.7 12.3 9 DAYS MAX <= 32 21 44.6 -23.6 49 DAYS MIN <= 32 129 122.7 6.3 131 DAYS MIN <= 0 0 5.3 -5.3 7 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 55.61 1990 MINIMUM 25.15 1963 TOTALS 36.58 38.00 -1.42 44.33 DAILY AVG. 0.10 0.10 -0.00 0.12 DAYS >= .01 144 145.4 -1.4 149 DAYS >= .10 77 78.3 -1.3 98 DAYS >= .50 22 23.4 -1.4 29 DAYS >= 1.00 8 7.2 0.8 8 SNOWFALL (INCHES) RECORDS TOTAL 141.7 1978 TOTALS 50.9 66.6 -15.7 43.6 SINCE 7/1 16.7 22.5 -5.8 10.9 SNOWDEPTH AVG. 0 0 DAYS >= TRACE 63 44.9 18.1 74 DAYS >= 1.0 18 20.4 -2.4 12 GREATEST SNOW DEPTH 9 12/25 10 12/26 DEGREE DAYS HEATING TOTAL 5690 6298 -608 6377 SINCE 7/1 2074 2390 -316 2194 COOLING TOTAL 978 773 205 779 SINCE 1/1 978 773 205 779 .............................................................. WIND (MPH) AVERAGE WIND SPEED 8.7 HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 38/260 DATE 03/29 HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 56/240 DATE 05/23 SKY COVER POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.46 NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 172 NUMBER OF DAYS PC 86 NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 108 AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 70 WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORM 33 MIXED PRECIP 0 HEAVY RAIN 36 RAIN 48 LIGHT RAIN 140 FREEZING RAIN 1 LT FREEZING RAIN 3 HAIL 0 HEAVY SNOW 3 SNOW 19 LIGHT SNOW 56 SLEET 0 FOG 160 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 22 HAZE 58 - INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED. MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT. && ...WARMER THAN NORMAL WITH BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION AND SNOWFALL... THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE YEAR WAS 51.8 DEGREES, WHICH IS 2.0 DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 49.8 DEGREES. THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE FOR THE YEAR WAS 94 DEGREES ON JULY 7TH AND AUGUST 27TH. THE LOWEST TEMPERATURE FOR THE YEAR WAS 3 DEGREES ON FEBRUARY 14TH. THERE WERE 22 DAYS WITH A HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 90 DEGREES OR WARMER, WHICH IS ABOUT 12 DAYS MORE THAN THE CLIMATE NORMAL OF ABOUT 10 DAYS. THERE WERE 129 DAYS WITH A LOW TEMPERATURE AT OR BELOW FREEZING. THIS IS ABOUT 6 DAYS ABOVE THE CLIMATE NORMAL OF 123 DAYS. THERE WERE ZERO DAYS THIS YEAR WITH A LOW TEMPERATURE BELOW ZERO. THE CLIMATE NORMAL VALUE IS 5 DAYS PER YEAR. THE TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR WAS 36.58 INCHES, THIS IS 1.42 INCHES BELOW THE NORMAL OF 38 INCHES. THIS RANKS AS THE 61ST DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD. THIS IS THE DRIEST YEAR SINCE 2015; 36.30". THERE WERE 8 DAYS THIS YEAR WITH 1 INCH OR MORE OF PRECIPITATION, WHICH IS ABOUT 1 DAY MORE THAN NORMAL. TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE YEAR WAS 50.9 INCHES, WHICH IS 15.7 INCHES BELOW THE NORMAL OF 66.6 INCHES. THIS IS THE 16TH LEAST SNOWIEST YEAR ON RECORD. 2019 ONLY OBSERVED 43.6 INCHES. THERE WERE 18 DAYS WITH AN INCH OR MORE OF SNOW, ABOUT 2 DAYS BELOW NORMAL. JANUARY ...CONTINUED WARMTH THIS WINTER, BUT NOW A WET JANUARY... WHERE`S WINTER?? SOUTH BEND CONTINUES TO SEE ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND BELOW NORMAL SNOWFALL THROUGH THE MONTH OF JANUARY. THE MONTH`S HIGHEST TEMPERATURE WAS 57 DEGREES ON THE 11TH AND ENDED A PERIOD OF 3 STRAIGHT DAYS REACHING 50 DEGREES. THE MONTH`S LOWEST TEMPERATURE WAS 4 DEGREES AND OCCURRED ON THE 20TH. THIS WAS WITHIN A STRETCH OF BELOW NORMAL AVERAGE TEMPERATURES THAT OCCURRED ON 3 OF THE 4 DAYS BETWEEN THE 17TH AND 21ST AND WAS THE ONLY PERIOD OF BELOW NORMAL AVERAGE TEMPERATURES THIS MONTH. THE DAY WITH THE HIGHEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 26.1 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL, WHICH HAPPENED TO BE AROUND THE TIME FRAME THAT THIS MONTH SAW SOME HEAVY RAINFALL. THIS MONTH FEATURED 3 DAYS OF PRECIPITATION TOTALING ABOVE 0.5 INCH WITH THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL AMOUNTING TO 2.42 INCHES OCCURRING ON THE 11TH. THIS WAS A RECORD PRECIPITATION AMOUNT FOR THAT DAY. A SECOND WAVY PATTERN OCCURRED FROM THE 17TH TO THE 21ST AND BROUGHT AROUND AN INCH OF PRECIPITATION OVER THAT PERIOD, THIS TIME WITH MORE SNOW INVOLVED. SO, WHILE IT MAY SEEM LIKE ALL OF THE RAIN CAME AT ONCE AND THEN WAS OVER, IN ALL ACTUALITY, WE`VE BEEN GETTING MORE OF A SLOW TRICKLE OF PRECIPITATION THIS MONTH. IN FACT, SOUTH BEND HAD ONLY 10 DAYS OF NO PRECIPITATION THIS MONTH AND 6 OF THEM WERE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MONTH. AT THE END OF THE MONTH, SOUTH BEND`S MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 32.1 LEADING TO A +7.7 DEGREE DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 7TH WARMEST JANUARY. SOUTH BEND`S PRECIPITATION TOTALED 4.82 INCHES THIS MONTH LEADING TO A +2.53 INCH DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 6TH WETTEST JANUARY. SNOWFALL TOTALED 9.6 INCHES THIS MONTH AND LEAD TO A -11 INCH DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 37TH LEAST SNOWIEST JANUARY. FEBRUARY ...THE ONLY MONTH THIS WINTER WITH ABOVE-NORMAL SNOW... FEBRUARY BEGAN INCREDIBLY WARM, WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 20 TO 16 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL ON THE 2ND AND 3RD, RESPECTIVELY. THIS WARMTH CONTINUED NEARLY UNINTERRUPTED UNTIL THE 13TH. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF THE FIRST 12 DAYS OF FEBRUARY RANKED AS THE 12TH WARMEST ON RECORD: 32.0 DEGREES. OUR HIGHEST TEMPERATURE THIS MONTH WAS 57 ON THE 2ND. THIS SHATTERED THE PREVIOUS RECORD ON THIS DATE OF 50 IN 1920. AN ADDITIONAL RECORD WAS SET ON THE FOLLOWING DAY, WITH A HIGH OF 55, BREAKING THE OLD RECORD OF 52 IN 1991. TEMPERATURES TRENDED MUCH COLDER BY MID-MONTH WITH LOWS IN THE SINGLE DIGITS ON THE 14TH AND 15TH. THE LOWEST TEMPERATURE OF THE MONTH WAS 3 DEGREES ON THE 14TH. NINE DAYS LATER, HIGH TEMPERATURES RETURNED TO THE 50S! THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 29.3, WHICH IS 1.5 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 35TH WARMEST FEBRUARY. PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH WAS ONLY 0.29 INCHES BELOW NORMAL, TOTALING 1.66 INCHES. THIS RANKS AS THE 63RD DRIEST FEBRUARY. UNLIKE THE REST OF WINTER 2019-2020, FEBRUARY SAW A MONTHLY SNOWFALL ABOVE NORMAL. THIS WAS MAINLY DUE TO A SNOWSTORM LATE IN THE MONTH WHICH BROUGHT 6.1 INCHES OF SNOW FROM THE 25TH TO 27TH, INCLUDING SOME LAKE EFFECT. TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH WAS 17.9 INCHES; 2.9 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. MARCH ...AN UNREMARKABLE MONTH... 13 OF THE FIRST 15 DAYS OF MARCH OBSERVED A DAILY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE ABOVE NORMAL. HIGHS IN THE 50S WERE COMMON WITH A COUPLE OF DAYS IN THE LOW-60S. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR MARCH 9TH WAS 55 DEGREES; 20 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. NOTABLY COLDER AIR ARRIVED LATER ON WITH HIGHS IN THE 40S AND LOWS IN THE 20S. SNOW ARRIVED ALONG WITH THE COLD AIR. 2.6 INCHES OF SNOW WAS REPORTED THROUGH THE 22ND AND 23RD. ONE MORE BOUT OF WARMTH WAS REALIZED BEGINNING ON THE 25TH, BEFORE A STRONG STORM SYSTEM BROUGHT COOLER AIR BACK TO THE AREA ON THE 29TH WITH A PEAK WIND GUST OF 53 MPH OBSERVED. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 40.4 DEGREES, WHICH IS 3.5 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 28TH WARMEST MARCH. PRECIPITATION TOTALED 2.23 INCHES, WHICH IS 0.19 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 47TH DRIEST MARCH. THE GREATEST SINGLE-DAY TOTAL WAS ONLY 0.47 INCHES ON THE 28TH. SNOWFALL TOTALED 3.0 INCHES, WHICH IS 4.1 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. MOST OF THIS SNOW FELL ON THE 22ND AND 23RD, WHEN 1.6 AND 1.0 INCHES OF SNOW (RESPECTIVELY) WAS OBSERVED. THIS RANKS AS THE THE 32ND LEAST SNOWIEST MARCH. APRIL ...A COOL PATTERN OUTWEIGHS HINTS OF SPRINGTIME WARMTH... THOSE DREAMING OF MILD SPRING DAYS OUTDOORS WERE LARGELY DISAPPOINTED BY APRIL 2020, WHICH SAW AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 45.7 DEGREES. THIS IS 3.3 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL AND TIES AS THE 25TH COLDEST ON RECORD. FOLLOWING THE WARMEST DAY OF THE MONTH, 78 DEGREES ON THE 7TH, COLDER-THAN-NORMAL DAYS OUTNUMBERED WARMER-THAN-NORMAL DAYS. FROM THE 9TH THROUGH THE 30TH, 19 OF 22 DAYS SAW AN AVERAGE DAILY TEMPERATURE BELOW NORMAL. THIS 22-DAY PERIOD RANKS AS THE 9TH COLDEST ON RECORD WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 44.0 DEGREES. (APRIL 8TH SAW AN AVERAGE TEMPERATE OF 60 DEGREES, 14 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL). 20 OF APRIL`S 30 DAYS OBSERVED A DAILY TEMPERATURE BELOW NORMAL. ONE TEMPERATURE RECORD WAS TIED THIS MONTH: A RECORD LOW OF 22 DEGREES ON APRIL 16TH TIES THE RECORD FROM 1935. THE TOTAL PRECIPITATION OF 4.18 INCHES IS 0.95 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 39TH WETTEST ON RECORD. A NEW DAILY PRECIPITATION (RAINFALL IN THIS CASE) WAS SET ON THE 7TH, WHEN 1.20 INCHES WAS OBSERVED. THIS BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 0.84 IN 1951. THE TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH WAS 3.7 INCHES, WHICH IS 2.3 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS TIES AS THE 20TH SNOWIEST APRIL ON RECORD. A NEW DAILY RECORD FOR SNOWFALL WAS SET ON APRIL 17TH. 3.0 INCHES BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 1.8 SET IN 1961. MAY ...A COLD START GIVES WAY TO SUMMER-LIKE WARMTH... LOWS IN THE 20S, A FEW SNOWFLAKES, AND HIGHS IN THE 40S ARE SOME OF THE DISTANT MEMORIES OF HOW MAY 2020 BEGAN. FROM THE 1ST THROUGH 15TH, THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 50.5 DEGREES WHICH RANKS AS THE 12TH COLDEST ON RECORD. A FEW RECORDS WERE BROKEN DURING THIS TIME. ON MAY 8TH, A RECORD LOW OF 27 BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 28 SET IN 2017 (AND 1947). A REPEAT PERFORMANCE OCCURRED THE FOLLOWING DAY. ON MAY 9TH, A RECORD LOW OF 25 WAS OBSERVED WHICH BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 27 IN 1947. THIS RECORD LOW OF 25 WAS ONE DEGREE SHY OF THE ALL-TIME COLDEST MAY TEMPERATURE; 24 ON MAY 6TH, 1968. WHILE ON THE SUBJECT OF COLD, THERE WERE TWO DAYS WHERE AT LEAST A FEW SNOWFLAKES OR EVEN GRAUPEL WERE OBSERVED; MAY 10TH AND 11TH. THE WEATHER PATTERN TURNED NOTABLY WARMER IN TIME FOR MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND AS TEMPERATURES SOARED INTO THE 80S, AND EVEN REACHED 90 DEGREES ON THE 26TH. USING JANUARY 1 AS A STARTING POINT, THIS TIES AS THE 14TH EARLIEST 90-DEGREE DAY. THIS IS IN STARK CONTRAST TO 2019 WHEN THE FIRST 90-DEGREE DAY WAS ON JULY 2ND. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF THE MONTH WAS 58.6 DEGREES, WHICH IS ONLY 0.7 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 58TH "COLDEST" ON RECORD. PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH TOTALED 4.58 INCHES, WHICH IS 0.75 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 41ST WETTEST ON RECORD. JUNE ...13TH WARMEST JUNE ON RECORD; DRY UNTIL THE END... JUNE BEGAN WITH A STRETCH OF EIGHT DRY DAYS, ASIDE FROM A TRACE OBSERVED ON THE 3RD. THE FINAL TWO DAYS OF MAY WERE DRY AS WELL. HIGH TEMPERATURES SOARED QUICKLY INTO THE 80S AND 90S. IT WAS BREEZY AS WELL AND ALL OF THIS COMBINED TO QUICKLY DRY THE AREA`S TOP SOIL. MUCH OF INDIANA WAS DECLARED "ABNORMALLY DRY" ON THE UNITED STATES DROUGHT MONITOR THAT WAS PREPARED ON THE 16TH, AND PUBLISHED JUNE 18TH. BY JUNE 16TH, SOUTH BEND WAS ALREADY 1.42" BELOW NORMAL ON RAINFALL, HAVING ONLY RECEIVED 0.67". THE RAINFALL STORY CHANGED IN THE LAST HALF OF THE MONTH AS SLOW- MOVING THUNDERSTORMS DOTTED THE AREA. THIS RESULTED IN SOAKING RAINFALL FOR SOME, WHILE OTHERS REMAINED DRY. SOUTH BEND PICKED UP 2.69" COMBINED ON THE 21ST AND 22ND. THE MONTH`S RAINFALL TOTAL WAS 4.50", WHICH IS IS 0.71" ABOVE NORMAL. THIS TIES 1919 AS THE 38TH WETTEST ON RECORD. ONE RECORD WAS BROKEN THIS MONTH: DAILY PRECIPITATION ON THE 21ST. 1.70" WAS OBSERVED, WHICH BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 1.21" IN 1907. SOUTH BEND ALSO PICKED UP FOUR DAYS WHERE THE HIGH REACHED AT LEAST 90 DEGREES. ZERO 90-DEGREE DAYS WERE OBSERVED IN JUNE 2019. FOR THE CALENDAR YEAR, FIVE 90-DEGREE DAYS HAVE BEEN OBSERVED. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 72.1 DEGREES, WHICH IS 3.0 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS TIES 1952 AS THE 13TH WARMEST JUNE ON RECORD. JULY ...DRY CONDITIONS EXPAND ACROSS THE AREA... JULY WAS NOTABLY HOT AND HUMID, WHICH OF COURSE TENDS TO HAPPEN IN THE SUMMER MONTHS. HOWEVER, THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF JULY 2020, 76.6 DEGREES, RANKS AS THE 13TH WARMEST ON RECORD. TEN 90-DEGREE DAYS WERE OBSERVED THIS MONTH, WHICH IS THE GREATEST SINCE 2012 WHEN THE TALLY WAS SIXTEEN. THERE WERE EIGHT CONSECUTIVE 90-DEGREE DAYS FROM JULY 2 TO 9. THERE HAVE BEEN FIFTEEN 90-DEGREE DAYS SO FAR THIS YEAR, TYING AS THE 34TH GREATEST. THERE WAS ONE TEMPERATURE RECORD THIS MONTH. THE MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 74 DEGREES ON THE 8TH TIES THE RECORD FOR WARMEST MINIMUM TEMPERATURE SET IN 1928. ON THE TOPIC OF MINIMUM TEMPERATURES, THE AVERAGE MINIMUM TEMPERATURE THIS MONTH WAS 66.4 DEGREES, WHICH RANKS AS THE 10TH WARMEST ON RECORD. RAINFALL WAS HARD TO FIND FOR MUCH OF THE AREA. JULY 1 STARTED WITH MUCH OF INDIANA DECLARED AS "ABNORMALLY DRY" ON THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR. BY MID-MONTH, PORTIONS OF NORTHERN INDIANA WERE DECLARED TO BE PART OF A "MODERATE DROUGHT". BOTH OF THESE AREAS WERE FURTHER EXPANDED BY THE END OF THE MONTH. ONLY 2.66 INCHES OF RAIN WERE OBSERVED AT SOUTH BEND; 1.10 INCHES OF WHICH FELL ON JULY 10TH. THIS MONTHLY TOTAL IS 1.34 INCHES BELOW NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 54TH DRIEST ON RECORD. THIS IS THE LEAST AMOUNT OF RAINFALL AT SOUTH BEND SINCE JULY 2014 WHEN ONLY 1.79 INCHES FELL. AUGUST ...SEVEN MORE 90-DEGREE DAYS... BASED ON TOTAL RAINFALL AND AVERAGE TEMPERATURE, AUGUST 2020 WILL GENERALLY SLIP SILENTLY INTO THE CLIMATE RECORDS. HOWEVER, THE DRY SPELL FROM THE 11TH THROUGH 23RD EXASPERATED ALREADY DRY CONDITIONS OVER THE AREA. BY AUGUST 23RD, RAINFALL HAD BEEN OBSERVED ON ONLY THREE DAYS, TOTALING 1.65". MONTH-TO-DATE PRECIPITATION WAS 1.16" BELOW NORMAL BY THIS POINT. ZERO RAINFALL WAS OBSERVED FROM THE 11TH-23RD (13 DAYS). THE LONGEST STRETCH OF DAYS WITH ZERO PRECIPITATION IS 36 DAYS, WHICH ENDED IN SEPTEMBER OF 1908. AN AREA OF "MODERATE DROUGHT" WAS ADDED TO PORTIONS OF NORTHERN INDIANA AND SOUTHERN MICHIGAN ON THE AUGUST 25TH U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR MAP. A SOAKING 1.22" OF RAIN THE 29TH, ALONG WITH A FEW OTHER RAIN EVENTS AT THE END OF THE MONTH, BROUGHT THE RAIN TOTAL TO 3.17". THIS IS 0.59" BELOW NORMAL. THIS TIES 1968 AS THE 56TH DRIEST AUGUST ON RECORD. SOUTH BEND PICKED UP SEVEN 90-DEGREE DAYS THIS MONTH. THIS IS THE GREATEST TOTAL FOR THE MONTH SINCE 2001 (7). TO FIND A GREATER TOTAL OF 90-DEGREE DAYS, TURN TO AUGUST 1988 WITH 14 90-DEGREE DAYS. THE ANNUAL TOTAL TO DATE IS 22 90-DEGREE DAYS. THIS IS THE GREATEST SINCE 2012 WHICH HAD 32 THROUGH THE END OF AUGUST. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 72.9 DEGREES, WHICH IS 1.6 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS TIES AS THE 33RD WARMEST ON RECORD. THERE WERE TWO TEMPERATURE RECORDS: RECORD WARM MINIMUM TEMPERATURES FOR THE 25TH AND 28TH. THE MINIMUM TEMPERATURE ON THE 25TH TIED THE RECORD OF 73 SET IN 1910. ON THE 28TH, THE MINIMUM TEMPERATURE TIED THE RECORD OF 74 SET IN 1973. SEPTEMBER ...TWO WEEKS WITHOUT MEASUREABLE RAINFALL MARK CONTINUED DROUGHT... THE US DROUGHT MONITOR REMAINED NEARLY STEADY THROUGH THE MONTH WITH ALL OF NORTHERN INDIANA DECLARED TO BE EXPERIENCING AT LEAST "ABNORMALLY DRY CONDITIONS". JUST OUTSIDE OF SOUTH BEND, COMMUNITIES TO THE NORTHEAST AND SOUTHWEST WERE DECLARED TO BE IN A "MODERATE DROUGHT". RAINFALL IS ONLY ONE PIECE OF DROUGHT CONSIDERATIONS. HOWEVER, THIS MONTH WAS CERTAINLY A DRY ONE. RAINFALL FOR THE MONTH TOTALED 1.68". THIS IS 1.85" BELOW NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 28TH DRIEST ON RECORD. ROUGHLY 73 PERCENT OF THE MONTH`S RAINFALL OCCURRED ON ONE DAY; 1.23" ON THE 8TH. THERE WAS NO MEASUREABLE PRECIPITATION (0.01" OR GREATER) FROM THE 13TH THROUGH 27TH. THIS WAS THE DRIEST SEPTEMBER SINCE 2009 (0.09"). ALSO NOTABLE THIS MONTH WERE THE TEMPERATURE SWINGS. THE DAILY MEAN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE DEPARTURE RANGED FROM 12 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL ON THE 19TH TO 12 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL ON THE 26TH AND 27TH. A PORTION OF THE AREA OBSERVED ITS FIRST FROST ON THE MORNING OF SEPTEMBER 19TH WHEN A LOW OF 36 DEGREES WAS OBSERVED AT THE AIRPORT (OUTLYING AREAS WERE COLDER, WITH SOME FROST REPORTED VIA SOCIAL MEDIA). ALL TOLD, THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 64.3 DEGREES WHICH IS 0.3 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THERE WERE NO RECORDS SET AT SOUTH BEND THIS MONTH. OCTOBER ...STRETCH OF WET WEATHER MIDDLE OF MONTH AND COLDER END OF MONTH... OCTOBER BEGAN WITH SOME WELCOME RAIN AND BELOW-NORMAL TEMPERATURES. AS TEMPERATURES WARMED TO ABOVE NORMAL BEGINNING ON THE 6TH, A DRY STRETCH OF WEATHER BEGAN. AS A RESULT, DROUGHT CONDITIONS REMAINED UNCHANGED FOR MUCH OF OCTOBER. THAT IS, SOUTHERN MICHIGAN WAS SAID TO BE "ABNORMALLY DRY" ACCORDING TO THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR. MEANWHILE, STEUBEN COUNTY THROUGH WHITE COUNTY WERE LABELED AS "MODERATE DROUGHT". A ROUND OF THUNDERSTORMS ON THE 12TH PRODUCED A 50 MPH WIND GUST AT THE AIRPORT BUT THE RAINFALL OF 0.32 INCHES WAS NOT ENOUGH TO EASE THE DROUGHT CONDITIONS. DROUGHT CONDITIONS IMPROVED SLIGHTLY DURING THE SECOND HALF OF THE MONTH. FROM THE 18TH THROUGH 23RD, 1.23 INCHES OF RAIN WAS OBSERVED. AN ADDITIONAL 0.11 INCHES WAS OBSERVED ON THE 27TH. THIS STRETCH OF WET WEATHER EASED THE DROUGHT FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN MICHIGAN. TEMPERATURES TURNED NOTABLY COOLER FOR THE END OF THE MONTH AS WELL, WITH A BELOW-NORMAL MEAN TEMPERATURE ON 13 OF THE FINAL 17 DAYS. THE HIGH TEMPERATURE OF ONLY 41 DEGREES ON THE 27TH NEARLY BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 40 DEGREES SET IN 1925. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 51.1 DEGREES WHICH IS 1.0 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS TIED FOR THE 32ND COLDEST ON RECORD. TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH WAS 2.85 INCHES WHICH IS 0.47 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 59TH DRIEST OCTOBER. NO SNOW WAS OBSERVED THIS MONTH. THE NORMAL FOR OCTOBER IS 0.4 INCHES. NOVEMBER ...TOP 10 WARMEST NOVEMBER... NOVEMBER 2020 WILL BE REMEMBERED AS A WARM ONE! THE 4TH THROUGH 10TH FEATURED HIGHS IN THE UPPER-60S AND UPPER-70S, WITH LOWS IN THE 50S. THERE WAS ONE MORE BOUT OF WARMTH ON THE 19TH AND 20TH WITH HIGHS IN THE 60S. TEN DAYS HAD DOUBLE-DIGIT DAILY MEAN TEMPERATURE DEPARTURES ABOVE NORMAL. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 45.7 DEGREES, WHICH IS 5.0 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS TIES 2016 AS THE 9TH WARMEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD. A NUMBER OF TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE BROKEN THIS MONTH: 11/08: H:77. (PREVIOUS 72, 1931) 11/09: H:77. (75, 1999). L:58. (57, 1966) 11/10: H:75. (71, 1999). L:55. (52, 2012) THE RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE ON NOVEMBER 8TH IS NOTEWORTHY BECAUSE IS IS THE WARMEST TEMPERATURE RECORDED SO LATE IN THE CALENDAR YEAR. THE PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 76 DEGREES SET ON NOVEMBER 19, 1930. PAIRED WITH THE UNSEASONABLE WARMTH WERE DRY CONDITIONS. PRECIPITATION TOTALED 1.88 INCHES WHICH IS 1.39 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 26TH DRIEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD. LAST YEAR, 1.44 INCHES WAS RECORDED. AS A RESULT OF THIS DRYNESS, THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR EXPANDED THE "MODERATE DROUGHT" CONDITIONS DURING THE MONTH. THERE WAS ONE INSTANCE OF MEASURABLE SNOW (0.1" OR GREATER) THIS MONTH (11/24). THIS TOTALED 1.3 INCHES AS IS 3.5 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS TIES AS THE 27TH LEAST SNOWIEST NOVEMBER. COMPARE THIS TO 6.8 INCHES IN 2019, AND 12.1 INCHES IN 2018. DECEMBER ...CHRISTMAS DAY SNOW RECORD NOT ENOUGH, AS SLOW START TO WINTER CONTINUES... DECEMBER 2020 WILL BE REMEMBERED FOR ITS MILD AND MAINLY DRY CONDITIONS. ROUGHLY TWO-THIRDS OF THE DAYS FEATURED AN AVERAGE DAILY TEMPERATURE DEPARTURE OF AT LEAST +1 DEGREE. THERE WERE TWO STRETCHES OF DAYS WHERE THIS WARMTH WAS MOST NOTABLE. THE FIRST STRETCH WAS FROM THE 9TH THROUGH 12TH WHEN HIGHS REACHED THE 50S HELPING TO PROPEL THE DAY`S TEMPERATURE DEPARTURE FROM +8 (ON 12/9) TO +15 (ON 12/12) DEGREES. THE SECOND STRETCH OCCURRED FROM THE 19TH THROUGH 23RD. HERE, DEPARTURES RANGED FROM +10 (ON 12/19) TO +18 (ON 12/23) DEGREES. THROUGH THE 23RD, SOUTH BEND WAS TIED WITH 1956 AND 1920 FOR THE 17TH WARMEST START TO WINTER WITH AN AVERAGE DAILY TEMPERATURE OF 35.0 DEGREES. THIS WAS THE WARMEST START SINCE 2015; 40.8 DEGREES. BY THE END OF THE MONTH, THE AVERAGE DAILY TEMPERATURE WAS 32.5 DEGREES WHICH IS 3.7 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 32ND WARMEST ON RECORD. PRECIPITATION WAS LARGELY ABSENT FOR THE FIRST ONE-THIRD OF THE MONTH. IN FACT, THROUGH 12/10, IT WAS THE DRIEST START TO WINTER ON RECORD. SECOND PLACE GOES TO 1988 WITH 0.05". IT WAS NOT UNTIL THE 11TH THAT MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION (0.01" OR GREATER) WAS OBSERVED. MUCH OF THE MONTH`S PRECIPITATION OCCURRED ON THE 12TH (1.24") AND DURING THE LAST WEEK OF THE MONTH. ALL TOLD, PRECIPITATION TOTALED 2.37 INCHES WHICH IS ONLY 0.24 INCH BELOW NORMAL. LIKE PRECIPITATION, SNOWFALL WAS LARGELY ABSENT THIS MONTH. AT ITS PEAK, THE SNOWFALL DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL WAS -11.4" FOR THE MONTH ON THE 23RD. AT THAT POINT, ONLY 0.8" HAD BEEN OBSERVED. AT THE TIME, THIS WAS TIED WITH 2018 AS THE LEAST SNOWIEST START TO WINTER. THE FOLLOWING TWO DAYS BROUGHT A WALLOP OF LAKE EFFECT SNOW. A TOTAL OF 12.8" WAS OBSERVED FROM THE 24TH TO 25TH. THE 11.8" THAT FELL ON THE 25TH WAS A RECORD (PREVIOUS: 6.0" IN 1915). THIS WAS THE ONLY RECORD SET IN DECEMBER 2020. TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH WAS 15.4 INCHES WHICH IS 1.9 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 54TH SNOWIEST DECEMBER ON RECORD. $$ BROWN/ROLLER