Climatological Report (Seasonal)
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CXUS53 KIWX 011329
CLSSBN

CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
929 AM EDT THU JUN 01 2023

...................................

...THE SOUTH BEND CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE SEASON, FROM
3/1/2023 TO 5/31/2023...

CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1991 TO 2020
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1893 TO 2023

WEATHER         OBSERVED          NORMAL  DEPART   LAST YEAR`S
                VALUE   DATE(S)   VALUE   FROM     VALUE
                                          NORMAL
..............................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
 HIGH             97   05/27/2012
 LOW             -13   03/08/1943
HIGHEST           92   05/30         MM      MM       91
LOWEST            16   03/18         MM      MM       15
AVG. MAXIMUM    60.8               58.5     2.3     59.7
AVG. MINIMUM    39.1               37.5     1.6     40.1
MEAN            49.9               48.0     1.9
DAYS MAX >= 90     2                0.7     1.3        2
DAYS MAX <= 32     1                3.6    -2.6        3
DAYS MIN <= 32    29               30.6    -1.6       29
DAYS MIN <= 0      0                0.1    -0.1        0

PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
 MAXIMUM       19.83   1976
 MINIMUM        4.24   1971
TOTALS         10.00              10.04   -0.04     9.98
DAILY AVG.      0.11               0.11    0.00     0.11
DAYS >= .01       39               39.2    -0.2       43
DAYS >= .10       27               21.4     5.6       25
DAYS >= .50        5                6.8    -1.8        7
DAYS >= 1.00       2                1.7     0.3        0
GREATEST
 24 HR. TOTAL   1.48

SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
 TOTAL          34.6   1960
 24 HR TOTAL     0.5   04/01/2021 TO 04/01/2021
TOTALS          10.5                7.8     2.7      7.3
SINCE 7/1       58.4               64.5    -6.1     56.0
SNOWDEPTH AVG.     0                                   0
DAYS >= TRACE     18                6.6    11.4       17
DAYS >= 1.0        4                2.3     1.7        4
GREATEST
 SNOW DEPTH        2   03/10                           4
                       03/12
 24 HR TOTAL     3.4R  03/03 TO 03/03

DEGREE DAYS
HEATING TOTAL   1427               1624    -197     1479
 SINCE 7/1      5433               6358    -925     5767
COOLING TOTAL     64                 55       9      117
 SINCE 1/1        64                 56       8      117
..............................................................

WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED              9.3
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION    35/270    DATE  03/31
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION    52/200    DATE  04/05

SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT)   MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER           0.41
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR           45
NUMBER OF DAYS PC             23
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY         24

AVERAGE RH (PERCENT)     61

WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM             11     MIXED PRECIP               1
HEAVY RAIN               11     RAIN                      17
LIGHT RAIN               39     FREEZING RAIN              0
LT FREEZING RAIN          0     HAIL                       0
HEAVY SNOW                2     SNOW                       6
LIGHT SNOW               15     SLEET                      0
FOG                      40     FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE      3
HAZE                     24

-  INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R  INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T  INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.

&&

BY THE END OF MARCH, SOUTH BEND WAS EXPERIENCING ITS SECOND WETTEST
START TO THE YEAR. BY THE END OF MAY, HOWEVER, A FLASH DROUGHT WAS
UNDERWAY WITH A PROLONGED STRETCH OF DRY WEATHER. TEMPERATURES OVER
THE PAST THREE MONTHS FEATURED THEIR USUAL MIDWEST-SPRING SWINGS AND
AS A RESULT ENDED UP NEAR NORMAL AFTER ALL.

BECAUSE OF THE TRANSITION FROM WET CONDITIONS TO FLASH DROUGHT,
TOTAL PRECIPITATION WAS ONLY SOMEWHAT ABOVE NORMAL, TOTALING 10.00
INCHES WHICH IS 0.04 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. SNOWFALL WAS 2.7
INCHES ABOVE NORMAL, TOTALING 10.5 INCHES.

THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR SPRING WAS 49.9 DEGREES WHICH IS 1.9
DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS TIES 2022 AS THE 26TH WARMEST ON RECORD.

SPRING SEVERE WEATHER PEAKED ON MARCH 31 WHEN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
PRODUCED 13 TORNADOES, LARGE HAIL, AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS. THIS WAS
THE GREATEST SINGLE-DAY TORNADO OUTBREAK IN OUR FORECAST AREA SINCE
14 TORNADOES OCCURRED ON AUGUST 24, 2016.

A MONTH-BY-MONTH SUMMARY IS BELOW.

MARCH
SPRING CAN BE A WILD MONTH AROUND HERE, ESPECIALLY WITH RESPECT TO
TEMPERATURES. MARCH 2023 WAS NO DIFFERENT. THE FIRST NINE DAYS OF
MARCH WERE MILD, WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE DEPARTURE FOR THAT
STRETCH 7.1 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THE MIDDLE OF THE MONTH TURNED
NOTABLY COLDER, ESPECIALLY ON THE 18TH WHEN THE DAILY AVERAGE
TEMPERATURES WAS ONLY 22 DEGREES; 15 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THE END
OF THE MONTH WAS GENERALLY COLD AS WELL, BUT THE 31ST NEARLY OFFSET
THOSE LATE COOLER-THAN-NORMAL DAYS WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR
THE DAY OF 57 WHICH IS 15 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THE MAXIMUM
TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH, 64, AND THE MINIMUM OF 16 SHOWCASE THE
MONTH`S TYPICAL VOLATILITY.

OVERALL, THE MONTH`S AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 37.9 DEGREES WAS 1.2
DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS WAS THE COOLEST MARCH SINCE 2019 (33
DEGREES) BUT RANKS AS THE 51ST WARMEST ON RECORD OVERALL.

ON MARCH 3RD, SOUTH BEND WAS ON THE COLD SIDE OF A LOW PRESSURE
SYSTEM MOVING THROUGH THE REGION. THIS RESULTED IN 3.4 INCHES OF
SNOW. AN ADDITIONAL SNOWY STRETCH OF WEATHER OCCURRED FROM THE 10TH
THROUGH 13TH. TOTAL SNOW FOR THE MONTH WAS 10.5 INCHES WHICH IS
NEARLY 4 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 41ST GREATEST SNOW
TOTAL ON RECORD. THIS IS THE GREATEST MARCH SNOW TOTAL INCHES 11.8
INCHES IN 2014.

WET CONDITIONS FROM FEBRUARY CARRIED OVER INTO MARCH AS TOTAL
PRECIPITATION WAS 3.55 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RESULTED IN MANY
RIVERS REACHING ACTION STAGE OR MINOR FLOOD STAGE. SEVERE WEATHER
LATE IN THE MONTH NOT ONLY BROUGHT SOAKING RAIN, BUT ALSO HAIL,
DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WIND, AND TORNADOES TO THE REGION. THIS RANKS
AS THE THIRD WETTEST MARCH ON RECORD. THIS IS THE WETTEST MARCH
SINCE 1977 AND 1976.

FROM JANUARY 1 THROUGH MARCH 31, SOUTH BEND CURRENTLY RANKS AS THE
2ND WETTEST ON RECORD BEHIND 1976, MEASURING 12.40 INCHES OF
PRECIPITATION.

TWO RECORDS WERE SET THIS MONTH: DAILY PRECIPITATION ON THE 31
TOTALED 1.48 INCHES, BREAKING THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 1.07 INCHES IN
1926. DAILY PRECIPITATION ON THE 3RD WAS ALSO A NEW RECORD, TOTALING
1.28 INCHES. THIS BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 1.15 INCHES IN 1906.

APRIL
APRIL FEATURED AN ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL STRETCH OF WEATHER FROM THE
8TH THROUGH 16TH, WITH DRY CONDITIONS, AND HIGH TEMPERATURES
EVENTUALLY SOARING INTO THE 80S. A NEW RECORD HIGH WAS RECORDED ON
THE 14TH. THE HIGH OF 84 BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 81 SET IN
1941. TEMPERATURES MET OR EXCEEDED 80 DEGREES FIVE TIMES THIS MONTH.
THIS IS THE GREATEST NUMBER OF 80-DEGREE DAYS SINCE APRIL 1985 WHEN
SIX 80-DEGREE DAYS WERE RECORDED.

SUCH PLEASANT SPRING WEATHER IS AN ANOMALY HERE IN THE MIDWEST, SO
OF COURSE COOLER AND WETTER WEATHER EVENTUALLY SETTLED IN. THE
DREARY WEATHER THAT TOOK SHAPE AFTER THAT MILD STRETCH, AND AGAIN IN
THE FINAL DAYS OF APRIL, WAS THE RESULT OF A LINGERING UPPER-LEVEL
LOW OVER THE GREAT LAKES. OVERALL, THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE
MONTH WAS 50.7 DEGREES WHICH RANKS AS THE 29TH WARMEST ON RECORD.
THIS IS THE WARMEST APRIL SINCE 2017, WHICH HAD AN AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE OF 52.2 DEGREES FOR THE MONTH.

FOLLOWING A WET START TO SPRING, APRIL DRIED OUT SOME, ESPECIALLY
MID-MONTH. THUNDERSTORMS PROVIDED NEARLY 1 INCH OF RAIN OVER TWO
DIFFERENT DAYS IN THE FIRST FIVE DAYS OF APRIL, WHILE SLOW-MOVING
CUTOFF LOWS PROVIDED SMALLER RAIN AMOUNTS OVER SEVERAL DAYS LATE IN
THE MONTH. PRECIPITATION TOTALED 2.30 INCHES WHICH IS 1.19 INCHES
BELOW NORMAL. THIS IS THE 34TH DRIEST APRIL ON RECORD. ALSO, THIS IS
THE DRIEST APRIL SINCE 2021. THERE WAS A TRACE OF SNOW THIS MONTH.


...FLASH DROUGHT TO CONCLUDE THE MONTH...
MAY STARTED WITH A BANG, FEATURING MOST OF THE MONTH`S
PRECIPITATION TOTAL (INCLUDING A TRACE OF SNOW) AND TEMPERATURES WELL
BELOW NORMAL. CHEERFUL SPRING WEATHER ARRIVED SOON AFTER WITH HIGHS
IN THE 70S AND 80S. THE END OF THE MONTH IS REALLY WHAT CAPTURED
HEADLINES AS DRY CONDITIONS DEVELOPED VERY QUICKLY. THIS IS KNOWN AS
A FLASH DROUGHT.

THIS FLASH DROUGHT WAS A RESULT OF AN OMEGA BLOCK (AS WELL AS A REX
BLOCK LATER ON) OVER THE REGION WHICH CUT-OFF THE FLOW OF MOISTURE
TO OUR LOCAL AREA, WHILE HIGH PRESSURE STEERED ANY SHOWER AND STORM
CHANCES ELSEWHERE.

DRY WEATHER PERSISTED FOR 12 STRAIGHT DAYS WHICH HAS OCCURRED
NUMEROUS TIMES ON RECORD (TIED FOR 154TH OVERALL, TIED AS 17TH
LONGEST BY NUMBER OF DAYS WHERE THE LONGEST STRETCH OF DAYS WAS 36
DAYS ENDING SEPTEMBER 23, 1908) IN THE PERIOD OF RECORD. THE RECORD
BOOKS ALSO SHOW THAT, IN INSTANCES OF 12 CONSECUTIVE DRY DAYS OR
MORE, THE ENDING DATE WAS IN MAY 14 TIMES. HALF OF THOSE 14-TIMES
HAVE AN END DATE IN THE FINAL 10-DAYS OF THE MONTH. OTHER RECENT
STRETCHES OF DRY WEATHER INCLUDE, OCTOBER 10, 2022 WHICH WAS THE END
OF A 13-DAY DRY STRETCH. THE YEAR 2021 FEATURED AN 11-DAY STRETCH
(FINAL DAY NOVEMBER 10) AND A 15-DAY DRY STRETCH (ENDING MAY 24).
ALL THAT TO SAY, THESE PROLONGED STRETCHES OF DRY WEATHER DO OCCUR
SOMEWHAT OFTEN IN THE SOUTH BEND AREA.

ON ONE HAND, THIS DRY WEATHER WAS BENEFICIAL FOR THOSE CUTTING HAY
AND PLANTING. ON THE OTHER HAND, SUCH A LONG STRETCH OF DRY WEATHER
RESULTED IN SOME CONCERN FOR NEWLY-PLANTED CROPS.

OVERALL, PRECIPITATION TOTALED 1.80 INCHES WHICH RANKS AS THE 23RD
DRIEST ON RECORD AND IS 2.40 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS IS THE
DRIEST MAY SINCE 1.70 INCHES IN 2007.

THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 61.2 DEGREES WHICH IS 2.1
DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 41ST WARMEST ON RECORD. TWO
90-DEGREE DAYS WERE RECORDED (30TH AND 31ST). THIS IS 13 DAYS AHEAD
OF THE NORMAL START DATE OF 90-DEGREE TEMPERATURES, JUNE 11TH.

A TRACE OF SNOW WAS RECORDED ON MAY 1, WHICH IS ABOVE-NORMAL FOR THE
MONTH AND IS THE 9TH SNOWIEST ON RECORD FOR THE MONTH. MAY 2020 ALSO
FEATURED A TRACE OF SNOW.

BROWN/JOHNSON
$$


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