Climatological Report (Seasonal)
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CXUS53 KIWX 011045
CLSSBN

CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
545 AM EST FRI MAR 01 2024

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

...THE SOUTH BEND CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE SEASON, FROM
12/1/2023 TO 2/29/2024...

CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1991 TO 2020
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1893 TO 2024

WEATHER         OBSERVED          NORMAL  DEPART   LAST YEAR`S
                VALUE   DATE(S)   VALUE   FROM     VALUE
                                          NORMAL
..............................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
 HIGH             74   02/25/2000
 LOW             -22   01/20/1943
                       01/25/1897
HIGHEST           73   02/27         MM      MM       60
LOWEST            -9   01/14         MM      MM       -8
                       01/15
AVG. MAXIMUM    41.6               34.1     7.5     39.5
AVG. MINIMUM    27.7               19.7     8.0     26.2
MEAN            34.7               26.9     7.8
DAYS MAX >= 90     0                0.0     0.0        0
DAYS MAX <= 32    13               38.7   -25.7       19
DAYS MIN <= 32    58               77.5   -19.5       63
DAYS MIN <= 0      6                5.6     0.4        2

PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
 MAXIMUM       13.35   1950
 MINIMUM        2.77   1945
TOTALS          8.08               7.37    0.71     8.01
DAILY AVG.      0.09                 MM      MM     0.09
DAYS >= .01       45               44.1     0.9       36
DAYS >= .10       25               18.8     6.2       16
DAYS >= .50        3                3.5    -0.5        4
DAYS >= 1.00       1                1.0     0.0        3
GREATEST
 24 HR. TOTAL   1.03

SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
 TOTAL         136.3   1978
 24 HR TOTAL    11.8   12/25/2020 TO 12/25/2020
TOTALS          26.4               51.4   -25.0     17.7
SINCE 7/1       29.9               56.7   -26.8     47.9
SNOWDEPTH AVG.     1                                   1
DAYS >= TRACE     29               31.8    -2.8       32
DAYS >= 1.0        7               16.3    -9.3        6
GREATEST
 SNOW DEPTH       10   01/20                           5
 24 HR TOTAL     6.1   01/13 TO 01/13

DEGREE DAYS
HEATING TOTAL   2742               3425    -683     2875
 SINCE 7/1      3839               4802    -963     4006
COOLING TOTAL      0                  0       0        0
 SINCE 1/1         0                  0       0        0
..............................................................

WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED              9.0
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION    35/310    DATE  02/28
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION    46/300    DATE  12/18

SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT)   MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER           0.61
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR           28
NUMBER OF DAYS PC             19
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY         44

AVERAGE RH (PERCENT)     76

WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM              1     MIXED PRECIP               0
HEAVY RAIN                0     RAIN                      12
LIGHT RAIN               33     FREEZING RAIN              0
LT FREEZING RAIN          3     HAIL                       0
HEAVY SNOW                2     SNOW                       9
LIGHT SNOW               29     SLEET                      0
FOG                      64     FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE     17
HAZE                     31

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

&&

...SECOND WARMEST WINTER ON RECORD...

THIS WINTER`S "VERY STRONG" EL NINO DELIVERED AS ANTICIPATED; WARMER
THAN NORMAL.

THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE WINTER, 34.7 DEGREES, IS 7.5 DEGREES
ABOVE NORMAL AND IS THE WARMEST SINCE 1931-1932. THIS IS THE SECOND
WARMEST WINTER ON RECORD. FEBRUARY AND DECEMBER HAD THE GREATEST
DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL, WHILE JANUARY WAS "ONLY" 2.6 DEGREES ABOVE
NORMAL. THE WARMEST TEMPERATURE THIS WINTER WAS 73 DEGREES ON
FEBRUARY 27TH. THIS IS THE WARMEST WINTER TEMPERATURE SINCE 74
DEGREES ON FEBRUARY 25, 2000 (WHICH IS ALSO THE ALL-TIME FEBRUARY
HIGH TEMPERATURE).

DECEMBER PRECIPITATION WAS NEAR NORMAL. JANUARY`S WAS ALMOST 2
INCHES ABOVE NORMAL, AND FEBRUARY ENDED 1.51 INCHES BELOW NORMAL.
ALL TOLD, THE WINTER`S PRECIPITATION TOTAL OF 8.08 INCHES IS 0.71
INCHES ABOVE NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 36TH WETTEST ON RECORD.

OF COURSE, GIVEN THE MILD TEMPERATURES, SNOW WAS HARD TO COME BY.
SNOW TOTALED 26.4 INCHES THIS WINTER AND IS 25.0 INCHES BELOW
NORMAL. THIS IS THE 28TH LEAST AMOUNT OF SNOW ON RECORD. HOWEVER,
THIS IS 8.7 INCHES MORE SNOW THAN WHAT FELL LAST WINTER.

LASTLY, ICE COVERAGE OVER THE GREAT LAKES WAS HISTORICALLY LOW. ON
JANUARY 22, ICE COVERAGE WAS 16% ON THE GREAT LAKES. THIS IS THE
CURRENT SEASONAL MAXIMUM AND TIES 2012 FOR THE SECOND-EARLIEST PEAK
ON RECORD, ACCORDING TO A CLIMATE.GOV ARTICLE PUBLISHED ON FEBRUARY
16TH. THE ARTICLE ALSO NOTES, "DAILY RECORD-LOW ICE COVER HAS
PERSISTED ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES SINCE FEBRUARY 8, 2024." THE
TYPICAL MAXIMUM ICE COVERAGE FOR THE GREAT LAKES IS ABOUT 54%,
OCCURRING IN MID-FEBRUARY.

A MONTH-BY-MONTH SUMMARY IS BELOW.

BROWN
...2ND WARMEST DECEMBER, 7TH LEAST SNOWIEST ON RECORD...

TEMPERATURES THROUGHOUT DECEMBER 2023 WERE WELL ABOVE AVERAGE. THE
MOST NOTABLE TEMPERATURE DEPARTURES OCCURRED AROUND CHRISTMAS; THERE
WAS A 3 DAY STRETCH OF HIGHS IN THE 50S WITH THE DAILY AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE EACH DAY EXCEEDING 15-20 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. OVERALL,
30 OF 31 DAYS THIS MONTH WERE ABOVE AVERAGE! THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE
FOR THE MONTH WAS 39.3 DEGREES, WHICH IS AN ASTOUNDING 9.7 DEGREES
ABOVE NORMAL! DECEMBER 2023 WAS THE 2ND WARMEST DECEMBER ON RECORD
AND THE WARMEST SINCE 2015. RECORDS BEGAN IN 1893.

PRECIPITATION WAS NEAR NORMAL IN SOUTH BEND THROUGHOUT DECEMBER. THE
HIGHEST DAILY RAINFALL TOTAL WAS 0.72" ON DECEMBER 1ST.
PRECIPITATION TOTALED 2.77" FOR THE MONTH, WHICH IS SLIGHTLY ABOVE
THE AVERAGE OF 2.40". DECEMBER 2023 WAS THE 52ND WETTEST DECEMBER ON
RECORD FOR SOUTH BEND.

MUCH OF THE MONTH`S PRECIPITATION FELL AS RAIN. ONLY TWO DAYS IN
DECEMBER RECORDED MEASURABLE SNOW; 1.0" OF SNOW FELL ON DECEMBER
18TH AND 0.4" ON DECEMBER 31ST. THE TOTAL OF 1.4" OF SNOW FOR THE
MONTH WAS 12.3" BELOW NORMAL. DECEMBER 2023 TIES FOR THE 7TH LEAST
SNOWIEST ON RECORD.

TWO DAILY TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE BROKEN THIS MONTH. THE DAILY HIGH
TEMPERATURE ON DECEMBER 9TH OF 59 DEGREES BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD
OF 58 DEGREES SET BACK IN 1946. ADDITIONALLY, A RECORD WARM MINIMUM
TEMPERATURE OF 46 DEGREES WAS SET ON CHRISTMAS DAY. THIS BREAKS THE
DAILY RECORD OF 40 DEGREES, WHICH WAS SET IN 1982.

JOHNSON
...WETTEST JANUARY IN 11 YEARS...

THIS MONTH HAD IT ALL: A RECORD COLD HIGH TEMPERATURE, RECORD DAILY
PRECIPITATION AND SNOWFALL, AND A SIGNIFICANT LAKE EFFECT SNOW EVENT.

THE FIRST 12 DAYS OF JANUARY WERE MILD, WITH AN AVERAGE DAILY
TEMPERATURE AS GREAT AS 11 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL (JANUARY 9TH). BY
THE END OF THAT PERIOD, THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH (32.3
DEGREES) WAS 7.3 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL WHICH RANKS AS THE 25TH
WARMEST ON RECORD. AS THE POLAR VORTEX WEAKENED, COLD AIR BLASTED
INTO THE REGION. FROM THE 13TH THROUGH 21ST, THE AVERAGE DAILY
TEMPERATURE WAS AS MUCH AS 26 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL (JANUARY 15TH).
HIGH TEMPERATURES WERE IN THE SINGLE DIGITS AT TIMES AND OVERNIGHT
LOWS WERE BELOW ZERO. THE COLDEST TEMPERATURE OF THE MONTH, -9 ON
THE 14TH AND 15TH, WAS THE COLDEST TEMPERATURE RECORDED AT SOUTH
BEND SINCE -20 DEGREES ON JANUARY 31, 2019 (NOTE: A LOW OF -8 WAS
RECORDED ON DECEMBER 23, 2022). THIS CHILL WAS SHORT LIVED AS ABOVE-
NORMAL TEMPERATURES RETURNED TO END THE MONTH. THE MONTH ENDED WITH
AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 26.7 DEGREES WHICH IS 2.6 DEGREES ABOVE
NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 49TH WARMEST ON RECORD.

ONE TEMPERATURE RECORD WAS SET THIS MONTH. THE HIGH OF 6 DEGREES ON
THE 14TH BROKE THE PREVIOUS COLDEST HIGH TEMPERATURE RECORD OF 7
DEGREES SET IN 1929.

AS THE ARCTIC AIR ARRIVED AND SUBSEQUENTLY DEPARTED, A COUPLE
EPISODES OF SNOW OCCURRED TOTALING 22.2 INCHES FOR THE MONTH. THIS
IS 0.6 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 37TH MOST ON RECORD.
THIS IS NOTABLY MORE THAN THE PALTRY 7.5 INCHES THAT WERE RECORD IN
JANUARY 2023.

SNOW ON THE 9TH WAS NOTABLE BECAUSE A PRECIPITATION RECORD OF 1.03"
OCCURRED THAT DAY PAIRED WITH 2.3 INCHES OF HEAVY WET SNOW. THIS WAS
A RESULT OF RAIN CHANGING TO SNOW. STANDING WATER WAS TRAPPED BENEATH
THIS "CONCRETE SNOW" MAKING FOR SOUPY, SLOPPY CONDITIONS THROUGHOUT
THE REGION. LATER IN THE MONTH, A DOMINANT LAKE EFFECT SNOW BAND
DEVELOPED AND DROPPED NEARLY 3` (UNOFFICIAL MEASUREMENT) OF SNOW IN
THE LAPORTE AND MICHIGAN CITY AREA. THE CO-OP SITE AT LAPORTE HAD A
TWO-DAY TOTAL OF 32.4 INCHES ENDING EARLY IN THE MORNING ON THE 20TH.

AS PART OF THIS LAKE EFFECT SNOW, SOUTH BEND RECORDED A NEW DAILY
SNOWFALL RECORD OF 5.9 INCHES ON THE 19TH. THIS BROKE THE PREVIOUS
RECORD OF 5.7 INCHES SET IN 2012.

LASTLY, PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH TOTALED AN IMPRESSIVE 4.53
INCHES. THIS IS 1.87 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL AND TIES 1916 AS THE 10TH
WETTEST ON RECORD. THIS WAS THE WETTEST JANUARY SINCE 4.82 INCHES IN
JANUARY 2020. FOR PERSPECTIVE, THIS MONTHLY TOTAL IS COMPARABLE TO
THE NORMAL PRECIPITATION AMOUNT FOR MAY: 4.20 INCHES.

BROWN
...WARMEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD...

AFTER AN ASTONISHINGLY WARM MONTH, SOUTH BEND HAS OFFICIALLY
CLINCHED THE WARMEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD! ONLY TWO DAYS THIS MONTH
WERE BELOW NORMAL; IN COMPARISON, 15 DAYS THIS MONTH WERE 10+
DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL! THE LAST WEEK OF FEBRUARY FEATURED A THREE DAY
STRETCH OF HIGHS 60 DEGREES OR MORE. ON AVERAGE, FEBRUARY HAS ONE
DAY IN THE 60S; THIS YEAR, THERE WERE FIVE DAYS IN THE 60S AND ONE
DAY IN THE 70S. IN FACT, THE 73 DEGREE HIGH TEMPERATURE ON FEBRUARY
27TH WAS ONLY THE 3RD OCCURRENCE OF 70S IN FEBRUARY IN 130 YEARS! THE
MOST RECENT 70+ DEGREE DAY IN FEBRUARY BEFORE THEN WAS FEBRUARY 25,
2000.

SEVERAL TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE TIED OR BROKEN THIS MONTH. THERE
WERE FOUR HIGH TEMPERATURE RECORDS BROKEN ON FEBRUARY 9TH, 26TH,
27TH, AND 28TH. THERE WERE ALSO TWO DAILY RECORD WARM LOW
TEMPERATURES BROKEN ON FEBRUARY 9TH AND 27TH. THE AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE FOR FEBRUARY WAS 38.0 DEGREES, WHICH IS 10.9 DEGREES
ABOVE NORMAL.

PRECIPITATION WAS TOUGH TO COME BY THIS MONTH. THERE WERE NO DAILY
RAINFALL TOTALS OVER HALF AN INCH. THERE WERE ONLY TWO DAYS WHERE
RAINFALL TOTALED OVER A QUARTER INCH OR MORE: FEBRUARY 22ND AND
23RD. PRECIPITATION TOTALED 0.78" FOR THE MONTH. THIS IS 1.53" BELOW
NORMAL AND WAS THE 12TH DRIEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD. THIS WAS THE
DRIEST FEBRUARY SINCE 2004 FOR SOUTH BEND (0.76").

DESPITE THE LACK OF ICE COVER ON LAKE MICHIGAN, DUE TO THE
ANOMALOUSLY WARM TEMPERATURES, SNOWFALL WAS NOTABLY LACKING THIS
MONTH. SNOWFALL TOTALED ONLY 2.8" FOR THE ENTIRE MONTH. THIS IS
13.3" BELOW NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 13TH LEAST SNOWIEST FEBRUARY ON
RECORD.

JOHNSON

$$


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