CXUS53 KIWX 011045 CLSFWA CLIMATE REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 545 AM EST FRI MAR 01 2024 ................................... ...THE FORT WAYNE CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE SEASON, FROM 12/1/2023 TO 2/29/2024... CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1991 TO 2020 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1897 TO 2024 WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR'S VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE NORMAL .............................................................. TEMPERATURE (F) RECORD HIGH 73 02/25/2000 LOW -24 01/12/1918 HIGHEST 69 02/27 MM MM 62 LOWEST -6 01/15 MM MM -8 AVG. MAXIMUM 42.0 35.5 6.5 40.7 AVG. MINIMUM 27.9 21.2 6.7 26.2 MEAN 34.9 28.4 6.5 DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 0 DAYS MAX <= 32 11 35.5 -24.5 14 DAYS MIN <= 32 59 76.7 -17.7 67 DAYS MIN <= 0 3 6.1 -3.1 2 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 17.85 1950 MINIMUM 1.58 1920 TOTALS 6.60 7.07 -0.47 9.48 DAILY AVG. 0.07 MM MM 0.11 DAYS >= .01 36 36.3 -0.3 33 DAYS >= .10 19 17.1 1.9 17 DAYS >= .50 1 4.3 -3.3 5 DAYS >= 1.00 1 0.9 0.1 3 GREATEST 24 HR. TOTAL 1.28 01/09 TO 01/09 SNOWFALL (INCHES) RECORDS TOTAL 61.1 1982 24 HR TOTAL 6.7 02/02/2022 TO 02/03/2022 TOTALS 10.5 26.2 -15.7 13.4 SINCE 7/1 10.9 28.2 -17.3 17.6 SNOWDEPTH AVG. T 0 DAYS >= TRACE 30 25.3 4.7 28 DAYS >= 1.0 5 8.4 -3.4 4 GREATEST SNOW DEPTH 3 01/20 7 24 HR TOTAL 2.0 01/09 TO 01/09 DEGREE DAYS HEATING TOTAL 2720 3298 -578 2821 SINCE 7/1 3813 4561 -748 3958 COOLING TOTAL 0 0 0 0 SINCE 1/1 0 0 0 0 .............................................................. WIND (MPH) AVERAGE WIND SPEED 9.5 HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 39/230 DATE 01/13 HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 54/220 DATE 01/13 SKY COVER POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.75 NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 10 NUMBER OF DAYS PC 25 NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 56 AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 76 WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORM 2 MIXED PRECIP 2 HEAVY RAIN 3 RAIN 11 LIGHT RAIN 37 FREEZING RAIN 1 LT FREEZING RAIN 4 HAIL 0 HEAVY SNOW 1 SNOW 2 LIGHT SNOW 30 SLEET 3 FOG 54 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 10 HAZE 13 - 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 WITH (SOMEWHAT) BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE WINTER, 34.9 DEGREES, IS 6.5 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 1.9 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THE WARMEST TEMPERATURE THIS WINTER WAS 69 DEGREES ON FEBRUARY 27TH. THIS IS THE WARMEST WINTER TEMPERATURE SINCE 70 DEGREES ON FEBRUARY 20, 2018. THE RECORD WARMEST WINTER TEMPERATURE IS 73 DEGREES, SET ON FEBRUARY 25, 2000. DECEMBER PRECIPITATION WAS BELOW NORMAL. JANUARY'S WAS ALMOST 1.5 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL, AND FEBRUARY ENDED 1.10 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. ALL TOLD, THE WINTER'S PRECIPITATION TOTAL OF 6.60 INCHES IS 0.47 INCHES BELOW NORMAL AND TIES FOR THE 62ND DRIEST ON RECORD. OF COURSE, GIVEN THE MILD TEMPERATURES, SNOW WAS HARD TO COME BY. SNOW TOTALED 10.5 INCHES THIS WINTER AND IS 13.4 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS IS THE 14TH LEAST AMOUNT OF SNOW ON RECORD AND WAS THE LOWEST WINTER SNOW TOTAL SINCE 9.4 INCHES IN 2001-2002. 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, 6TH LEAST SNOWIEST ON RECORD... TEMPERATURES THROUGHOUT DECEMBER 2023 WERE WELL ABOVE AVERAGE. THE MOST NOTABLE TEMPERATURE DEPARTURES OCCURRED AROUND CHRISTMAS; THERE WAS A 4 DAY STRETCH OF HIGHS IN THE 50S WITH THE DAILY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE EACH DAY EXCEEDING 15-20 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. OVERALL, 29 OF 31 DAYS THIS MONTH WERE ABOVE AVERAGE! THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 39.8 DEGREES, WHICH IS AN ASTOUNDING 8.9 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL! DECEMBER 2023 WAS THE 2ND WARMEST DECEMBER ON RECORD AND THE WARMEST SINCE 2015. RECORDS BEGAN IN 1897. PRECIPITATION WAS ONCE AGAIN LACKING THIS MONTH. THERE WERE NO DAILY RAINFALL TOTALS OVER HALF AN INCH. THERE WERE SEVERAL DAYS WHERE RAINFALL ONLY TOTALED A QUARTER INCH OR LESS; THE HIGHEST DAILY RAINFALL TOTAL WAS 0.28" ON DECEMBER 22ND. PRECIPITATION TOTALED 1.69" FOR THE MONTH. THIS IS 0.78" BELOW NORMAL AND WAS THE 36TH DRIEST DECEMBER ON RECORD FOR FORT WAYNE. ONLY ONE DAY IN DECEMBER RECORDED MEASURABLE SNOW; 0.5" OF SNOW FELL ON DECEMBER 18TH. THE TOTAL OF 0.5" OF SNOW FOR THE MONTH WAS 7.1" BELOW NORMAL. DECEMBER 2023 TIES FOR THE 6TH LEAST SNOWIEST ON RECORD. NO RECORDS WERE SET THIS MONTH. JOHNSON ...JANUARY 2024... THE FIRST 12 DAYS OF JANUARY WERE MILD, WITH AN AVERAGE DAILY TEMPERATURE AS GREAT AS 13 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL (JANUARY 9TH). BY THE END OF THAT PERIOD, THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH (32.3 DEGREES) WAS 6.0 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL WHICH RANKS AS THE 29TH WARMEST ON RECORD. AS THE POLAR VORTEX WEAKENED, COLD AIR BLASTED INTO THE REGION. FROM THE 13TH THROUGH 22ND, THE AVERAGE DAILY TEMPERATURE WAS AS MUCH AS 24 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, -6 ON THE 15TH, WAS THE COLDEST TEMPERATURE RECORDED AT FORT WAYNE SINCE -9 DEGREES ON JANUARY 26, 2022. THIS CHILL WAS SHORT LIVED AS ABOVE- NORMAL TEMPERATURES RETURNED TO END THE MONTH. THE MONTH ENDED WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 27.4 DEGREES WHICH IS 1.9 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS TIES AS THE 48TH WARMEST ON RECORD. AS THE ARCTIC AIR ARRIVED AND SUBSEQUENTLY DEPARTED, A COUPLE EPISODES OF SNOW OCCURRED TOTALING 7.3 INCHES FOR THE MONTH. THIS IS 3.5 INCHES BELOW NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 58TH LEAST ON RECORD. THIS IS A FEW INCHES SHY OF THE 10.4 INCHES RECORDED IN JANUARY 2023. SNOW ON THE 9TH WAS NOTABLE BECAUSE A PRECIPITATION RECORD OF 1.28" OCCURRED THAT DAY PAIRED WITH 2.0 INCHES OF HEAVY WET SNOW (PREVIOUS RECORD OF 0.75 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION IN 1930). 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. PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH TOTALED AN IMPRESSIVE 3.95 INCHES. THIS IS 1.41 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 20TH WETTEST ON RECORD. THIS WAS THE WETTEST JANUARY SINCE 4.07 INCHES IN JANUARY 2020. FOR PERSPECTIVE, THIS MONTHLY TOTAL IS COMPARABLE TO THE NORMAL PRECIPITATION AMOUNT FOR AUGUST; 3.80 INCHES. BROWN ...3RD WARMEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD... AFTER AN INCREDIBLY WARM MONTH, FORT WAYNE HAS OFFICIALLY CLINCHED THE 3RD WARMEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD! ONLY FIVE DAYS THIS MONTH WERE BELOW NORMAL; IN COMPARISON, 13 DAYS THIS MONTH WERE 10+ DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL! THERE WERE SIX DAYS THIS MONTH WITH A HIGH IN THE 60S, WHICH INCLUDED A THREE DAY STREAK FROM FEBRUARY 26TH TO 28TH. ON AVERAGE, FEBRUARY HAS ONE DAY IN THE 60S. SEVERAL TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE TIED OR BROKEN THIS MONTH. THERE WERE TWO HIGH TEMPERATURE RECORDS BROKEN ON FEBRUARY 9TH AND 26TH. THERE WERE ALSO TWO DAILY RECORD WARM LOW TEMPERATURES BROKEN ON FEBRUARY 9TH AND 27TH. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR FEBRUARY WAS 37.5 DEGREES, WHICH IS 8.8 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS WAS THE WARMEST FEBRUARY SINCE 2017 (39.8 DEGREES). PRECIPITATION WAS TOUGH TO COME BY THIS MONTH. THE ONLY DAY WITH A RAIN TOTAL OVER A QUARTER OF AN INCH WAS ON FEBRUARY 22ND WITH 0.49". PRECIPITATION TOTALED 0.96" FOR THE MONTH. THIS IS 1.10" BELOW NORMAL AND TIED FOR THE 23RD DRIEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD. THIS WAS THE DRIEST FEBRUARY SINCE 2007 (WHICH ALSO HAD 0.96" OF PRECIPITATION) IN FORT WAYNE. DUE TO THE ANOMALOUSLY WARM TEMPERATURES, SNOWFALL WAS NOTABLY LACKING THIS MONTH. SNOWFALL TOTALED ONLY 2.7" FOR THE ENTIRE MONTH. THIS IS 5.1" BELOW NORMAL AND TIED FOR THE 28TH LEAST SNOWIEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD. INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, DESPITE A LACK OF SNOW, THE TOTAL SNOWFALL THIS MONTH WAS 1350% OF WHAT FELL LAST YEAR. FEBRUARY 2023 ONLY TOTALED 0.2" OF SNOW. JOHNSON $$