JANUARY: Lack of Snow. There was only 2.4" of Snow recorded for the entire month. Far from the normal amount of 8.6"
CENTRAL INDIANA SAW A WILD WEEK OF WEATHER TO END JANUARY AND OPEN FEBRUARY. A HIGH TEMPERATURE RECORD WAS SET JANUARY 30th. THEN FEBRUARY 1st WAS COLDEST DAY OF 2012-2013 WINTER SEASON. CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS!
FEBRUARY: The coldest day for Winter 2012-2013 happened on the 1st when the low dropped to 5°. Afternoon High was 16.
MARCH: Snowstorm brings over 9" of snow. Records set for both March 24th & 25th. 4th Most Snowiest Month of Year & 14th Coolest. March 2013 was 50° Colder Than March 2012
APRIL: Wet Month finishes w/ 8.69" good for 2nd wettest April on record. Daily Rainfall records of over 2" were set on the 16th & 18th. Some rivers reached record setting levels around the 19th/20th.
MAY: Much Warmer Air Arrived. 34th Warmest May on Record. 20 Days saw Temps 70+. About 68% of the month's days saw Above Normal Temps.
JUNE: Month was rather stormy. Rain & Wind was the biggest threats. Northern Indiana saw a "Derecho" June 12th while Southern Indiana saw Flooding concerns late month.
JULY: Despite the warm spell mid month (& a few of many 90s of the year) month finished below normal with cool start and end to month. A record of 8 days was tied for most consecutive days with highs below 80° for a July. July 2013 was tied with July 1871 for this event.
AUGUST: Dry Pattern Persists! Only 4 days saw measurable rainfall totaling 1.15". Was 12th Driest August on Record.
SEPTEMBER: Dry and Hot early stirs up records & puts 12% of the state in a moderate drought. A record 96° was recorded on September 10th. This is day is tied with August 31st as the hottest day of the year.
OCTOBER: Mid to Late month pattern change. Cooler Air arrived and we saw traces of wintry precipitation. Temps were around 20° below normal on October 24th. High barely reached 40! Also, Severe Weather Cancelled Halloween For The Kiddos! Most Rainiest Halloween on Record.
NOVEMBER: Cool Pattern Continues. 20 out of 30 days saw below normal temps. Month finish 4° below normal as 23rd Coolest. Indiana saw its largest tornado outbreak for a November on the 17th.
DECEMBER: After the 1st week of the month, meteorological winter kicks off cold & snowy. From the 5th-17th all but 2 days saw a trace or measurable amounts of snow. We saw a snow depth of 2" or greater from the 6th-19th. The final numbers weren't too impressive. Although it was cold, it was less snowier than 2012. We did, however, manage to see the coldest weather in nearly 3 years
HERE'S SOME NUMBERS FROM LAST YEAR:
132 days w/ low temps 32° & below. (THESE ARE DAYS WERE WE SAW A FREEZE)
99 days w/ low temps 28° & below. (THESE ARE DAYS WERE WE SAW A HARD FREEZE)
8 day w/ single digit lows. (NO SUB-ZERO TEMPS WERE RECORDED)
2° was the lowest temperature recorded for the year on December 12th
96° was the highest temperature recorded for the year on August 30th and later on September 10th
162- Approximate total number of Sunny and Partly Sunny days
124 Days This Year w/ Measurable Precipitation totaling 45.92" (3.48" Above Normal 42.44")
191 Days This Year w/ A Trace or More Precipitation
14 Consecutive Weekends with one or more days recording a Trace or More Precipitation (April 27-July 7)
27 Days w/ Measurable Snowfall Totaling 28.5" (2.6" Above Normal)
69 Days w/ A Trace or More Snowfall
2.57" is the most amount of rain to fall on one calendar day on December 21st (2nd Most Wettest Day for A December Day)
6.2" is the most amount of snow to fall on one calendar day on March 24th (Record Amount for the Date)
Here's the month-to-month breakdown in terms of averages, rankings, and where they measure up from the normal.
| MONTH | AVG MONTHLY TEMP |
TEMP DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL |
MONTHLY TEMP RANKING |
TOTAL MONTHLY PRECIP |
PRECIP DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL |
MONTHLY PRECIP RANKING |
TOTAL MONTHLY SNOWFALL |
SNOWFALL DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL |
MONTHLY SNOWFALL RANKING |
| JANUARY | 29.9° | +1.8° | 58th Warmest | 5.51" | +2.85" | 16th Wettest | 2.4" | -6.2" | 35th least snowiest |
| FEBRUARY | 30.9° | -1.2° | 66th Coolest | 2.27" | -0.05" | 71st Driest | 2.6" | -3.9" | 46th least snowiest |
| WINTER '12-'13 (DEC-FEB) |
33.1° | +2.6° | 28th Warmest | 10.36" | +2.21" | 28th Wettest | 19.8" | -2.2" | 44th Snowiest |
| MARCH | 35.5° | -6.7° | 14th Coolest | 1.96" | -1.60" | 30th Driest | 14.5" | +11.9" | 4th Snowiest |
| APRIL | 52.5° | -0.5° | 74th Coolest | 8.59" | +4.78" | 2nd Wettest | TRACE | -0.2" | N/A |
| MAY | 65.4° | +2.7° | 34th Warmest | 3.50" | -1.55" | 60th Driest | NONE | 0.00" | N/A |
| SPRING 2013 (MARCH-MAY) |
51.1° | -1.5° | 49th Coolest | 14.05" | +1.63" | 37th Wettest | 14.5" | +11.7" | 4th Snowiest |
| JUNE | 72° | 0.0° | 71st Warmest | 3.66" | -0.59" | 69th Driest | NONE | 0.00" | N/A |
| JULY | 73.9° | -1.5° | 30th Coolest | 3.29" | -1.26" | 71st Driest | NONE | 0.00" | N/A |
| AUGUST | 74.9° | +0.7° | 43rd Warmest | 1.15" | -1.98" | 12th Driest | NONE | 0.00" | N/A |
| SUMMER 2013 (JUNE-AUGUST) |
73.6° | -0.3° | 62nd Coolest | 8.10" | -3.83" | 33rd Driest | NONE | 0.00" | N/A |
| SEPTEMBER | 69.5° | +2.6° | 36th Warmest | 2.86" | -0.26" | 69th Wettest | NONE | 0.00" | N/A |
| OCTOBER | 54.6° | -0.4° | 57th Coolest | 5.46" | +2.34" | 12th Wettest | TRACE | -0.4" | N/A |
| NOVEMBER | 39.2° | -4.4° | 23rd Coolest | 3.23" | -0.37" | 79th Driest | 0.1" | -0.6" | N/A |
| FALL 2013 (SEPT-NOV) |
54.5° | -0.8° | 54th Coolest | 3.23" | -0.37" | 30th Wettest | 0.1" | -1" | N/A |
| DECEMBER | 30° | -1.8° | 46th Coolest | 4.44" | +1.27" | 26th Wettest | 8.8" | +1.9" | 24th Snowiest |
| JAN-DEC 2013 ANNUAL AVGS |
52.5° | -0.7° | 54th Coolest | 45.92" | +3.48" | 29th Wettest | 28.5" | +2.6" | 37th Snowiest |
WHERE RANKINGS ARE CONCERNED, TEMPERATURES & PRECIPITATION RECORDS DATE BACK TO 1871. SNOWFALL RECORDS DATE BACK TO MARCH 1, 1884.
Unlike 2010, 2011 and 2012 where temperatures were warmer, 2013 brought a much cooler look. From January 2010 to December 2012, 28 months out of 36 months finished above normal. 3 months were below normal in 2010, 2 months were below normal in 2011 and 3 months were below normal in 2012. It was rather September 2012 that brought the change to the cooler pattern persisting into 2013. From September 2012 to December 2013, 10 out of 16 months were below normal. The beginning of the year there was a bubble of warm air over Greenland stretching over the North Atlantic driving cool air from the North Southbound into the U.S. (also referred to as a Negative North Atlantic Oscillation). With a ridge set over in the West (positive pacific north american pattern) that kept the Colder Air East, this favored tracks for snowstorms. A perfect setup allowed us to see almost one of biggest March snowstorms ever setting snowfall records for March 24th & 25th. March 2013 went down as the 4th most snowiest March on record with 14.5" and most snowiest March in 89 years when 16.4" was recorded in 1924. March 2013 total snowfall exceeded 12.5" from March 1996. Its interesting to note that Mid to Late March 2013 was about 50° colder than the same time March 2012. On March 20, 2012 the high was 83° but on March 20, 2013 the high was 33°. How astonishing is that stat?!! The average temperature for March 2013 was 35.5°, coolest March since 1996.
Indianapolis did not see its 1st 70° day until April 6th. This was nearly 3 weeks later than the normal date of March 17th. Over the past 30 years, only 5, well..now 6 times has Indianapolis not seen its 1st 70 in March. The years of 1984, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2008, & 2013 didn't record its 1st 70 until April. Only once in the past 10 years has March not seen a 70 in March which was in 2008 (now 2 times since 2003). The 1st 70° day was followed up by the 1st 80° day on April 9th, 11 days ahead of the normal 1st 80° date (typically April 20th). The average date for the last freeze in the Spring Season is April 17th. In 2013, the last Spring Freeze was on April 21st which was the latest date for the Spring season since April 28th, 2010.
When we closed April, the spring season had produced 67% of its days below normal. But wait....there was a turn around! May brought in a warmer brand of air. A month that produced 71% of its days above normal. The temperature on May 1st reached the low 80s making it the warmest open to a May in 6 years. There was uncertainty late April on how exactly May would open up. There was a monster low pressure systems that produced record lows, record snowfall, and record rainfall just west of us in the Midwest region but that stayed a little far west from Indianapolis for a few days. Actually, it began to shift East later in the week. Everyday from May 3rd-11th the state recorded either a trace or measurable rainfall. The total precipitation recorded in Indianapolis during this 9 day period was 1.90" of which a record 1.08" fell on May 9th alone. The wet pattern ended when a drier pattern moved in for the 12th, 13th, & 14th. A wet pattern returned when a stationary boundary parked itself in Indiana. It wasn't a whole lot but from the 15th-18th, we picked 0.37" of rain. On May 15th, the high temperatures was 85°. That was the warmest day since early September 2012. From May 14-22nd, the high temperature was 75° and above. With a 9 day average temperature of 80.6°, this was the warmest 9 day period since 80.6° from September 4th-12th, 2012.
The wet pattern was followed by 2 EFO tornadoes on May 21st. The twisters struck Indiana around 2:30AM. This was after an EF-5 tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma on May 20th killing two dozen and injuring over 300 people. This tornado had peak winds estimated at 210 miles per hour and caused an estimated $1.5-2 billion in damage. It was the deadliest U.S. tornado since the Joplin, Missouri, tornado that killed 158 people in 2011. I have a write up on it that includes info on more tornadoes that struck Oklahoma. Click here to be redirected to the write up.
May 23rd was the first of several cool days. The cooler weather pattern dropped high temps into the 60s from the 23rd-26th which led to a rather cool Memorial Day weekend, or atleast the start of it I should say. Memorial Day itself was rather warm into the low 80s. Carb Day Friday, the official high went down as 66°. Coolest Carb Day since 60° in 2009.
On Saturday (Indy 500 parade), the official high went down as 64°. Coolest May 25th since 2001 (High-57)
On Race Day Sunday, the official high went down as 68°, coolest in 10 years (2003-65°) and 1st time the high temperatures was below 70° for Indy 500 day since 2003 (High-65°).
On Memorial Day Monday, the official high went down as 81°.
The 4 day (May 24-27) weekend average high temperature was 69.8°. This was the coolest Memorial Day weekend in 9 years since 66.8° in 2003.
May 27th was the beginning of a warm week that brought temperatures back up into the 80s for several days. We hit 81 on Monday, 82 on Tuesday, 85 Wednesday, and 86 on Thursday. Wednesday and Thursday high temps were the warmest in 260 days. After hitting the high in the upper 70s on the 31st in the pre-dawn hours, Thunderstorms and Rain caused temperatures to drop back into the upper 60s and low 70s for much of the day.
It wasn't significantly cooler but 8 out of the 1st 10 days of June saw temps sub 80s and 6 of those days were below normal. This was in response to the passing of a few storm systems and cold fronts. The high on June 3rd was 68° after a morning low of 48°. These are averages for April 30th. The cool April-like Air for the 1st week of June began to fade as more seasonal and above normal air began to invade. In fact, we later began to see the 1st push of some of the hottest temps of the year. First it was 88° on the 12th and later again on the 21st. We went up to 89° on the 22nd, and later tied on the 25th & 27th. The weather change was a product of a "Rim of Fire" (or Ring of Fire) pattern. This is where a "hot" dome of high pressure sat in the Central U.S. basking the area in summer warmth. Summer arrived on cue June 21st. From June 21st-28th, the actual average high was 86.9°. This was 2.5° above normal (84.4°). As for rainfall, there was a series of mesoscale convective systems (MCS) throughout the month one that even produced a "Derecho". On June 12th, the Storm Prediction Center (SPC), issued a rare high risk severe weather outlook that encompassed the northern half of Indiana. The last time the "high risk" was issued was back on April 14, 2012 when storm complexes spawned up over 100 tornadoes killing 6 people across the U.S. This time around, the June 12th-13th Derecho series stirred up two dozen tornadoes along with 923 hail & 360 wind reports. Only one derecho impacted our state. Another storm complex on June 23rd dropped 1.43" in Indianapolis. Like I said, there was numerous storm complexes throughout the month. On June 24th, another derecho swept pass Northern Indiana. This lasted over 250 miles from the nations heartland and upper midwest over to the Great Lakes region. The derecho also lasted over six hours and had a consistent swath of severe winds of 58+ mph.
The NWS Northern Indiana has nice summary of these rounds of severe weather on their weather page. You can read it for yourself by either copying and pasting or clicking the following url address below.
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/iwx/?n=20130622_28_severeweather
From June 23rd-30th, Indianapolis received a little over 2" of rain but North in Fort Wayne they received about 3.5" of rain. Clusters of storms rode along the outer periphery of the hot dome so those in Northern and Eastern Indiana received the most rain. Here's an example below of the classic "Ring/Rim of Fire Pattern"
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After 12 consecutive days with temps 80+, the summer warmth was scaled back to end June. The high on the 29th and 30th was 77 and 76 respectively. This "cool down", lead to a coolest open to a July since 2009. The high July 1, 2013 was 72 but in 2009, the high was 69 after clouds prevented temps from reaching the 70s. The 72° high was accompanied with nearly a half inch of rain making it one of the wettest opens to a July in 12 years (2001: 1.02"). The decline in temps was in response to a few rain systems and also a slow moving upper level low pressure system. Indianapolis saw a trace or more of rain on 13 out of the 15 days from June 22nd to July 6th. The pattern then flipped and we began a rapid warm up reaching temps in the mid to upper 80s from the 7th-10th. It was actually the start of a more drier weather pattern as well. Extending from the 7th out to the 19th, Indianapolis only saw 0.06" of rainfall. Before the heat arrived, a strong batch of storms moved thru the state on Wednesday, July 10th. It spawned up an EF-1 tornado near Peru, Indiana. NWS Northern Indiana has more details on this in a write up at the following url address;
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/iwx/?n=july_10_storms_2013
The heat ended on the 20th, when a strong thunderstorm systems swept by bringing nearly an inch of rain. Another batch on the 22nd brung us nearly a half inch resulting in a 3 day total a tad shy of inch and half. Temps for those 3 days reached the lower 80s. One last hot day came on the 23rd, temperatures reached the 90s again for the 5th time of the month and year. A strong cold front on the 24th knocked temps back to the upper 70s. Same for the 25th 26th, 27th, 29th, and 30th.
Sunday, July 28th was the day of the Brickyard 400 and Ryan Newman won his 1st Brickyard race. It was a sunny and nice but cool day outside. The low temperatures fell to a record 51° besting the previous record of 54° set in 1971 and later tied in 2004. The afternoon high temperature reached 73°. This was 1° too warm from tying the lowest high temperature record for the date set back in 1925 and later tied in 1928 (72°). This did however tie for the coolest Brickyard since it first began on August 6, 1994. This was the coolest Brickyard in 19 years.
On Tuesday, July 30th stubborn cloud cover and light rain prevented temps from getting beyond the mid 70s. The official high was 74. More rain Wednesday kept temps in the 70s yet again. In fact, July 31st (77°) marked the coolest last day of July in 21 years (1992-69°). It was also one of the coolest stretches of weather to end July in 42 years (1971). We also tied a temperature record that goes back 142 years. From July 24-31st, we didn't go 80 & above. This 8 day stretch ties the record 1st set back in 1871 when the 8 day period of July 16th-23rd also failed to go 80 & above. For more information on this you can read the NWS Indianapolis, IN write up on it by copying and pasting or clicking the following url address below.
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=ind&storyid=96360&source=0
The cool end to July was a result of a Northwest Jet Stream Flow pattern. This is where cold air up North in Canada and Alaska became dislodged driving the cooler air from the Northwest to the Southeast right into Indiana. Its interesting to note that while temps ended up cooling off here, Anchorage, Alaska went a record 17 consecutive days (July 16th-August 1st) with temps 70+. This beats the previous record of 13 set in 2004. No official high temperature records were broken there amidst of this remarkable streak.
| YEAR | FIRST 70° DATE |
70° TEMP RECORDED |
FIRST 80° DATE |
80° TEMP RECORDED |
FIRST 90° DATE |
90° TEMP RECORDED |
| 2013 | APRIL 06 | 71° | APRIL 09 | 81° | JULY 16th | 93° |
| 2012 | MARCH 12 | 71° | MARCH 14 | 81° | MAY 26 | 90° |
| 2011 | MARCH 17 | 74° | APRIL 10 | 83° | MAY 30 | 90° |
| 2010 | MARCH 10 | 72° | APRIL 1 | 82° | JUNE 11 | 90° |
| 2009 | MARCH 06 | 70° | APRIL 24 | 84° | JUNE 19 | 91° |
| 2008 | APRIL 07 | 71° | APRIL 23 | 82° | JUNE 08 | 90° |
| 2007 | MARCH 14 | 77° | MARCH 13 | 80° | JUNE 07 | 90° |
| 2006 | MARCH 12 | 70° | APRIL 13 | 82° | JULY 02 | 90° |
| 2005 | MARCH 30 | 77° | APRIL 10 | 80° | JUNE 05 | 90° |
| 2004 | MARCH 24 | 70° | APRIL 17 | 82° | N/A | N/A |
| 2003 | MARCH 16 | 74° | APRIL 15 | 81° | JULY 03 | 90° |
NOTE: INFORMATION IN THE GRAPHIC TO THE RIGHT WAS GATHERED FROM OBSERVATION DATA COLLECTED THRU THE SUMMER STARTING IN JUNE AND ENDING ON SEPT 9th. THIS GRAPHIC WAS MADE AND WAS NOT EDITED AFTER SEPT 10th.
The dry pattern that gradually worked in during the month of July and persisting in August dropped the year's total precipitation back to below normal values on September 7th. This was something that hasn't been achieved since the beginning of the year. Also, by the end of the 2nd week of September 70% of the state was abnormally dry and 12% of the state was considered to be in a moderate drought.
A series of four cold fronts quickly moved in behind the record heat and dry spell. The high temperature was 95 on the 11th, 83 on the 12th, & then 69 on the 13th. This was a 26° drop in the highs in 48 hours. The low temperature was 72 on the 11th, 63 on the 12th, and 53 on the 13th. This was a 19° drop in the lows in 48 hours. Overall, temps drops 20-25° in 48 hours but the drop doesn't stop there. The AM low temperature on the 14th was 48°. This was the coolest low since June 3rd. The 69° high on the 13th was also the coolest high since June 3rd. Even after several of these frontal systems, we only recorded a quarter of an inch of precipitation during the 1st 19 days of the month. There was a slight warm up back to the low 80s as a warm front pushed through but this was associated with a storm system that brought severe weather or rather thundery downpours to the state on the 19th. Indianapolis recorded 1.53" of rain on the 19th w/ an additional 0.49" on the 20th ending with 0.02" early on the 21st (see breakdown in image below). 2.04" of rain for September 19-21 is the wettest at one time since 2.29" fell on April 18th. Since the average temperature was decreasing during the month, we were able to finish the month warm enough to be 1-7ˌ above normal from the 24th-30th. This put the months average temperature at 69.5° which was 2.6° above normal (66.9°) On the 29th, another cold front moved through that also generated a half inch of precipitation. This brought's the months final rainfall tally to 2.86". The month finished 0.26" below normal (3.12").
Some what of an unsettled pattern brought more rain to the state from the 15th-19th bringing a little less than half an inch of precipitation over this 5 day period in Indianapolis. The wet weather was also associated with the switch to a cooler weather regime that brought below normal temperatures for the remainder of the month. A cold front moved through on the 21st which allowed temperatures to drop below freezing the morning of the 22nd (low was 30°). It was the 1st fall freeze for Indianapolis since April 20th, a span of 185 days. With a low pressure system in the area, temperatures continued to remain anywhere from 3 to as much 22 degrees below normal from the 21st-27th. We recorded trace amounts of wintry precipitation (such as graupel, sleet, & snow flurries) on the 23rd and 24th. We also recorded our 1st Hard Freeze (28° or below) on October 25th when the low reached 26°. This was 17° below normal (43°) and was the coldest since 25° on April 3rd, a span of 205 days.
On the 27th, there was a slight pullback in the chill and temperatures began to respond reaching the 60s on the 28th, 30th, and 31st. This snapped a 14 consecutive day streak of below normal temperatures. It was the longest stretch of below normal temperatures since the 19 day streak that ran from March 12th-30th earlier in the year. This warm-up came with a price. A price that put a damper on Halloween plans.
We didn't have severe weather of that magnitude closer to home. We recorded wind gust in excess of 40 mph across the state. Muncie, Indiana recorded a 75 mph peak wind gust. This was of hurricane strength. In Indianapolis, we recorded a peak wind gust of 58 mph which was the highest wind gust since 59 mph was recorded earlier in the year back on February 19th. As for rainfall, many locations around the state broke their Halloween record rainfall amounts. In Indianapolis, 2.01" of rainfall fell which bested a 72 year old rainfall record of 1.30" set in 1941. Only 39% of the Halloweens over the past 140 years have recorded measurable rainfall. A few other record rainfall amounts were set in; Terre Haute (2.42"), Ft. Wayne (1.73"), Lafayette (1.51"), and Muncie (1.18"). The record of 1.16" was tied in Shelbyville.
We received 82% (2.57") of our average month's rainfall (3.12") within the 1st 10 days of the month. The average precipitation amount for the 1st 10 days of the month is 1.05" The total precipitation amount for October 2013 was 5.46". This was 2.34" ABOVE NORMAL. As for the month's average temperature of 54.6ˌ, the month finished finished 0.6° BELOW NORMAL.
A dry cold front passed early on the 10th. Highs on Sunday the 10th was 10° cooler with temperatures struggling to top the 50s in many locations. Temperatures were nearly identical for the 11th but arctic air was on the move and came in Monday evening. Widespread rainfall made a transition as the lake effect snow machine was turned on and nearly everyone around Indiana saw their 1st measurable snowfall of the season on the 12th. Anywhere from a dusting to 1.5" fell around the state. 0.1" fell in Indianapolis which was the 1st measurable snowfall here in 231 days when 0.1" fell on March 26th. This was also 7 days before the average date of 1st measurable snow which is November 19th. Some counties up North near the lake where snow persisted saw more than 6" of snow. Saint Joseph, Michigan recorded 17". Nearly 55% of the Great Lakes Region was covered in snow. The location of where the heaviest band setup was very selective. Chicago only recorded 0.4" at their NWS office at O'Hare International Airport.
On the 14th, the cold air was beginning to retreat. The morning low dropped to 26° and afternoon temperature warmed up 27° to a high of 53° and on the 15th the AM low was 40° and the afternoon high was 54°. The warm temperatures continued for the 16th and 17th as highs surged into the low to mid 60s. A cold front along with an intense low pressure system stirred up a severe weather event on November 17th that brought a tornado outbreak to the Midwest, Great Lakes, and Ohio Valley Region.
There was about 72 confirmed tornadoes across; Indiana (28), Ilinois (25), Kentucky (6), Michigan (5), Ohio (5), Tennessee (3), and Missouri (1). One of these tornadoes struck 2 states (that is why math comes to 73). The 28 tornadoes that struck Indiana is the 3rd highest tornado outbreak for the state behind June 2, 1990 (37) and April 19, 2011 (29). It was the most active tornado day in Indiana for November, nearly doubling the previous daily record of 15 tornadoes from November 22, 1992.
As for fatalities it appears there were 7 in Illinois and 3 (non tornadic) in Michigan. As you know, a rare "high risk" for severe weather was issued by SPC for a large part of the Midwest & Ohio Valley Region, for only the second time in 2013. The 1st time was back on June 12th when a Derecho passed through the Midwest, Great Lakes, and Ohio Valley Region. It was also the first time in November since November 15, 2005 and 4th time for a November since November 15, 1989. I've provided a photo below shared on Twitter by Eric Fisher (Chief Meteorologist for WBZ-TV in Boston, MA). Its the Day 1 Convective Outlook overlayed with the storm reports. The heaviest concentration of reports were within the "High Risk" and "Moderate Risk" area which proves the accuracy of the forecast for this severe weather event. Weather watches and warnings are issued for a reason and should be heeded and not taken lightly. THIS WAS NO JOKE AT ALL!
Indianapolis recorded a peak wind gust of 67 mph, which is the highest for the year. Additionally, a record (daily) rainfall amount of 2.48" was recorded (for November 17th). This broke a 127 year old record of 1.97" set in 1886. This was the 2nd wettest day of the year and was the wettest day since 2.71" fell on September 7th, 2012. For more info on the outbreak, you can read NWS Indianapolis, IN write up on it. (Click the link) Review of the November 17 Central Indiana Severe Weather and Tornado Outbreak
The high temperature on the 28th was 36° and the low was 16°. This was 11th coolest Thanksgiving morning since 1871 and coldest Thanksgiving morning since November 24, 2005. We saw the coldest Thanksgiving afternoon in 9 years when 36° was also recorded for the high in 2002. Thanksgiving 2013 was 27° colder than 2012 and finished 12° below normal.
Impressive chill huh? The average temp from November 23rd to 28th was 25.6°, this was ranked as 6th coldest for the period. 6 out of the 7 days from November 23rd-29th saw highs near or below freezing and low temps in the teens. There was a total of 7 days w/ lows in the teens for the entire month. Most for this occurrence for a month of November in 37 years when we saw 10 days with lows 19° or below in November 1976.
Skies began to clear overnight the 6th into early the 7th and many may had to reach for the sunglasses as the suns rays reflected off the fresh snowpack. On the 7th, 52.9% of the Midwest region was covered in snow. Highest for the date in 6 years. As a whole, 55.5% of the nation was covered in snow. Highest for the date in well over 10 years. Interestingly, it was also up 45% from the previous year (2012). A weak disturbance moved through on the 7th generating more wintry precipitation. A little bit of freezing rain, sleet, and snow. This was not a significant system but we picked up 0.2" of snow and 0.03" of precipitation. The quick and early change to winter helped refrigerate the temps. From the 6th-12th, highs failed to go above freezing. This continued into midday December 13th. It was around 2pm, after 189 consecutive hours, when temperatures reached the freezing mark. The high of 36 that day was the warmest in a week since the 5th. More snow fell on the 13th, 14th, and 16th adding up to nearly 4". This was the last of the measurable snowfall for the month putting December's final tally at 8.8", nearly 2" above normal. Something worth noting, the 14 consecutive day period of December 6th-19th saw a snow depth of 2" or greater. We didn't see this occur in the previous winter season, in actually years.
While the average daily temps were running as low as 2° to as high as 20° below normal from the 6th-18th, a warmer stint of air began to nudge towards the state. In fact, temperatures soared from barely above freezing on the 18th to low 50s on the 19th and almost reaching 60 on the 20th. On the 20th, we saw a low temperature of 50. This was not only the warmest low since Halloween (warmest in 50 days) but it was also a record for the highest low temperature for the date. The previous record was 48° set in 1877 and later tied in 1923.
On the 20th, there was a stalled out frontal boundary to the south and gulf moisture was feeding into a low pressure system that generated heavy rain across Central Indiana. Rapid snow melting and heavy rain caused flooding in some areas. Some rivers saw major flooding at levels highest in 5 or more year. A couple of locations saw the highest flood crests in over 20 years! On December 20th a record rainfall amount of 0.82" fell, besting an 131 year old record of 0.76" set in 1882. On the 21st, a record rainfall amount of 2.57" fell, besting a 95 year old record of 1.49" set in 1918. An additional non-recordbreaking amount of 0.04" fell on the 22nd bringing the 3 day rainfall total up to 3.43". This was the wettest 3 day period since mid April.
We saw one of the coolest Christmas Eve days in 9 years! The high temp failed to get out of the teens. The low temp of 5 was the 12th coldest for the date. The cold air then eased up and temperatures once again climbed into the 50s on the 28th before a chill returned to end the year. 8 out of 13 days from December 19th-31st saw above normal temps. These above normal temps and lack of measurable snow allowed the national snowpack to dwindle from 41.4% coverage on the 18th to 36.2% coverage on the 31st. Regional (Midwest) snowpack dwindled from 39.2% coverage on the 18th to 23.9% on the 31st.
I have another write up that goes over all of the records and other noteworthy items set for the year. Click HERE to be be redirected to the blog.
For other information on the climate pattern from last year in Central Indiana, you may read the NWS Indianapolis, Indiana climate summary by clicking HERE.
For other information on the climate pattern from last year in Northern Indiana, you may read the NWS Northern Indiana climate summary by clicking HERE.
As a nation, the average temperature was 52.4°F. This was 0.3°F above the 20th century average of 52.1°, and tied with 1980 as the 37th warmest year out of 119 years of National weather keeping. The average total precipitation was 31.17". This was 2.03" above the 20th century average of 29.14". This was good for the 21st wettest year. This was both the warmest and wettest year since 2009. Over 52,000 daily temperature records were tied or broken. Over 25,000 daily precipitation records were tied or broken and nearly 10,000 daily snowfall records were tied or broken.
There were roughly 900 tornadoes for the year of which 22 tornadoes was responsible for killing over 50 people. For information related to severe weather reports and most active severe weather days of the year, copy and paste or click the following url address:
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/online/monthly/2013_annual_summary.html
During the year, the North Atlantic Basin had 13 named storms which was above the average of 12. Only 2 of these storms was upgraded to Hurricanes (Humberto, Ingrid). This is below the normal of 6 and fewest number of hurricanes in 31 years (1982). We average 3 major hurricanes (Cat 3 or greater) but none was recorded for the year. Approximately 47 people lost their lives to these storms and cost over $1.5 billion in damage. The main reason why these storms had a hard time strengthening was the ongoing struggle to fight against a persistent strong wind shear and dry air.
For information on the 2013 National Climate, click or copy and paste the following url address to be redirected to NOAA National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) 2013 overview.
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/national/2013/13
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