Jeff's Weather Blog: Indianapolis Sees Many Weather Records in 2013

INFORMATION IN THIS BLOG IS AN UPDATED VERSION FROM MY BLOG"Indianapolis Sets Many Records In 2013" I POSTED BACK ON AUGUST 14

I wanted to go through the list of records set and a few noteworthy items over the past year. There is so much that happened last year I couldn't believe it until I started jotting it all down throughout the year of 2013. This blog is pretty lengthy. Events are pretty much in order from January to December. Some information may be missing. I tried to cover as much as I could. What is not seen here, can be seen in my other blog, 2013 Indianapolis Weather in Review

Record Rainfall of 1.28" on January 12th beats the previous day's record of 1.19" set back in 1930 (83 years ago)
Record High of 65° set on January 30th. This beats the previous record of 64° set in 1947 (66 years ago)
National record set for most consecutive days without a tornado related fatality. The U.S. went 219 days without a U.S. tornado related fatality. The string began June 25, 2012 immediately after a person was killed by a tornado associated with Tropical Storm Debby on June 24, 2012 in Venus, Florida. The string ended on January 29th, 2013 when a powerful tornado ripped through Adairsville, Georgia killing two people on January 30th. The previous record was 197 days (August 16, 1986-February 28, 1987).
1.8" of Snow on March 6th ties the previous record set in 2003.
6.2" was recorded on Sunday, March 24th. This beat the 1912 record of 5.8" set 101 years ago. This also marks the most snowfall ever to fall so late into the spring season.
New Snow Depth Record of 7" on March 25th beats previous 2" snow depth record set in 1974.
Record Rainfall of 2.08" on April 16th beats the previous day's record of 1.53" set back in 1953 (60 years ago)
Record Rainfall of 2.29" on April 18th beats the previous day's record of 1.27" set back in 1887 (126 years ago)
The 1st 80° day of the year occurred on April 9th. 207 Consecutive Days with Temps below 80 (September 14th-April 8th) was the longest stretch in 17 years. From October 14th, 1995 to May 8th, 1996, Indianapolis DID NOT record a high temperature 80 or above. This was a 208 day stretch with sub 80 temps.
April's Total Precipitation Amount of 8.59" was the 2nd wettest April on record. This was also 0.01" shy from tying the 8.60" record for #1 Wettest April set 120 years ago in 1893.
Record Rainfall of 1.08" on May 9th beats the previous day's record of 0.87" in 2000.
On May 15th, the low failed to go 66 or below. A highest minimum temperature of 67° was set for the date which beats a 142 years old record set back in 1871 of 66°.
COOLEST MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND IN MANY YEARS:
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.
COOLEST BRICKYARD DAY WEEKEND SINCE IT BEGAN STIRS UP A RECORD:
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.
8 consecutive days sub 80 late July was followed by 12 consecutive days 80+ early August.
MID AUGUST COOL DOWN:
There was a brief period of cool temperatures that had all Indianapolis meteorologist eyeing temperature records and scanning August climate history. The high on August 13th of 76° was the coolest August high since August 2009 when the thermometer only reached 71 for the high on both the 23rd and 30th. Additionally, the high was the coolest for the 1st 15 days of August since August 14, 2008, when the high was 76°. Quick sidenote, on August 10, 2008 the high was 75. Overall though, August 13th was the coolest high in 15 days when the high was 74 on July 30th.
When you combine a day's high and low temperature, this is the daily average temperature. On August 14th, the average temperature (62°) was 1° shy from being the coolest day in 72 days when the average temp was 58° on June 3rd.
Over the past 142 years, only 10 times has an August 15th been 73° or cooler. This year, the high went down as 74°. And to further put the rare August chill in perspective, the highs from August 13th-16th was almost identical for temperatures records for these days for highest low temps. Temps ran as much as 13° below normal and was more typical for late September.
From August 10th-30th, Indianapolis went 21 consecutive days without measurable precipitation. This was the driest stretch of weather since last years streak of 24 days which started June 5th and ended on the 28th. Overall, August 2013 only saw 4 days w/ measurable precipitation totaling 1.15". This finished 1.98" below normal (3.13") and went down as the 12th driest August on record.
Late August heat followed the mid August chill and temperatures warmed up 10° above normal. Not only was temps 80+ from the 17th-31st but temps were 90+ from 26th-31st. This 6 consecutive day 90+ streak was the longest 90+ streak so late in the season in 40 years, since the 10-day period from August 26–September 4, 1973.
On August 28th and 30th, temperatures climbed 1° above July's hottest 93°. A record low was tied for highest low temperature of 74°. The last occurrence for this event was 118 years ago in 1895.
On August 31st, the high temperature reached 96° with a peak heat index of 105°. This was the hottest day of 2013 & hottest since 98° on August 8, 2012. It was also 1° shy from tying an 62 year old record temperature of 97° set in 1951 (later tied in 1953).
From August 19-September 11th, the high managed to reach 84+ except one day, which was September 3rd (High 76°). In between this time period, 22 days finished with at or above normal temps and we racked up 9 days with highs 90+ (6 consecutive late August).
From Monday, September 9th-Wednesday, September 11th we saw 3 consecutive days with temps 93+. During these 3 days, the average temperature (combo of high and low temp) was above 80+. The last time this occurred so late in the year was 74 years ago in 1939.
September 10: Record High of 96° was set. Previous Record of 95° was set 1964 and later tied in 1983. The high was shared with August 30th as the hottest temperature of 2013. Additionally, a record for highest low temp of 74° was tied with a 94 year old record set in 1919.
September 11: Record high of 95° was tied with a 116 year old record set in 1897. Additionally, a record for highest low temp of 72° was tied with a 113 year old set in 1900 but later tied in 1931.
Dry Pattern continued to persist for the 1st half of September. Only 2 days recorded with measurable precipitation totaling 0.28" from September 1st-18th. On September 19th, when the latest (weekly) drought analysis was released, 12% of the state was in a Moderate Drought. You have to go back to January when we first saw this observation on the Map. 15% of Indiana was still in moderate drought on January 15th (this was from the Summer 2012 Drought)
September 19th-21st saw 2.04" of rain and was the wettest since 2.29" fell on April 18th. Wettest in a little over 150 days.
The AMS received nearly 700 reports of a large fireball the morning of September 26th around 7:05 am. Witnesses from Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Wisconsin reported a bright light moving across the morning sky.
The average temperature for the first 5 days of October was 71°. This was good for the 12th warmest open to an October on record
After the 1st week of October, the Heat & Dry Pattern backs off. Temps for 2nd half of October is cooler than 1st Half.
October 5th & 6th: A two day storm brought 2.50" of rain to the city. 1.05" was recorded on the 5th. A record 1.45" was set on the 6th breaking the the old daily record of 1.41" set in 1998.
The low temperature on October 22nd was 30°. This was the 1st freeze of the season and the coldest in 185 days when we also dropped to 30° on April 20th (Spring's last freeze).
Trace of wintry precipitation (snow, graupel, sleet) was recorded on both October 23rd & 24th.
High Temp of 40° on the 24th set a new record for coolest high temperature. Previous Record was 41° set in 1937. Was the 32nd October afternoon (out of over 4300 October afternoons) with a high temp 40° or colder. Typical for December 10th.
26° low on October 25th marked the coldest weather so early in the autumn season (in October) since October 19, 1992 when the thermometer dipped to 25°. Almost close to the record low temperature for the month of October which is 20 degrees 1st set on October 28, 1976 then later again on October 24, 1981.
Hard Freeze (28° or colder) on October 25 was the 2nd time in 10 years and 6th time in 20 years October saw a hard freeze and 5 days ahead of the average date for the 1st hard freeze. 28° is the normal low for December 3rd.
The low temp of 26° on the 25th is 56° colder than the month's warmest high temp which is 82° recorded both on the 3rd & 4th.
From October 16th-26th, the average daily temperature finished anywhere between 1° to as much as 16° below normal. 16 out of the 31 days of the month saw below normal temperatures.
The 14 consecutive days of October 16th-28th was the longest stretch of below normal temperatures since the 19 day streak that ran from March 12th-30th earlier this year
HALLOWEEN: A large supply of Gulf moisture feeding into a monster low pressure system ahead of a cold front allowed for widespread precipitation across the Midwest region spawning up tornadoes & record rainfalls. All but 1 of these tornadoes were rated EF1 or weaker doing some damage in Texas, Louisiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois, and Ohio. There was one EF2 tornado that impacted Stoddard area in Missouri which is located about 150 miles south of St. Louis. Overall, 29 of 46 tornadoes reported were confirmed. It was the largest tornado count for any Halloween day on record.
A record rainfall amount of 2.01" was set on October 31st. This broke a 72 year old rainfall record of 1.30" set in 1941
August and September was 2 of 4 of hottest and driest months of the year but was quickly reversed. October finished as the 57th coolest and 12th wettest October on record.
October saw 5.46" of precipitation making it the 3rd wettest month of 2013 behind #1 April w/ 8.56" and #1 January w/ 5.51"
0.1" of snow fell in Indianapolis on November 12th which was the 1st measurable snowfall in 231 days when 0.1" fell on March 26th. This was also 7 days before the average date of the 1st measurable snow which is November 19th. This helped contribute to 55% of the Great Lakes Region that was later covered in snow.
The high of 36° on November 12th was the coldest high temperature in 231 days when a high of 34° was recorded on March 25th. The high temperature (36°) was 18° below normal (52°) and the high was 1° below the average low temperature (37°).
On November 13th, arctic air continued to work in and the morning low temperature dropped into the teens (18°). It was the coldest in 237 days when the thermometer dropped to 16° back on March 21st. It was also the coldest start to a November day in 5 years when the thermometer dropped to 17° on November 22, 2008. Since weather records began in 1871, only 73 out of 143 Novembers have produced a low of 18° or colder, the coldest was -5° in 1880. This cold air so early in the month is rather rare & quite impressive. It was only the 27th time on record the low of 18° or colder occurred before November 13th and the first time in 18 years
November 16th & 17th, temps surge into the low to mid 60s. The high of 66° on November 17th was the warmest since 65° was recorded on Halloween, it was also 14° above normal and the warmest day of the month.
NOVEMBER 17 SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK:

(Information is continuing to be updated)

November 24th: the high was 28 and the low was 13. Combined, the average temp was 21. This was not only the coldest day of November 2013 and the coldest in 277 days (FEB 20th) but also the coldest November day in 8 yrs when the high was also 28° back on November 25, 2005. This was also the last time the average daily temp was that low for a November day. This day finished nearly 20° below normal.
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.
December 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 10...now 11 years of recordkeeping for this weather event. Interestingly, it was also UP 45% from the previous year (2012)
December 20th: Indianapolis stays 50° and above. This set a new record for highest minimum temp. Previous Record was 48° set in 1877 and later tied in 1923.
December 20th: Indianapolis records 0.82" of rainfall. This set a new daily rainfall amount (most rain to fall on this date). Previous Record was 0.76" set 131 years ago in 1882.
December 21st: Indianapolis records 2.57" of rainfall. This set a new daily rainfall amount. Previous Record was 1.49" set 95 years ago in 1918.
December 24th: High Temp failed to get out of the teens. Low Temp of 5° was the 12th coldest for the date. Overall, We saw one of the coolest Christmas Eve days in 9 years!

Here's a look back at the year so far in terms of weather averages and rankings. From January-October. I will include November once the month is completed.

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

NOTE: ANNUAL AVERAGES ARE BASED OFF OF OBSERVATION DATA COLLECTED FROM JANUARY 1st, 2013-December 31st, 2013
WHERE RANKINGS ARE CONCERNED, TEMPERATURES & PRECIPITATION RECORDS DATE BACK TO 1871. SNOWFALL RECORDS DATE BACK TO MARCH 1, 1884.

Jeff's Weather Blog

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Indianapolis Sees Many Weather Records in 2013

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