Triple-Digit Temperatures Crush Northern Plains/Midwest Heat Records; All-Time May Record at Sioux City

Image (click to enlarge): U.S. daily high temperatures for May 14, 2013, from Unisys

While Mid Atlantic residents were complaining about the unseasonable cold temperatures on Tuesday, heat records were being crushed in the Northern Plains and upper Midwest. As shown in the table below, triple-digit readings smashed long-standing May 14 daily records, with a margin as much as 7° at Norfolk, Nebraska. At Sioux City, Iowa, the 106° high also broke the all-time May maximum temperature record. Sioux City climate records date back to 1889. At both Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska, it was the earliest 100° temperature on record, surpassing the previous records of 5/29/1934 and 5/24/1967, respectively.

	Location	Record	Previous	Date	Earliest 100
IA	CEDAR RAPIDS	94	93	5/14/1932
	MASON CITY	99	92	5/14/1998
	WATERLOO	96	94	5/14/1932
	DES MOINES	94	93	5/14/1988
MN	ALEXANDRIA	93	92	5/14/2001
	MANKATO	100	94	5/14/1954
	MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL	98	95	5/14/1932
	ST CLOUD	95	93	5/14/1932
	ROCHESTER	97	94	5/14/2007
NE	OMAHA	101	96	5/14/1915	5/29/1934
	NORFOLK	103	96	5/14/1941
	LINCOLN	100	96	5/14/1915	5/24/1967
	NORTH PLATTE	97	95	5/14/1948
SD	MITCHELL	93	92	5/14/1932

The map below, from NOAA/ESRL, shows the temperature departures from average (°C) for the U.S. It shows that nearly all of the country was at least 2°C above or below average, but the positive departures significantly outweighed the negative, both in area and magnitude.



The temperature extremes were a reflection of a strongly anomalous circulation pattern shown in the map below. A very strong ridge of high pressure extended from the eastern Pacific to the Great Lakes at the 500 mb level (near the middle of the atmosphere), while a deep low pressure area was located off the Mid Atlantic coast.



The National Weather Service report for the record at Sioux City:

AT 135 PM THE TEMPERATURE REACHED 106 DEGREES AT THE SIOUX CITY
GATEWAY AIRPORT ESTABLISHING A NEW RECORD DAILY MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE
FOR THIS DATE AND A NEW RECORD FOR THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE FOR THE
MONTH OF MAY.

THE PREVIOUS RECORD DAILY MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE WAS 97 DEGREES SET IN
2001 AND THE PREVIOUS RECORD MONTHLY MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE FOR MAY WAS
105 DEGREES SET ON MAY 30, 1934. 

THE TOP TEN HIGHEST TEMPERATURES FOR MONTH OF MAY FROM 1889 TO 2013

      DEGREES         DATE  
 1.    105          5/30/1934
 2.    103          5/29/1934
 3.    102          5/25/1967
 4.    102          5/31/1934
 5.    101          5/15/2001
 6.    100          5/06/1934
 7.     99          5/19/1934
 8.     99          5/18/1934
 9.     98          5/28/2006
10.     98          5/24/1939 

Weather Whiplash: U.S. Cold Records Crush Heat Records 6.5 to 1 in April

One year after heat records smashed cold records by a ratio of over 35 to 1, preliminary data from the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) show that new daily low temperature records in the U.S. outnumbered high temperature records by 6.5 to 1 in April. This was the largest monthly excess of cold records so far this decade. It was also the first time since at least February 2010 that more than 2 consecutive months have had more cold records than heat records.

For the spring season to date (March-April), cold records have exceeded heat records by a ratio of 4 to 1, and for 2013 to date, the ratio is 1.6 to 1. On the other hand, for the 12 consecutive months ending in April, heat records continue to outpace cold records by a ratio of 1.8 to 1. Cumulatively, the ratio of heat records to cold records is 2.8 to 1 since January 2010, well above the roughly 2 to 1 in previous decades. As the chart shows, the 2600 cold records in April barely made a dent in the cumulative excess of 36000 heat records since the beginning of the decade.

Preliminary data from NOAA/ESRL show that the coldest temperatures relative to average were in the North Central portion of the U.S. in April. The Pacific Coast states, however, were warmer than average, and near to above average temperatures prevailed over most of the eastern third of the country.

Washington Has Latest Occurrence of First 75° Temperature*

* since 2001

5:30 PM Update: The preliminary high for the day was 79° at 3 pm EDT.

Original Post:
With a noon temperature of 70°, Washington is well on its way to the first 75° or higher temperature of the year by this afternoon, or at least by tomorrow. This will be the latest occurrence of the first 75° temperature . . . since 2001, when this temperature was reached on April 9. The latest occurrence on record at the current observation location was on April 26, 1984. The average date for the first 75° temperature since 1930 is March 16.

Washington Fails to Reach 65° in March, First Time Since 1958

March 2013 has closed out the record books with a monthly high temperature in Washington of 63°. This is the coldest high for March since the 58° in 1958. It's only the second time Washington has failed to reach 65° in March since the 60° high in 1931.

The unofficial monthly average of 43.8°, however, was only 3.0° below normal, making this the 55th coldest March since temperature records began in 1871.

Snowbound Sunday in Springfield: All-Time Daily Snowfall Record; St. Louis Also Sets March Record

The National Weather Service reports that Springfield, Illinois set a daily snowfall record on March 24:

A RECORD DAILY SNOWFALL OF 17 INCHES WAS SET AT SPRINGFIELD IL ON   
SUNDAY MARCH 24TH. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 2.4 INCHES SET IN 1947.  

According to NWS data, this would also be an all-time daily snowfall record at Springfield:

MOST SNOW IN 24 HOURS

Rank	Amount	Date
1	15.0 inches	Feb. 28, 1900
2	13.3 inches	Jan. 1-2, 1999
3	12.6 inches	Jan. 30-31, 1914
4	11.3 inches	Jan. 31-Feb. 1, 2008
5	11.2 inches	Feb. 12-13, 2007
6	10.9 inches	Dec. 19, 1973
7	10.7 inches	Feb. 12, 1894
8	10.5 inches	Dec. 24, 1915
9	10.3 inches	Feb. 23-24, 1965
10	9.4 inches	March 19-20, 1906

A daily snowfall record was also set at Peoria and Lincoln:

A RECORD SNOWFALL OF 7 INCHES WAS SET AT PEORIA IL ON SUNDAY   
MARCH 24TH. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 3.7 INCHES SET IN 1933.  

A DAILY RECORD SNOWFALL OF 10.8 INCHES WAS SET AT LINCOLN IL ON  
SUNDAY MARCH 24TH. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 4 INCHES SET IN   
1947.    

According to NWS records, this is also an all-time March daily record for Lincoln, exceeding the 7.5" on March 16, 1960.

The axis of heaviest snow also extended westward to St. Louis, where it was the heaviest daily snowfall for March and the second heaviest for any calendar day. From the NWS:

THE LATE SEASON WINTER STORM WHICH BROUGHT VERY HEAVY SNOW TO THE
REGION YESTERDAY WILL GO DOWN IN THE RECORD BOOKS AS THE HIGHEST
CALENDAR DAY MARCH SNOWFALL. THIS WAS ALSO THE SECOND HIGHEST
CALENDAR DAY SNOWFALL EVER...AND THE SIXTH GREATEST SNOWFALL EVENT
FOR ST LOUIS.

HERE ARE THE TOP TEN LISTS (PLEASE NOTE THAT OFFICIAL SNOWFALL
RECORDS FOR ST LOUIS GO BACK TO 1891)...

TOP TEN MARCH CALENDAR DAY SNOWFALL
(MIDNIGHT TO MIDNIGHT)

1. *12.4 INCHES  3/24/2013
2.  12.1 INCHES  3/24/1912
3.  10.0 INCHES  3/4/2008...3/6/1989...3/9/1958
6.   9.1 INCHES  3/19/1906
7.   8.6 INCHES  3/20/1924
8.   8.3 INCHES  3/26/1913
9.   7.8 INCHES  3/2/1912
10.  7.3 INCHES  3/23/1974

TOP TEN SNOWFALL CALENDAR DAYS
(MIDNIGHT TO MIDNIGHT)

1.  12.8 INCHES  2/26/1906
2.  *12.4 INCHES 3/24/2013
3.  12.1 INCHES  3/24/1912
4.  12.0 INCHES  12/19/1973
5.  11.7 INCHES  2/13/1914
6.  11.3 INCHES  2/16/1910
7.  11.2 INCHES  1/31/1958
8.  11.0 INCHES  1/11/1909
9.  10.9 INCHES  1/16/1978
10  10.5 INCHES  12/30/1973

TOP TEN SNOWFALL EVENTS
(ANY 24 HOUR PERIOD...POSSIBLY SPANNING CALENDAR DAYS)

1.  15.6 INCHES  2/20-21/1912
2.  13.9 INCHES  1/30-31/1982
3.  13.3 INCHES  2/16-17/1910
4.  13.0 INCHES  2/12-13/1914
5.  12.8 INCHES  2/26/1906
6.  *12.6 INCHES 3/24-25/2013  (7AM-7AM CDT)
7.  12.5 INCHES  1/16-17/1978
8.  12.1 INCHES  3/24/1912
9.  12.0 INCHES  12/19/1973
10. 12.0 INCHES  1/11-12/1909  

Think It Was Cold Today, DC? Not Your Great-Great Grandfather's March of the Penguins

Denizens of the DMV were complaining about the early-spring cold this March 21, but the chill was nowhere near the historical extremes for this date or any other date through the end of the month. Although the high for the day of 42° was set shortly after midnight, the daytime temperatures were mostly in the 30s. On the other hand, the afternoon high did reach 41°. This was well below the historical average of 58° in Washington, DC, but it was also a full 10° above the coldest high temperature for the date, which was set in 1885. In fact, it would not be near any coldest high for the remainder of March.

The CapitalClimate chart from National Weather Service data shows that all but 1 of the 13 record coldest high temperatures from March 19-31 were set over 100 years ago. The one exception was 73 years ago, on 03/25/1940.

Washington March Snow: Rare Event Becoming Rarer?

The climatological average for March snowfall in Washington is just 1.3", so significant snowfalls in the first month of meteorological spring are rare. With the bust of the current "Snowquester", it's likely that 2013 will add to a string of nearly snowless Marches extending back to 2009, when a total of 5.5" was recorded.

In the early days of official snowfall records, which began in Washington in 1888, March snow was relatively common. In fact, the first 6 years in the climate record had measurable March snow; 3 of those were over 10".

The chart shows on the horizontal axis all of the years with 4" or more of total snowfall in March. The vertical axis is the number of years since the previous occurrence of 4"+. For example, if 4" occurred in consecutive years, the interval would be shown as 1. For the first several decades, the interval between significant March snows never exceeded 4 years, but in 1923 it reached 9. The interval reached double digits for the first time in 1956, when it was 13. It was 13 again in 1993, and 10 in 2009, which ended a March snow dry spell that began after 1999.

Unless this month has a miraculous snowfall recovery, the current March snow drought will be 4 years and counting.