2012...A Weather Year for the Record Books.
I think we can all agree that last year was a dry and warm year. We had a drought, we had temperatures top 100° several times. Remember last January, hardly any snow and we had about a week’s worth of high temperatures in the 60s and another week’s worth of highs in the 50s. Well, that really didn’t change all year. Here is a summary of 2012, weatherwise.
To find out the average temperature for a year, we add up all the highs and lows and divide by the number of days. So the average temperature in Kansas City last year was a warm 58.8 degrees. That’s 4.2 degrees warmer than normal. It was also the third warmest year on record.
Do you remember what you did on the hottest day of the year? It was July 18th and July25th when the thermometer read 106°. Ouch, even the pool was a hot place to be. Did you cozy up to a fire on February 11th and 12th when the temperature dipped to our coldest reading of the year? It was 5° those two mornings. I bet even the dog didn’t want to go for the morning walk.
How much was your water bill last Summer? Or were you like me and gave up in late July when the end of the drought seemed no where in sight? Last year, we had just 22 inches of precipitation for the whole year, the whole year! We typically have almost twice that! The biggest rain of the year came with the remnants of Hurricane Issac, it dumped an inch and half of rain at KCI but a lot more in parts of Johnson County, Kansas. It wasn’t enough to break the drought. We quickly returned to our dry pattern that lasted the rest of the year. In fact, our driest stretch of the year lasted from November 12th until December 8th. 27 days without measureable rain or snow.
Got kids with anxiety over thunderstorms? Last year was a little easier on them. There were 42 times we had thunderstorms last year, compared to 53 days in a normal year.
That’s a wrap for the 2012 weather picture. 2013 is already off to a colder and snowier start. We are watching a storm that could bring us some significant rain or snow next week. Here is a look at one of the weather maps that shows where the storm is on Monday.
We are going to warm up to near 50° on Monday but Tuesday, the storm is pulling in cold air from the north while clouds and rain are increasing from the south. There is good chance that when the moisture from the south meets up with the cold air from the north, it will be snow over Kansas City. I think I just heard a collective cheer from all the kids across Kansas City.