Climatological Report (Seasonal)
Issued by NWS Northern Indiana
Issued by NWS Northern Indiana
678
CXUS53 KIWX 011602
CLSFWA
CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
1102 AM EST SAT MAR 01 2025
...................................
...THE FORT WAYNE CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE SEASON, FROM
12/1/2024 TO 2/28/2025...
CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1991 TO 2020
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1897 TO 2025
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 57 02/03 MM MM 69
02/25
02/28
LOWEST -6 01/22 MM MM -6
AVG. MAXIMUM 35.0 35.5 -0.5 42.0
AVG. MINIMUM 20.8 21.2 -0.4 27.9
MEAN 27.9 28.4 -0.5
DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS MAX <= 32 41 35.5 5.5 11
DAYS MIN <= 32 77 76.7 0.3 59
DAYS MIN <= 0 4 6.1 -2.1 3
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
MAXIMUM 17.85 1950
MINIMUM 1.58 1920
TOTALS 6.15 7.07 -0.92 6.60
DAILY AVG. 0.07 0.08 -0.01 0.07
DAYS >= .01 40 36.3 3.7 36
DAYS >= .10 16 17.1 -1.1 19
DAYS >= .50 3 4.3 -1.3 1
DAYS >= 1.00 0 0.9 -0.9 1
GREATEST
24 HR. TOTAL 0.89 12/29 TO 12/29
SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
TOTAL 61.1 1982
24 HR TOTAL 6.7 02/02/2022 TO 02/03/2022
TOTALS 13.8 26.2 -12.4 10.5
SINCE 7/1 14.5 28.2 -13.7 MM
SNOWDEPTH AVG. 0 -1
DAYS >= TRACE 44 25.3 18.7 30
DAYS >= 1.0 5 8.4 -3.4 5
GREATEST
SNOW DEPTH 3 01/11 3
01/15
01/16
24 HR TOTAL 2.2 01/10 TO 01/10
DEGREE DAYS
HEATING TOTAL 3313 3298 15 2720
SINCE 7/1 4175 4497 -322 3813
COOLING TOTAL 0 0 0 0
SINCE 1/1 0 0 0 0
..............................................................
WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED 11.2
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 38/220 DATE 02/28
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 53/220 DATE 02/28
SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.76
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 6
NUMBER OF DAYS PC 29
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 55
AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 72
WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM 2 MIXED PRECIP 0
HEAVY RAIN 2 RAIN 7
LIGHT RAIN 24 FREEZING RAIN 1
LT FREEZING RAIN 7 HAIL 1
HEAVY SNOW 2 SNOW 4
LIGHT SNOW 43 SLEET 1
FOG 44 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 8
HAZE 11
- INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.
&&
...DRIER, LESS SNOWY, AND THE FIRST COLDER THAN NORMAL WINTER IN
NEARLY 10 YEARS...
THIS WINTER`S WEAK LA NINA SOMEWHAT DELIVERED AS ANTICPATED;
TEMPERATURES WERE NEAR TO SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL WHILE PRECIPITATION
(ESPECIALLY SNOWFALL) WAS ALSO BELOW NORMAL. THIS WINTER`S LA NINA
DID DEVELOP, BUT ARRIVED MUCH LATER IN THE SEASON THAT WHAT WAS
PREVIOUSLY FORECAST LAST SUMMER/FALL.
THIS WAS THE FIRST COLDER THAN NORMAL WINTER IN FORT WAYNE IN NEARLY
A DECADE WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 27.9 DEGREES; THE AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE WAS 0.5 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL AND WAS THE COLDEST WINTER
SINCE 2015. THERE WERE NUMEROUS TEMPERATURE FLUCTUATIONS THROUGHOUT
THE WINTER WITH SEVERAL SWINGS FROM MILD TO FRIGID TEMPERATURES.
WINTER BEGAN WITH THE COLDEST START TO DECEMBER IN 14 YEARS BEFORE
TURNING COLDER IN MID JANAURY AND INTO FEBRUARY. THERE WERE SEVERAL
STRETCHES OF COLDER TEMPERATURES IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY WHICH WERE
BOOKENDED BY MILD TEMPERATURES IN THE 40S AND 50S. THE WARMEST DAY
THIS WINTER WAS WHEN A HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 58 DEGREES WAS RECORDED,
WHICH OCCURRED ON FEBRUARY 3RD, FEBRUARY 25TH, AND FEBRUARY 28TH.
THE COLDEST DAY THIS WINTER WAS JANUARY 22ND WHEN A LOW TEMPERATURE
OF -6 DEGREES WAS OBSERVED. THERE WERE 4 NIGHTS THIS WINTER WITH
LOWS AT OR BELOW ZERO.
WINTER 24-25 STARTED OFF WITH SEVERE DROUGHT (LEVEL 2 OF 4) IN FORT
WAYNE, BUT DROUGHT GRADUALLY IMPROVED THROUGHOUT THE FIRST HALF OF
THE WINTER. PRECIPITATION WAS ABOVE NORMAL IN DECEMBER, BUT THEN WAS
WELL BELOW NORMAL IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY. THIS WINTER`S
PRECIPITATION TOTAL OF 6.15 INCHES WAS 0.92 INCHES BELOW NORMAL AND
WAS THE DRIEST WINTER SINCE 2021.
THE HIGHEST SINGLE DAY SNOW TOTAL THIS WINTER WAS 2.2 INCHES, WHICH
OCCURRED ON JANUARY 10TH. IT HAS BEEN OVER 2 YEARS (SINCE JANAURY
25, 2023) SINCE MORE THAN 3 INCHES OF SNOW HAS FALLEN IN A SINGLE
DAY IN FORT WAYNE, WHICH IS CURRENTLY THE LONGEST STRETCH IN FORT
WAYNE`S 128-YEAR WEATHER HISTORY WITHOUT A 3+ INCH SNOW. THIS
WINTER, FORT WAYNE ONLY SAW ABOUT HALF OF THE AVERAGE SNOWFALL
DURING THE WINTER; A TOTAL OF 13.8 INCHES OF SNOW FELL, WHICH IS
12.2" BELOW NORMAL. WINTER 24-25 TIES FOR THE 27TH LEAST SNOWY
WINTER ON RECORD IN FORT WAYNE.
WITH THE AFOREMENTIONED MILD WEATHER IN DECEMBER AND EARLY JANAURY,
LAKE MICHIGAN TEMPERATURES STARTED OFF ABOVE NORMAL IN DECEMBER,
WHICH WERE CONDUCIVE FOR LAKE EFFECT SNOW. AFTER HISTORICALLY LOW
ICE COVER ON THE GREAT LAKES LAST WINTER, THIS YEAR WAS MUCH
DIFFERENT. THE WATERS OF LAKE MICHIGAN CLOSE TO SHORE QUICKLY BECAME
ICE COVERED SEVERAL TIMES IN JANAURY AND FEBRUARY AS TEMPERATURES
TURNED COLDER, WHICH ALSO LED TO A DECREASE IN LAKE EFFECT SNOW.
A MONTH BY MONTH SUMMARY IS BELOW:
DECEMBER 2024
WINTER ARRIVED QUICKLY IN THE FORM OF COLDER-THAN-NORMAL
TEMPERATURES TO START THE MONTH. THROUGH DECEMBER 7, THE AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 8.6 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL (25.5 DEGREES
OBSERVED), GOOD FOR THE COLDEST START TO METEOROLOGICAL WINTER SINCE
24.1 DEGREES IN 2010. MILD LAKE MICHIGAN WATER TEMPERATURES NEAR 40F
WERE CONDUCIVE FOR LAKE EFFECT SNOW WHICH STRETCHED TO FORT WAYNE AT
TIMES. OTHERWISE, COLD FRONTS BROUGHT EPISODIC SNOW SHOWERS. BY
MONTH`S END, 2.3 INCHES OF SNOW WAS RECORDED WHICH IS 5.3 INCHES
BELOW NORMAL AND TIES AS THE 26TH LEAST ON RECORD (1954 AND 1905).
THE AFORMENTIONED COLD WAS NEARLY ERASED IN THE DAYS THAT FOLLOWED
AS HIGH TEMPERATURES SOARED INTO THE MID-40S AND EVEN MID-50S. FIVE
DAYS THIS MONTH REACHED A HIGH OF 50 DEGREES OR WARMER WHICH IS
THREE LESS THAN DECEMBER 2023. ONE MORE BRIEF COLD SNAP OCCURRED
FROM THE 11TH THROUGH 13TH BEFORE A RETURN TO VERY MILD
TEMPERATURES. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 33.6 DEGREES
WHICH IS 2.7 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 25TH WARMEST ON
RECORD.
PRECIPITATION WAS FREQUENT THANKS TO A PROGRESSIVE JET STREAM. THE
US DROUGHT MONITOR WAS GENERALLY UNCHANGED IN OUR AREA THROUGH
DECEMBER WITH ABOUT 34 PERCENT OF THE AREA EXPERIENCING "SEVERE
DROUGHT" (LEVEL 2 OF 4), WHILE ALL OF THE AREA WAS DEEMED AT LEAST
UNDER A "MODERATE DROUGHT" (LEVEL 1 OF 4). THE MONTH RECORDED 3.82
INCHES OF PRECIPITATION WHICH IS 1.35 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL AND IS
19TH WETTEST ON RECORD. 1.77 INCHES OF THIS MONTH`S TOTAL FELL FROM
THE 29TH THROUGH 31ST AS A PAIR OF LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS BROUGHT
SOAKING RAIN (MIXED WITH A FEW SNOWFLAKES NEW YEAR`S EVE) TO THE
FORT. DATING BACK TO MAY 7TH, FORT WAYNE HAS NOT HAD A DAY WITH 1
INCH OR MORE OF PRECIPITATION.
JANUARY 2025
A SERIES OF ARCTIC COLD FRONTS PROMOTED WELL BELOW-NORMAL
TEMPERATURES AT TIMES THIS MONTH. THERE WERE THREE DISTINCT PERIODS
OF BELOW-NORMAL TEMPERATURES THIS MONTH, WITH THE COLDEST OCCURRING
FROM THE 19TH THROUGH 24TH WHEN DAILY AVERAGE TEMPERATURES WERE AS
MUCH AS 22 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THROUGH JANUARY 15TH, THE AVERAGE
DAILY TEMPERATURE OF 21.1 DEGREES RANKED AS THE COLDEST START TO
JANUARY SINCE 18.9 DEGREES IN 2018. THE MORNING LOW OF -6 ON THE
MORNING OF THE 22ND WAS THE COLDEST TEMPERATURE OF THE MONTH, AND
MATCHES THE COLDEST TEMPERATURE OBSERVED IN JANUARY 2024. THERE WERE
FOUR DAYS THIS MONTH WITH A TEMPERATURE BELOW ZERO, WHICH MATCHES
THAT OF JANUARY 2022. IN CONTRAST, A RIDGE DEVELOPED OVER THE
EASTERN US IN THE FINAL DAYS OF JANUARY RESULTING IN A HIGH
TEMPERATURE OF 46 ON THE 30TH. THIS IS THE WARMEST HIGH TEMPERATURE
FOR JANUARY SINCE 62 DEGREES IN JANUARY 2023. ALL TOLD, THE MONTH`S
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 22.2 DEGREES WHICH IS 3.3 DEGREES BELOW
NORMAL AND TIES AS THE 38TH COLDEST ON RECORD (1930).
LIGHT SNOW WAS COMMON AMID THESE ARCTIC BLASTS. THE GREATEST SINGLE-
DAY TOTAL WAS 2.2 INCHES ON THE 10TH. THE MONTH`S TOTAL OF 8.1
INCHES IS 2.7 INCHES BELOW NORMAL AND RANKS WITHIN THE MIDDLE-THIRD
OF THE 128-YEAR RECORD.
A SLOW-MOVING AREA OF LOW PRESSURE BROUGHT SOAKING RAIN TO PARTS OF
ILLINOIS AND FAR NORTHERN INDIANA TO END THE MONTH. PRECIPITATION
(RAIN AND MELTED SNOW) TOTALED 1.19 INCHES FOR THE MONTH. THIS WAS
1.35 INCHES BELOW NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 27TH LEAST AMOUNT OF
PRECIPITATION ON RECORD.
NO RECORDS WERE SET THIS MONTH.
FEBRUARY 2025
THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY FEATURED VERY COLD THAT WAS BOOKENDED BY
RELATIVELY WARM AIR. THE WARMEST DAY OF THIS MONTH WAS WHEN A HIGH
TEMPERATURE OF 57 WAS REACHED, WHICH OCCURRED ON FEBRUARY 3RD,
FEBRUARY 25TH, AND FEBRUARY 28TH. THE COLDEST DAY OF THIS MONTH WAS
FEBRUARY 18TH WHEN A LOW TEMPERATURE OF 3 DEGREES WAS REACHED. THIS
DAY HAD AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE DEPARTURE OF 19.5 DEGREES BELOW
AVERAGE. THE STRETCH OF DAYS FROM FEBRUARY 4TH TO FEBRUARY 22ND,
WHICH HAD HIGH TEMPERATURES BELOW 40 DEGREES, WAS THE SECOND LONGEST
SUCH STRETCH ON RECORD IN FEBRUARY. THIS PROLONGED STRETCH OF COLD
AIR ALLOWED WINTER STORMS TO BRING DOSES OF WINTRY MIX TO THE AREA.
THERE WAS A RUN OF 9 CONSECUTIVE DAYS WHERE SNOW WAS OBSERVED FROM
FEBRUARY 12TH TO FEBRUARY 20TH. FREEZING RAIN AND ICING CONCERNS
WERE PLENTIFUL DURING THIS TIME AS WELL. DESPITE THIS 9 DAY STRETCH
WITH MEASURABLE SNOW, FORT WAYNE ONLY HAD ONE DAY WHERE THE TOTAL
SNOW ACCUMULATIONS SURPASSED 1 INCH (ON FEBRUARY 16TH) AND SNOW
DEPTH NEVER SURPASSED 1 INCH DURING THIS TIMEFRAME EITHER. OVERALL
THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 27.9 DEGREES, WHICH IS 0.8
DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. FEBRUARY 2025 RANKS AS THE 67TH COLDEST ON
RECORD.
DESPITE BOUTS OF WINTRY WEATHER THIS MONTH, FORT WAYNE ONLY HAD
ABOUT HALF OF THEIR AVERAGE SNOWFALL IN FEBRUARY. FORT WAYNE
RECORDED 3.4 INCHES OF SNOW, WHICH IS 4.4 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. FOR
SNOWFALL, FEBRUARY 2025 RANKS AS THE 36TH LEAST SNOWY ON RECORD.
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FINISHED BELOW NORMAL AS WELL WITH ONLY 1.14
INCHES MEASURED, WHICH IS 0.92 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. FOR TOTAL
PRECIPITATION, FORT WAYNE HAD THE 33RD DRIEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD.
NO RECORDS WERE SET FOR THIS MONTH.
BROWN/ROLLER/JOHNSON
$$