CXUS53 KIWX 011932 CCA CLAFWA CLIMATE REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 232 PM EST THU JAN 01 2026 ................................... ...THE FORT WAYNE CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE YEAR OF 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 106 06/28/2012 06/25/1988 07/14/1936 LOW -24 01/12/1918 HIGHEST 95 07/24 MM MM 97 LOWEST -6 01/22 MM MM -6 AVG. MAXIMUM 64.1 60.3 3.8 64.3 AVG. MINIMUM 41.0 41.4 -0.4 44.5 MEAN 52.5 50.9 1.6 DAYS MAX >= 90 25 15.7 9.3 18 DAYS MAX <= 32 49 39.7 9.3 21 DAYS MIN <= 32 130 123.6 6.4 94 DAYS MIN <= 0 5 6.2 -1.2 3 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 54.58 1990 MINIMUM 24.40 1962 TOTALS 24.31R 39.48 -15.17 35.43 DAILY AVG. 0.07 0.11 -0.04 0.10 DAYS >= .01 119 135.4 -16.4 130 DAYS >= .10 58 77.3 -19.3 80 DAYS >= .50 16 25.2 -9.2 19 DAYS >= 1.00 1 8.9 -7.9 5 SNOWFALL (INCHES) RECORDS TOTAL 68.6 2014 TOTALS 27.5 33.6 -6.1 13.7 SINCE 7/1 15.7 9.6 6.1 3.0 SNOWDEPTH AVG. 0 -1 DAYS >= TRACE 59 34.0 25.0 49 DAYS >= 1.0 9 10.7 -1.7 6 GREATEST SNOW DEPTH 7 12/02 3 DEGREE DAYS HEATING TOTAL 5859 5968 -109 4797 SINCE 7/1 2263 2257 6 1828 COOLING TOTAL 1002 849 153 1023 SINCE 1/1 1002 849 153 1023 .............................................................. WIND (MPH) AVERAGE WIND SPEED 9.3 HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 51/220 DATE 05/16 HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 66/260 DATE 05/16 SKY COVER POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.62 NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 73 NUMBER OF DAYS PC 149 NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 141 AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 70 WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORM 36 MIXED PRECIP 0 HEAVY RAIN 19 RAIN 30 LIGHT RAIN 120 FREEZING RAIN 1 LT FREEZING RAIN 11 HAIL 2 HEAVY SNOW 2 SNOW 7 LIGHT SNOW 58 SLEET 1 FOG 159 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 18 HAZE 23 - INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED. MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT. && ...DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD... IT'S OFFICAL! AFTER BEING ON PACE TO BE THE DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD FOR THE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS, 2025 RANKS AS THE DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD IN FORT WAYNE WITH AN ANNUAL PRECIPITATION TOTAL OF 24.31". THE PREVIOUS DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD WAS 1962 WITH 24.40". WHAT MAKES THIS YEAR EVEN MORE NOTABLE IS THAT SOUTH BEND IS 90 MILES FROM FORT WAYNE AND HAD OVER 10" MORE OF PRECIPITATION! WIDESPREAD, SOAKING RAINFALL WAS ABSENT THROUGHOUT THE YEAR IN FORT WAYNE. TO PUT INTO PERSPECTIVE JUST HOW DRY IT WAS IN FORT WAYNE, 11 OUT OF 12 MONTHS IN 2025 SAW BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION! THIS INCLUDES JANUARY, AUGUST, SEPTEMBER, AND OCTOBER WHICH ALL HAD LESS THAN 50% OF NORMAL. APRIL WAS THE ONLY MONTH WITH ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION, LIKELY BECAUSE 1.51" FELL ON APRIL 2ND. NOT ONLY WAS THIS THE WETTEST DAY OF THE YEAR BUT IT WAS ALSO THE ONLY DAY THIS YEAR WITH A PRECIPITATION TOTAL OF OVER 1 INCH. THE YEAR WAS EXCEPTIONALLY DRY, ESPECIALLY IN THE FALL. SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER BOTH HAD LESS THAN AN INCH OF PRECIPITATION FOR THE ENTIRE MONTH. THERE WERE NUMEROUS DRY STRETCHES THIS FALL WHERE FORT WAYNE WENT 1-2 WEEKS WITHOUT ANY RAIN. A DRY END TO SUMMER AND A TOP 5 DRIEST FALL HELPED RAPIDLY EXACERBATE DROUGHT CONDITIONS IN ALLEN COUNTY, IN. FORT WAYNE SPENT MUCH OF THE FALL IN THE WORST DROUGHT SINCE 2012. SEVERE (D2) AND EXTREME DROUGHT (D3) WERE INTRODUCED AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER AND BY THE END OF NOVEMBER, 95% OF THE COUNTY WAS IN EITHER SEVERE OR EXTREME DROUGHT. TO DATE, DROUGHT IS STILL ONGOING IN FORT WAYNE AND FOR MUCH OF THE US 24 CORRIDOR. IMPACTS TO THE SPRING 2026 GROWING SEASON ARE POSSIBLE. THE AVERAGE ANNUAL PRECIPITATION AT FORT WAYNE IS 39.48", WHICH MEANS 2025 HAD A DEFICIT OF 15.17". THE ONLY OTHER YEAR WITH A DEFICIT GREATER THAN 15" WAS 1962. PRECIPITATION RECORDS DATE BACK TO 1897 IN FORT WAYNE. ALTHOUGH PRECIPITATION WAS LACKING, SURPRISINGLY, SNOWFALL WAS NOT! A MAJOR WINTER STORM AFTER THANKSGIVING FOLLOWED BY SEVERAL CLIPPERS IN DECEMBER HELPED BOOST THE ANNUAL SNOWFALL TO JUST SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL. THE HIGHEST SINGLE DAY SNOW TOTAL WAS WHEN 5.6" FELL ON NOVEMBER 29TH; THIS DAY WAS ALSO THE FIRST 3"+ SNOWFALL IN FORT WAYNE SINCE JANUARY 2023. OVERALL, 2025 HAD 27.5" OF SNOW, WHICH IS 6.1 " BELOW NORMAL. THIS WAS THE SNOWIEST YEAR SINCE 2022 WHEN 27.6" FELL AND RANKS AS THE 53RD LEAST SNOWY ON RECORD. AFTER SETTING THE WARMEST YEAR ON RECORD IN 2024, TEMPERATURES WERE MORE SUBDUED BUT STILL WARMER THAN NORMAL IN 2025. FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW, JUNE FEATURED AN EARLY SEASON, MULTI-DAY HEATWAVE. HEAT ALSO LINGERED LONGER INTO THE FALL AS AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER BOTH HAD SEVERAL STRETCHES OF TEMPERATURES IN THE 80S AND 90S. THERE WERE 25 DAYS THIS SUMMER WITH A HIGH TEMPERATURE AT OR ABOVE 90 DEGREES. THE WARMEST DAY THIS YEAR WAS JULY 24TH WHEN A HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 95 WAS REACHED. THE HEAT WASN'T TERRIBLY ABOVE NORMAL THIS YEAR BUT THE HUMIDITY WAS RATHER EXTREME. WITH THE 2ND MOST HUMID JULY ON RECORD, IT SHOULD COME AS NO SURPRISE THAT DEWPOINTS WERE WELL INTO THE 60S AND 70S FOR MUCH OF THE SUMMER. FORT WAYNE SPENT 589 NON- CONSECUTIVE HOURS (EQUIVALENT TO 24.5 DAYS) WITH A DEWPOINT AT OR ABOVE 70 DEGREES THIS YEAR! THIS IS THE MOST HOURS IN A YEAR SINCE 2018 AND THE 5TH MOST HOURS SINCE HOURLY DEWPOINT RECORDS BEGAN IN 1948! CONVERSELY, THERE WERE ALSO A FEW COLD SNAPS THIS YEAR, PARTICULARLY AT THE END OF JANUARY AND BEGINNING OF DECEMBER. THE COLDEST TEMPERATURE THIS YEAR WAS WHEN A LOW OF -6 DEGREES OCCURRED ON JANUARY 21ST. THE AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE THIS YEAR WAS 64.1 DEGREES AND THE AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE WAS 41.0 DEGREES. OVERALL, 2025 HAD AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 52.5 DEGREES, WHICH IS 1.6 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 33RD WARMEST YEAR ON RECORD. 2025 NOTABLE WEATHER EVENTS - FIRST COLDER THAN NORMAL WINTER (DEC 24 - FEB 25) IN A DECADE - EARLY SPRING SEVERE WEATHER EVENTS ON MARCH 30 AND APRIL 2 - HIGH WINDS BROUGHT BLOWING DUST TO FORT WAYNE ON MAY 16TH - EARLY SUMMER HEATWAVE IN MID-JUNE RESULTED IN SEVERAL DAYS OF HIGH HEAT AND HUMIDITY - 2ND MOST HUMID JULY ON RECORD - NOTABLE LACK OF SEVERE WEATHER DURING THE PEAK SEASON (SPRING AND SUMMER) - 4TH DRIEST YET 4TH SNOWIEST FALL ON RECORD - REOCCURING DROUGHT THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, ESPECIALLY IN THE FALL WHEN D3 EXTREME DROUGHT WAS INTRODUCED FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2012 - POST-THANKSGIVING WINTER STORM BROUGHT THE HIGHEST SINGLE DAY SNOW TOTAL TO FORT WAYNE IN 3 YEARS! - SEVERAL RECORD COLD LOWS IN EARLY DECEMBER - LATE DECEMBER SEVERE RISK ON DECEMBER 28TH FOLLOWED BY A 50 DEGREE DROP IN TEMPERATURES IN 18 HOURS - DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD IN FORT WAYNE A MONTH BY MONTH SUMMARY IS BELOW: ...JANUARY... 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... 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. ...MARCH... MARCH 2025 WAS VERY MILD WITH A NOTABLE LACK OF PRECIPITATION, ESPECIALLY SNOWFALL. THE MONTH WAS NOTICEABLY WARMER THAN NORMAL, WITH SEVERAL DAYS WITH HIGHS IN THE UPPER 60S TO MID 70S DURING THE MIDDLE AND END OF THE MONTH. MANY THESE WARMER DAYS ALSO BROUGHT ABOUT PERIODS OF ACTIVE WEATHER. THE MIDDLE TO END OF THE MONTH WAS ESPECIALLY ACTIVE, WITH SEVERAL AREAS OF LOW PRESSURE MOVING THROUGH THE MIDWEST AND GREAT LAKES REGIONS. THESE AREAS OF LOW PRESSURE BROUGHT PERIODS OF STORMS TO THE AREA, WITH SEVERE WEATHER OCCURRING ON MARCH 19TH AND MARCH 30TH. STRAIGHTLINE WIND DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED WITH BOTH SEVERE WEATHER EVENT AND A FEW ISOLATED TORNADOES OCCURRED TOO. MILD TEMPERATURES LED TO MARCH 2025 RANKING AS THE 11TH WARMEST ON RECORD (RECORDS BEGAN IN 1897). THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 44.3 DEGREES, WHICH IS 5.7 DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL AVERAGE TEMPERATURES OF 38.6 DEGREES. THE WARMEST DAY OF THE MONTH WAS MARCH 14TH, WHEN THE HIGH TEMPERATURE REACHED 78 DEGREES. DESPITE THE ACTIVE WEATHER TOWARDS THE LATTER HALF OF THE MONTH, PRECIPITATION WAS HARD TO COME BY IN FORT WAYNE. WHILE THERE WERE A FEW DAYS THIS MONTH OF PRECIP TOTALS BETWEEN 0.25-0.50", THE HIGHEST DAILY TOTAL THIS MONTH WAS 0.86" ON MARCH 4TH. THIS IS THE 10TH MONTH IN A ROW WITHOUT A DAILY TOTAL GREATER THAN 1"; THE LAST TIME 1" OR MORE OF PRECIPITATION FELL IN ONE DAY IN FORT WAYNE WAS ON MAY 7TH, 2024. OVERALL, MARCH 2025 HAD 2.30" OF PRECIPITATION, WHICH IS 0.51" BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 42ND DRIEST MARCH ON RECORD. WITH SUCH MILD TEMPERATURES THIS MONTH, IT IS NO SURPRISE THAT SNOWFALL WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LACKING. ONLY 0.3" FELL THE ENTIRE MONTH, WHICH WAS 4.3" BELOW NORMAL. MARCH 2025 TIES FOR THE 14TH LEAST SNOWY MARCH ON RECORD. WHILE THERE CAN BE SNOWSTORMS IN MARCH, THEY HAVE BEEN HARD TO COME BY IN THE PAST DECADE. WITH THE LARGE TEMPERATURE SWINGS THAT TYPICALLY OCCUR IN THE TRANSITION FROM WINTER TO SPRING, IT IS ALSO NOT UNUSUAL TO HAVE A LACK OF SNOW IN MARCH. THE LAST TIME MARCH SNOWFALL WAS ABOVE NORMAL IN FORT WAYNE WAS IN 2015; IN THE PAST 25 YEARS, ONLY 7 YEARS HAVE HAS MARCH SNOWFALL ABOVE AVERAGE. ...APRIL... SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ON APRIL 2ND SPAWNED EIGHT TORNADOES ACROSS INDIANA, SOUTHERN MICHIGAN AND NORTHWEST OHIO. THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH WERE COMMON, DOWNING TREES AND POWERLINES AS WELL. THIS WAS ALSO WHEN 1.51 INCHES OF RAIN WAS RECORDED AT FORT WAYNE ; A NEW RECORD SURPASSING THE PREVIOUS TOTAL OF 0.83 INCHES IN 1983. A PROGRESSIVE WEATHER PATTERN BROUGHT FREQUENT RAIN (AND EVEN SNOW) CHANCES EARLY ON IN APRIL ALONG WITH LARGE TEMPERATURE SWINGS AS IS TYPICAL FOR SPRING IN THE MIDWEST. TEMPERATURES TENDED TO BE BELOW NORMAL IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE MONTH FOLLOWED BY A NOTABLE WARM UP IN THE FINAL TEN DAYS. THREE DAYS THIS MONTH RECORDED A TEMPERATURE OF 80 OR WARMER; A COMMON OCCURRENCE OVER THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 51.4 DEGREES WHICH IS 1.2 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 28TH WARMEST ON RECORD (TIED WITH 1987, 1981, 1900). PRECIPITATION TOTALED 3.90 INCHES WHICH IS ONLY SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL BY 0.16 INCHES AND RANKS AS THE 41ST WETTEST ON RECORD. THIS IS NOTABLY LESS THAN APRIL 2024 WHEN 7.39 INCHES WAS RECORDED. A TRACE OF SNOW WAS RECORDED WHICH IS 0.8 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. ...MAY... THE MOST NOTABLE FEATURE THIS MONTH WAS THE WIDESPREAD STRONG 40 TO 70 MPH WINDS THAT MOVED THROUGH ON THE 16TH. A 71 MPH WIND GUST REPORT WAS RECORDED NORTH OF NEW HAVEN AND A 66 MPH GUST WAS RECORDED AT THE FORT WAYNE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. ADDITIONALLY, A PLUME OF DUST FROM CROP FIELDS WAS KICKED UP AND IT REDUCED VISIBILITY IN AREAS AS IT WENT NORTHWARD. THIS WAS MOST NOTABLE IN AREAS WEST OF US-31. 70 DEGREE DEW POINTS ON THE 15TH WERE REPLACED BY A DRIER AREA OF 40 AND 50 DEGREE DEW POINTS ON THE 16TH AND THIS DRIER AIRMASS HELPED FACTOR INTO THE STRONG WIND GUSTS OBSERVED AS A PLAINS-LIKE INVERTED-V PROFILE SETUP OCCURRED. ONLY A TRACE AND A TENTH OF RAINFALL WAS OBSERVED ON THE 15TH AND 16TH RESPECTIVELY. AS FOR TEMPERATURE, THIS MONTH FINISHED COOLER THAN NORMAL. TEMPERATURES THROUGHOUT THE FIRST HALF OF THE MONTH AVERAGED NORMAL TO ABOVE NORMAL, WHEREAS THE LATTER HALF OF THE MONTH (THE 18TH THROUGH 31ST) WAS MUCH COOLER AND THIS REALLY HELPED TO AVERAGE THINGS OUT. OVERALL, THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 59.3 DEGREES, WHICH IS 2.0 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 52ND COOLEST MAY ON RECORD. RECORDS BEGAN IN 1897. PRECIPITATION-WISE, THIS MONTH FINISHED BELOW NORMAL. THREE DAYS THIS MONTH HAD OVER A HALF INCH OF RAIN: MAY 4TH, MAY 5TH, AND MAY 20TH. MAY 4TH WAS THE WETTEST DAY THIS MONTH WITH 0.99" OF RAIN. IN TOTAL, 3.01" OF PRECIPITATION FELL THIS MONTH, WHICH IS 1.57" BELOW NORMAL. THIS TIES FOR THE 45TH DRIEST MAY ON RECORD. ...JUNE... WHILE JUNE 1 WAS NOTABLY COOL (DAILY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 10 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL), THE REMINDER OF THE MONTH WAS WARMER THAN NORMAL. ONLY SEVEN DAYS THIS MONTH SAW AN AVERAGE DAILY TEMPERATURE BELOW NORMAL. DURING A LATE-MONTH HEAT WAVE, FORT WAYNE TIED A RECORD WARM MINIMUM TEMPERATURE (JUNE 22, 74 DEGREES TIED WITH 1988) AND RECORDED A HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 90 OR GREATER FOR SEVEN STRAIGHT DAYS. THE LONGEST STRETCH OF 90S ON RECORD IS 22 DAYS ENDING JULY 18, 2012. JUNE OF LAST YEAR SAW A SEVEN-DAY STRETCH OF 90S END ON JUNE 22ND. THE TOTAL NUMBER OF 90 DEGREE DAYS THIS MONTH IS EIGHT, WHICH MATCHES JUNE 2024 AND IS ABOVE THE AVERAGE OF FOUR. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 73.2 DEGREES WHICH IS 2.5 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS TIES 2018 AS THE 16TH WARMEST JUNE ON RECORD. WHILE 90-DEGREE DAYS CERTAINLY NUDGED THE MONTH'S AVERAGE TEMPERATURE ABOVE NORMAL, OVERNIGHT LOWS CARRIED NOTABLE WEIGHT. THE MONTH'S AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE OF 63 DEGREES TIES 1952 AND 1943 AS THE 8TH WARMEST ON RECORD. NOTE THAT JUNE 2021 RANKS AS THE 7TH WARMEST AT 63.2 DEGREES. AMID THE HOT AND STEAMY CONDITIONS, PASSING THUNDERSTORMS BUBBLED UP AT TIMES AND RAINFALL WAS VERY EFFICIENT. FOR EXAMPLE, AT NEARBY LIMA, OH, 2.02" OF RAIN WAS RECORDED ON THE 26TH BUT 1.92" OF THIS TOTAL WAS RECORDED IN ONE HOUR! ALL TOLD, THE MONTH'S PRECIPITATION TOTALED 4.25 INCHES WHICH IS 0.23 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 51ST WETTEST JUNE ON RECORD. DESPITE BEING BELOW NORMAL, THIS IS THE GREATEST AMOUNT OF JUNE RAINFALL SINCE 2021 WHICH RECORDED 5.91 INCHES. ...JULY... LAST YEAR, WE ENJOYED A COOLER THAN NORMAL JULY WITH NO 90 DEGREE DAYS. THIS YEAR, THE WEATHER WAS MUCH MORE TYPICAL FOR JULY WITH MULTIPLE UPPER LEVEL RIDGES SETTING UP OVER THE MIDWEST AND GREAT LAKES REGIONS. HOT AND HUMID WEATHER DOMINATED FOR A MAJORITY OF THE MONTH, ESPECIALLY AT THE BEGINNING AND END OF THE MONTH. THERE WERE 9 DAYS WITH HIGH TEMPERATURES IN THE 90S IN FORT WAYNE. THE HOTTEST TEMPERATURE THIS MONTH WAS 95 DEGREES ON JULY 24TH. AS FOR THE HUMIDITY, THERE WAS A NOTICEABLE STRETCH OF VERY HUMID CONDITIONS FROM JULY 24TH THROUGH 30TH. DURING THIS TIME, THERE WERE 106 CONSECUTIVE HOURS OF DEWPOINTS AT OR GREATER THAN 70 DEGREES! THIS RUN IS THE LONGEST ON RECORD FOR DEWPOINTS AT OR GREATER THAN 70 DEGREES FOR JULY AND IS THE 5TH LONGEST STRETCH ON RECORD FOR ANY MONTH OF THE YEAR. DEWPOINT DATA AT KFWA DATES BACK TO 1948. OVERALL, JULY FINISHED WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 76.5 DEGREES, WHICH IS 2.7 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS TIES 2002 AND 1919 AS THE 18TH WARMEST JULY ON RECORD AND THE WARMEST SINCE 76.9 IN 2020. AMID VERY HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS, THUNDERSTORMS WERE WIDELY HIT OR MISS IN AND AROUND FORT WAYNE THIS MONTH. RAINFALL WAS VERY EFFICIENT FOR LOCATIONS THAT WERE ABLE TO GET STORMS. FOR INSTANCE, ON JULY 30TH, HARLAN, IN RECEIVED OVER 4" OF RAIN (ON NE SIDE ALLEN COUNTY, IN) WHILE THE FORT WAYNE AIRPORT ONLY GOT 0.08" (SW SIDE OF ALLEN COUNTY, IN). THERE WERE ONLY 2 DAYS THIS MONTH WHERE DAILY RAINFALL TOTALS WERE OVER A HALF INCH: JULY 25TH AND JULY 31ST. JULY 2025 HAD 2.15 INCHES OF RAIN THIS MONTH, WHICH IS 1.90 INCHES BELOW NORMAL AND TIES (1995, 1932) AS THE 25TH DRIEST MONTH ON RECORD. THIS WAS COMPARABLE TO 2.14 INCHES RECORDED IN JULY OF LAST YEAR. OTHERWISE, THIS IS THE DRIEST JULY SINCE 1.12 INCHES IN 2016. NO NEW RECORDS WERE SET THIS MONTH. ...AUGUST... THE BEGINNING OF AUGUST BEGAN WITH A FEW DAYS OF COOLER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES, WHICH WAS FOLLOWED BY A LONGER RELATIVELY WARM PERIOD THROUGH THE MIDDLE PART OF THE MONTH. THERE WERE 6 DAYS IN THE 90S THIS MONTH WITH THE WARMEST TEMPERATURE OF THE MONTH OCCURRING ON AUGUST 12TH WITH A HIGH OF 91 DEGREES. A UNSEASONABLY STRONG COLD FRONT SWEPT THROUGH ON AUGUST 24TH/25TH, REPLACING THE HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS WITH MUCH COOLER TEMPERATURES FOR THE LAST THIRD OF THE MONTH. THE LAST 9 DAYS OF AUGUST FEATURED HIGHS IN THE 70S AND LOWS IN THE 40S. DAILY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE DEPARTURES WERE GENERALLY SMALL EACH DAY, BUT DEPARTURES ON THE 26TH AND 27TH WERE OVER 10 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. AFTER THE 2ND MOST HUMID JULY ON RECORD, AUGUST WAS MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE IN TERMS OF HUMIDITY AND THE OVERNIGHT LOWS. THERE WERE 5 NIGHTS IN AUGUST WITH A LOW OF 50 OR LESS; THE COLDEST LOW TEMPERATURE OF THE MONTH OF 42 DEGREES OCCURRED ON AUGUST 27TH. THIS LOW TEMPERATURE ACTUALLY SET A NEW DAILY RECORD, BREAKING THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 45 SET ON AUGUST 27, 1910. ALL IN ALL, AUGUST FINISHED WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 70.7 DEGREES IN FORT WAYNE, WHICH IS 0.9 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL AND TIES FOR THE 38TH COOLEST AUGUST ON RECORD. MUCH LIKE JULY, PRECIPITATION WAS VERY HIT OR MISS. MUCH OF THE MONTH'S RAINFALL TOTAL CAME FROM POP-UP SHOWERS AND STORMS AS THE AFOREMENTIONED STRONG COLD FRONT TOWARDS THE END OF THE MONTH DID NOT PRODUCE ANY SUBSTANTIAL RAIN. IN FACT, UP UNTIL AUGUST 28TH, FORT WAYNE WAS IN THE RUNNING FOR THE 2ND DRIEST AUGUST ON RECORD. A TOTAL 0.73" OF RAIN FELL ON AUGUST 28TH, WHICH ACCOUNTS FOR OVER HALF OF THE RAINFALL FOR THE ENTIRE MONTH AND BOOSTED THE MONTHLY TOTAL OVER AN INCH. AUGUST TOTALED 1.16" OF RAIN FOR THE MONTH, WHICH IS 2.64" BELOW NORMAL AND THE 8TH DRIEST ON RECORD. THIS WAS THE DRIEST AUGUST IN FORT WAYNE SINCE 1984. ...SEPTEMBER... A COLD FRONT AND SUBSEQUENT HIGH PRESSURE IN LATE AUGUST BROUGHT A STRETCH OF BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES THAT SPILLED INTO SEPTEMBER. A REINFORCING DOSE OF COLD AIR ARRIVED FOR SEPTEMBER 4TH, WHEN THE OBSERVED DAILY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 58 WAS 10 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THE FIRST 10 DAYS OF THE MONTH WAS THE 3RD COLDEST ON RECORD WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 60.8 DEGREES. TWO RECORD LOWS WERE BROKEN: 39 DEGREES ON THE 7TH (PREVIOUS RECORD 41 SET IN 1962) AND 36 DEGREES ON THE 8TH (PREVIOUS RECORD 39 SET IN 1986). BY MID- MONTH, STRONG UPPER-LEVEL RIDGING WAS PROMINENT WHICH BROUGHT ANOMALOUS HEAT AND VERY LITTLE RAINFALL. IN FACT, THE FINAL 20 DAYS OF THE MONTH RANKED AS THE 4TH WARMEST ON RECORD WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 69.5 DEGREES. RECORD LOW TEMPERATURES WERE SET ON THE 7TH AND THE 8TH WHEREAS A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE WAS SET ON THE 28TH. THE UNSEASONABLE WARMTH PAIRED WITH DRY CONDITIONS RESULTED IN A RAPID DEGRADATION OF DROUGHT CONDITIONS THROUGH THE MONTH. ON SEPTEMBER 2, THE US DROUGHT MONITOR INDICATED ABOUT 17% OF THE NORTHERN INDIANA FORECAST AREA WAS EXPERIENCING MODERATE DROUGHT (D1) OR WORSE. BY SEPTEMBER 23, THAT NUMBER WAS 71%. CREEK, POND, AND STREAM LEVELS ARE EXPERIENCING VERY LOW FLOW. ADDITIONAL DROUGHT IMPACTS INCLUDE TREES DROPPING LEAVES EARLY AND SOYBEANS ARE STRESSED, FAILING TO FILL THEIR PODS IN SOME INSTANCES. MEASURABLE RAINFALL OCCURRED ON ONLY SEVEN DAYS THIS MONTH, TOTALING 0.98 INCHES. THIS RANKS AS THE 11TH DRIEST ON RECORD, AND THE DRIEST SINCE 0.44 INCHES IN 1995. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 66.6 DEGREES AND RANKS AS THE 39TH WARMEST ON RECORD. ...OCTOBER... FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW, FORT WAYNE MEASURED LESS THAN AN INCH OF RAIN FALL DURING THE MONTH OF OCTOBER. IT IS NOT UNCOMMON FOR OCTOBER TO BE A DRY MONTH, HOWEVER, THE PAST TWO OCTOBERS HAVE BEEN A NOTABLE DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL. THE MONTH WAS INCREDIBLY DRY WITH SEVERAL WEEK-LONG STRETCHES OF NO RAIN. ONLY 6 DAYS OF MEASURABLE PRECIPTATION WAS RECORDED THIS MONTH (WHICH IS AN IMPROVEMENT FROM JUST 3 DAYS LAST OCTOBER). MOST OF THE MONTH'S RAINFALL FELL ON OCTOBER 19TH WHEN WIDESPREAD RAINFALL MOVED THROUGH THE AREA AND BROUGHT 0.59" TO FORT WAYNE. OVERALL, ONLY 0.77" OF RAIN FELL THIS MONTH, WHICH IS 2.18" BELOW NORMAL. OCTOBER 2025 RANKS AS THE 11TH DRIEST OCTOBER ON RECORD. THIS YEAR'S OCTOBER RAINFALL WAS A SLIGHT IMPROVEMENT FROM LAST YEAR WHEN ONLY 0.43" FELL. TO FURTHER PUT THE EXTREMELY DRY CONDITIONS INTO PERSPECTIVE, IF THE YEAR WERE TO END RIGHT NOW, FORT WAYNE WOULD HAVE THE DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1897. YEAR-TO-DATE, FORT WAYNE HAS HAD 20.85" OF PRECIPITATION, WHICH IS 13.20" BELOW THE YEAR-TO-DATE NORMAL OF 34.05". THIS IS THE LARGEST YEAR-TO-DATE PRECIPITATION DEFICIT FORT WAYNE HAS EVER HAD GOING INTO NOVEMBER AND WILL BE DIFFICULT TO OVERCOME HEADING INTO THE WINTER MONTHS, WHICH ARE USUALLY DRY. FORT WAYNE NEEDS TO MEASURE 3.56" OF PRECIPITATION (OR MORE) IN THE NEXT TWO MONTHS OR ELSE 2025 WILL GO DOWN AS THE DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD. 1962 CURRENTLY HOLDS THE RECORD FOR DRIEST YEAR EVER WITH 24.40". UNSURPRISINGLY, THE LACK OF RAINFALL HAS EXACERBATED THE ONGOING DROUGHT. SEVERE TO EXTREME DROUGHT EXPANDED ALONG AND SOUTH OF US 24 CORRIDOR THROUGHOUT OCTOBER. AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER, EXTREME DROUGHT WAS INTRODUCED INTO ALLEN COUNTY, IN FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE SUMMER OF 2012. BY THE END OF OCTOBER, EXTREME DROUGHT NOW COVERS ~40% OF THE COUNTY, ESPECIALLY SOUTHEASTERN ALLEN COUNTY. DEPENDING ON HOW MUCH WATER CAN BE PUT BACK INTO THE GROUND OVER THE WINTER (VIA RAIN AND SNOWMELT), THIS YEAR'S FALL DROUGHT COULD IMPACT NEXT YEAR'S SPRING PLANTING IN NORTHEAST INDIANA AND NORTHWEST OHIO. THE GROUND IS INCREDIBLY DRY WITH A LACK OF GROUNDWATER AND EXTREMELY POWDERY TOPSOIL. FALL HARVESTS FOR WHEAT AND SOYBEANS WIDELY VARIED BETWEEN EARLY AND LATE SEASON CROPS. NO SNOW WAS RECORDED THIS MONTH. DESIPTE THE AVERAGE FIRST SNOWFALL OCCURRING ON NOVEMBER 17TH, OCTOBER DOES TYPICALLY AVERAGE 0.1" OF SNOW IN FORT WAYNE. THE LAST TIME MEASURABLE SNOW FELL IN FORT WAYNE WAS WHEN 0.7" FELL ON OCTOBER 17TH, 2022. A TRACE OF SNOW FELL IN 2023 AS WELL. OCTOBER IS OFTEN A TRANSITION MONTH BETWEEN SUMMER AND FALL WITH LARGE TEMPERATURES SWINGS AND THIS YEAR WAS NO EXCEPTION. OCTOBER BEGAN WARMER THAN NORMAL WITH A PERISTENT UPPER LEVEL RIDGE PATTERN ACROSS THE MIDWEST AND GREAT LAKES REGIONS. THE FIRST HALF OF THE MONTH SAW NEAR RECORD HIGHS IN THE UPPER 80S WITH WARM OVERNIGHT LOWS. A COOLER DAY OR TWO BRIEFLY OCCURRED BUT HEAT AND HUMIDITY DOMINATED THE FIRST HALF OF OCTOBER. A SERIES OF SEVERAL COLD FRONTS MOVED THROUGH DURING THE LATTER HALF OF THE MONTH AS FALL FINALLY SETTLED IN BY THE END OF THE MONTH. SUMMER HAD ONE LAST HURRAH ON OCTOBER 18TH WITH A HIGH OF 85 DEGREES BEFORE COOLER AIR WAS ABLE TO OVERCOME THE PERISTENT HEAT. FOR THE LAST THIRD OF THE MONTH, MUCH MORE SEASONABLE TEMPERATURES - HIGHS IN THE 50S AND 60S AND LOWS IN THE 30S AND 40S - HAVE BECOME COMMON. THE FIRST WIDESPREAD FREEZE OF THE FALL OCCURRED ON OCTOBER 25TH WITH A LOW OF 29 DEGREES, EFFECTIVELY ENDING THE GROWING SEASON. OVERALL, THE MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 56.1 DEGREES, WHICH IS 2.9 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. OCTOBER 2025 RANKS AS THE 28TH WARMEST SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1897. NO NEW TEMPERATURE OR PRECIPITATION RECORDS WERE SET THIS MONTH. ...NOVEMBER... AS IS COMMON IN THE FALL, NOVEMBER WAS AN ACTIVE TRANSITION MONTH FROM WARMER THAN NORMAL TO COOLER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES. SEVERAL SYSTEMS WITH STRONG COLD FRONTS MOVED THROUGH THE AREA, WHICH OFTEN RESULTED IN SEVERAL DAYS OF WARM AIR OUT AHEAD OF THE INCOMING SYSTEM FOLLOWED BY COOLER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES BEHIND IT. THE WARMEST TEMPERATURE THIS MONTH WAS 67 DEGREES, WHICH OCCURRED ON NOVEMBER 5TH AND 15TH. CONVERSELY, THE COLDEST TEMPERATURE THIS MONTH WAS 17 DEGREES, WHICH OCCURRED ON NOVEMBER 28TH. 13 DAYS THIS MONTH WERE COOLER THAN NORMAL. WITH A SIGNIFICANT COLD SNAP AFTER THANKSGIVING TO FINISH OUT THE MONTH, NOVEMBER FINISHED JUST SLIGHTLY COOLER THAN NORMAL. (NOTE: THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FROM 11/1 TO 11/28 WAS EXACTLY AT AVERAGE). OVERALL, THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 40.4 DEGREES, WHICH IS 0.7 DEGREES COOLER THAN THE NORMAL NOVEMBER AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 41.1 DEGREES. THIS WAS COOLEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD SINCE 2021 WHEN THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 39.5 DEGREES. IT IS ALSO THE FIRST NOVEMBER SINCE 2021 THAT THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE HAS BEEN COOLER THAN NORMAL. THIS YEAR HAS BEEN EXCEPTIONALLY DRY IN FORT WAYNE, ESPECIALLY THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER AND FALL, AND THIS MONTH WAS NO EXCEPTION. 11 DAYS THIS MONTH HAD MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION, HOWEVER, ONLY ONE DAY HAD OVER 0.50". NOVEMBER 29TH HAD THE MOST PRECIPITATION IN A SINGLE DAY THIS MONTH WITH 0.59" OF PRECIPITATION (MAINLY LIQUID EQUIVALENT OF MELTED SNOWFALL). FORT WAYNE RECORDED 2.00" OF PRECIPITATION IN NOVEMBER, WHICH IS 0.96" BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 41ST DRIEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD. FORT WAYNE CONTINUES TO BE ON PACE FOR EITHER THE 1ST OR 2ND DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1897. A SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION DEFICIT IS ONGOING. YEAR-TO-DATE, FORT WAYNE HAS HAD 22.85" OF PRECIPITATION, WHICH IS 14.16" BELOW THE YEAR-TO-DATE NORMAL OF 37.01". FORT WAYNE NEEDS TO MEASURE AT LEAST 1.55" OF PRECIPITATION IN DECEMBER OR ELSE 2025 WILL GO DOWN AS THE DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD. 1962 CURRENTLY HOLDS THE RECORD FOR DRIEST YEAR EVER IN FORT WAYNE WITH 24.40" AND 1941 IS SECOND DRIEST WITH 25.72". WHAT IS NOTABLE ABOUT NOVEMBER IS THE IMPRESSIVE AMOUNT OF SNOW THAT FELL. TWO LARGE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR BRINGING THE MOST SNOW TO FORT WAYNE IN NOVEMBER SINCE 1966! AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE MOVING THROUGH THE GREAT LAKES BROUGHT LAKE EFFECT SNOW ON NOVEMBER 9-11TH WITH 3.6" OF SNOW TOTAL. ANOTHER LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM CAME THROUGH AT THE END OF THE MONTH ON NOVEMBER 29-30TH, TOTALLING A 2-DAY TOTAL OF 5.7" OF SYNOPTIC (SYSTEM) SNOWFALL. BETWEEN THESE TWO SYSTEMS, THE TOTAL SNOWFALL THIS MONTH WAS 9.3", WHICH RANKS AS THE 3RD SNOWIEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD AND THE SNOWIEST NOVEMBER SINCE 1966 WHEN 12.0" FELL. SNOWFALL THIS MONTH WAS 7.4" ABOVE NORMAL! SNOW HAS NOT BEEN ABOVE NORMAL IN FORT WAYNE IN NOVEMBER SINCE 2022. SOME OTHER NOTEWORTHY SNOW STATISTICS THIS MONTH INCLUDE THAT THE DAILY SNOWFALL TOTAL ON NOVEMBER 29TH OF 5.6" WAS THE FIRST 3"+ SNOWFALL IN FORT WAYNE IN NEARLY 3 YEARS! THIS WAS THE HIGHEST SINGLE DAY SNOWFALL SINCE 6.2" FELL ON JANUARY 25, 2023. IN ADDITION, THE NOVEMBER 29TH DAILY TOTAL OF 5.6" WAS THE 3RD LARGEST NOVEMBER DAILY SNOWFALL TOTAL SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1897! ONE NEW SNOWFALL RECORD WAS SET THIS MONTH. A RECORD DAILY SNOWFALL WAS SET ON NOVEMBER 10TH WITH 1.9", WHICH BROKE THE PREVIOUS DAILY RECORD OF 1.2" SET IN 1928. ...DECEMBER... THANKS TO A EARLY SEASON WINTER STORM AFTER THANKSGIVING, DECEMBER BEGAN MUCH COLDER AND SNOWIER THAN USUAL. 5 INCHES OF SNOW WAS ON THE GROUND ON DECEMBER 1ST, WHICH WAS THE MOST SNOW ON THE GROUND TO START THE MONTH SINCE THE SNOW DEPTH WAS 7 INCHES ON DECEMBER 1ST, 1950! IN ADDITION, THE SNOW ON THE GROUND KEPT TEMPERATURES MUCH COLDER THAN NORMAL (ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT) FOR A PROLONGED PERIOD OF TIME. FOR THE FIRST HALF OF DECEMBER, HIGHS WERE COMMONLY IN THE 20S AND 30S AND LOWS WERE IN THE SINGLE DIGITS AND TEENS. AVERAGE TEMPERATURES FOR 15 OF THE FIRST 16 DAYS OF DECEMBER WERE BELOW NORMAL, WITH A FEW DAYS EVEN HAVING A 20+ DEGREE DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL! THERE WERE 13 DAYS THIS MONTH WITH A HIGH TEMPERATURE AT OR BELOW 32 DEGREES. THE COLDEST TEMPERATURE OF THE MONTH WAS WHEN A LOW OF -3 DEGREES OCCURRED ON DECEMBER 5TH, WHICH WAS ALSO A DAILY RECORD LOW. THE LAST TIME A LOW BELOW ZERO OCCURRED IN DECEMBER WAS ON DECEMBER 24, 2023. A PATTERN CHANGE OCCURRED MID-MONTH. THE SECOND HALF OF DECEMBER FEATURED MOSTLY NEAR TO ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES DUE TO A SERIES OF WARM FRONTAL PASSAGES. THE WARMEST TEMPERATURE OBSERVED THIS MONTH WAS ON DECEMBER 28TH WHEN THE HIGH TEMPERATURE REACHED 64 DEGREES! THE 28TH WAS AN ANOMALOUSLY WARM DAY (ONE DEGREE SHY OF A RECORD HIGH) WHEN TEMPERATURES SURGED INTO THE LOW TO MID 60S ACROSS THE AREA AHEAD OF A STRONG COLD FRONT. DEWPOINTS ON THE 28TH ALSO REACHED THE 60 DEGREE MARK IN FORT WAYNE, WHICH IS THE LATEST OCCURRENCE OF A 60+ DEGREE DEWPOINT THIS LATE IN THE CALENDAR YEAR! ONCE THE COLD FRONT MOVED THROUGH DURING THE EVENING OF THE 28TH, TEMPERATURES PLUMMETED FROM THE MID 60S TO THE MID TEENS IN 18 HOURS! THIS WAS QUITE A RARE PHENOMENON TO OCCUR IN DECEMBER; THIS SHARP TEMPERATURE SHIFT IS MORE REMINISCENT OF EARLY FALL OR LATE SPRING NOT DECEMEBER! OVERALL, DECEMBER WAS COLDER THAN NORMAL WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 27.2 DEGREES. THIS IS 3.7 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 40TH COLDEST ON RECORD. THIS WAS THE COLDEST DECEMBER SINCE 2017. 4 NEW TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE SET AT FORT WAYNE THIS DECEMBER, INCLUDING 3 NEW RECORD LOWS AND 1 NEW RECORD HIGH. THE RECORDS ARE AS FOLLOWS: - DECEMBER 1ST RECORD LOW OF 7 DEGRES (PREVIOUS RECORD: 8 DEGREES (1979)) - DECEMBER 4TH RECORD LOW OF 2 DEGREES (PREVIOUS RECORD: 4 DEGREES (1935)) - DECEMBER 5TH RECORD LOW OF -3 DEGREES (PREVIOUS RECORD: -2 DEGREES (1964)) - DECEMBER 18TH RECORD HIGH OF 55 DEGREES (PREVIOUS RECORD: 54 (1957)) SEVERAL CLIPPER SYSTEMS AND LAKE EFFECT SNOW EVENTS IMPACTED THE AREA, BRINGING LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOW AMOUNTS THAT REALLY ADDED UP OVER THE COURSE OF THE MONTH. THIS IS SOMEWHAT ABNORMAL BECAUSE DECEMBER HAS OFTEN TRENDED WARMER AND RAINY IN THE PAST DECADE. SEVERAL CLIPPER SYSTEMS AT THE VERY END OF THE MONTH HELPED BOOST THE MONTHLY SNOW TOTAL TO NEAR NORMAL THIS DECEMBER. THE SNOWIEST DAY THIS MONTH WAS DECEMBER 1ST WHEN 1.6" FELL. TO GIVE SOME PERSEPECTIVE ON JUST HOW MUCH LACK OF SNOWFALL THERE HAS BEEN IN THE PAST DECADE, THIS DAILY AMOUNT IS MORE THAN THE TOTAL DECEMBER SNOWFALL THAT FELL IN 2015, 2018, 2021, AND 2023. OVERALL, THE MONTH FINISHED WITH 6.4 INCHES OF SNOW, WHICH IS 1.2 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. DESPITE THE MONTHLY TOTAL BEING BELOW NORMAL, THIS WAS THE 55TH SNOWIEST DECEMBER ON RECORD. THIS WAS THE SNOWIEST DECEMBER SINCE 11.4" FELL IN 2017. ALTHOUGH SNOWFALL WAS NEAR NORMAL, THE OVERALL PRECIPITATION AMOUNT (LIQUID SNOW EQUIVALENT + RAIN) WAS STILL BELOW NORMAL. IN ADDITION TO THE SNOW, THERE WERE A FEW OCCURENCES OF RAIN THIS MONTH ON THE 18TH (0.27") AND 28TH. THE AFOREMENTIONED WARM DECEMBER 28TH ALSO BROUGHT ABOUT A SEVERE RISK TO THE AREA! ALTHOUGH THUNDERSTORMS DID NOT OCCUR IN FORT WAYNE, 0.55" OF RAIN WAS MEASURED AT THE AIRPORT. THIS WAS THE WETTEST DAY OF THE MONTH AND THE ONLY DAY TO HAVE OVER A HALF INCH OF PRECIPITATION. EVEN WITH THE RAINFALL THAT OCCURRED, PRECIPITATION WAS STILL BELOW NORMAL OVERALL FOR THE MONTH. MUCH OF THE SNOW THAT FELL IN DECEMBER WAS OF THE LIGHTER, FLUFFIER TYPE, WHICH LED TO DRIER SNOW RATIOS. OVERALL, THE MONTH FINISHED WITH 1.46 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION, WHICH IS 1.01" BELOW BELOW NORMAL. THIS IS THE 7TH CONSECUTIVE MONTH THIS YEAR IN FORT WAYNE WITH BELOW AVERAGE PRECIPITATION. THIS DECEMBER RANKS AS THE 28TH DRIEST AND WAS THE DRIEST DECEMBER SINCE 2020. JOHNSON/BROWN/ROLLER $$