CXUS53 KIWX 011535 CLSFWA CLIMATE REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 1035 AM EST SUN MAR 01 2026 ................................... ...THE FORT WAYNE CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE SEASON, FROM 12/1/2025 TO 2/28/2026... CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1991 TO 2020 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1897 TO 2026 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 66 02/18 MM MM 57 LOWEST -9 02/01 MM MM -6 AVG. MAXIMUM 34.8 35.5 -0.7 35.0 AVG. MINIMUM 17.3 21.2 -3.9 20.8 MEAN 26.1 28.4 -2.3 DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 0 DAYS MAX <= 32 43 35.5 7.5 41 DAYS MIN <= 32 81 76.7 4.3 77 DAYS MIN <= 0 10 6.1 3.9 4 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 17.85 1950 MINIMUM 1.58 1920 TOTALS 3.64 7.07 -3.43 6.15 DAILY AVG. 0.04 0.08 -0.04 0.07 DAYS >= .01 35 36.3 -1.3 40 DAYS >= .10 11 17.1 -6.1 16 DAYS >= .50 2 4.3 -2.3 3 DAYS >= 1.00 0 0.9 -0.9 0 GREATEST 24 HR. TOTAL 0.59 02/19 TO 02/20 SNOWFALL (INCHES) RECORDS TOTAL 61.1 1982 24 HR TOTAL 6.7 02/02/2022 TO 02/03/2022 TOTALS 26.0 26.2 -0.2 13.8 SINCE 7/1 35.3 28.2 7.1 14.5 SNOWDEPTH AVG. 2 0 DAYS >= TRACE 43 25.3 17.7 44 DAYS >= 1.0 8 8.4 -0.4 5 GREATEST SNOW DEPTH 8 01/26 3 24 HR TOTAL 8.7R 01/25 TO 01/25 DEGREE DAYS HEATING TOTAL 3495 3298 197 3313 SINCE 7/1 4594 4497 97 3813 COOLING TOTAL 0 0 0 0 SINCE 1/1 0 0 0 0 .............................................................. WIND (MPH) AVERAGE WIND SPEED 10.8 HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 44/260 DATE 12/29 HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 60/260 DATE 12/29 SKY COVER POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.75 NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 4 NUMBER OF DAYS PC 33 NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 53 AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 76 WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORM 2 MIXED PRECIP 0 HEAVY RAIN 3 RAIN 4 LIGHT RAIN 19 FREEZING RAIN 0 LT FREEZING RAIN 5 HAIL 0 HEAVY SNOW 1 SNOW 5 LIGHT SNOW 43 SLEET 0 FOG 55 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 8 HAZE 12 - INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED. MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT. && ...COLDER THAN NORMAL AND THE 8TH DRIEST WINTER ON RECORD... FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW, THIS WINTER'S WEAK LA NINA SOMEWHAT DELIVERED. TEMPERATURES WERE COLDER THAN NORMAL, HOWEVER, THERE WAS A NOTABLE DEFICIT OF PRECIPITATION. SNOWFALL WAS NEAR NORMAL. WINTER BEGAN WITH A WEAK LA NINA PATTERN, WHICH GRADUALLY SHIFTED TOWARDS ENSO NEUTRAL BY THE END OF THE SEASON. WINTER 25/26 WAS CHARACTERIZED BY PROLONGED PERIODS OF COLDER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES, MOSTLY NOTABLY AT THE START OF DECEMBER AND AGAIN FROM MID JANUARY THROUGH EARLY FEBRUARY. THERE WERE ALSO SEVERAL QUICK SWINGS FROM FRIGID TO MILD TEMPERATURES; DECEMBER 28TH, JANUARY 9TH, AND FEBRUARY 19TH ALL SAW NEAR RECORD TEMPERATURES IN THE LOW TO MID 60S! DESPITE THE OCCASIONAL WARM DAY, ALL 3 WINTER MONTHS HAD AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE BELOW NORMAL. THE WARMEST AND COLDEST TEMPERATURES OF THE WINTER OCCCURRED ABOUT 2.5 WEEKS APART WITH A LOW OF -9 ON FEBRUARY 1ST AND A HIGH OF 66 ON FEBRUARY 18TH. THERE WERE 9 NIGHTS WITH A TEMPERATURE BELOW FREEZING THIS WINTER. OVERALL, WINTER 25/26 FINISHED WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 26.1 DEGREES, WHICH WAS 2.3 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THIS WAS THE 2ND CONSECUTIVE COLDER THAN NORMAL WINTER IN FORT WAYNE AND THE COLDEST SINCE 2015. WINTER 25/26 RANKS AS THE 38TH COLDEST WINTER SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1897. SNOW GRADUALLY PILED UP THROUGHOUT THE WINTER WITH SEVERAL SYNOPTIC (SYSTEM) AND LAKE EFFECT SNOW EVENTS. THERE WERE 8 DAYS THIS WINTER WITH MEASURABLE SNOWFALL OVER AN INCH. NEARLY HALF OF THE SNOW THAT FELL THIS WINTER CAME IN ONE DAY WITH A WINTER STORM THAT IMPACTED THE AREA; 8.7" OF SNOW FELL ON JANUARY 25TH. THIS WAS THE LARGEST ONE DAY SNOWFALL TOTAL IN FORT WAYNE SINCE 10.1" FELL ON FEBRUARY 15, 2021! OVERALL, THE WINTER SEASONAL SNOWFALL WAS 26.0", WHICH IS 0.2" BELOW NORMAL BUT IS THE MOST SNOW SINCE WINTER 20/21. WINTER 25/26 IS ACTUALLY THE 5TH CONSECUTIVE YEAR WITH BELOW NORMAL SNOWFALL IN FORT WAYNE. THERE HAS BEEN A NOTABLE LACK OF SNOW IN RECENT YEARS SO DESPITE BEING JUST SHY OF NORMAL, THIS WINTER RANKS AS THE 40TH SNOWIEST ON RECORD. DRY CONDITIONS PERSISTED THROUGHOUT THE WINTER WHICH ALLOWED FOR SEVERE TO EXTREME DROUGHT TO PERSIST ALONG AND SOUTH OF US 24. SNOWMELT IN FEBRUARY DID PUT 1-2" OF WATER BACK INTO TH GROUND, BUT THIS WAS NOT ENOUGH TO OFFSET THE ONGOING DEFICIT OF 15"+ FROM LAST YEAR. DROUGHT HAS NOW BEEN ONGOING FOR NEARLY 6 MONTHS IN SOME LOCATIONS, WHICH MAY HAVE IMPLICATIONS FOR THE SPRING PLANTING AND GROWING SEASON. REPRIEVE HAS BEEN HARD TO COME BY IN THE PAST FEW MONTHS AS THERE WERE ONLY TWO DAYS OUT OF THE ENTIRE WINTER WITH A PRECIPITATION (RAIN + LIQUID EQUIVALENT OF MELTED SNOW) TOTAL OF A HALF INCH OR MORE. DECEMBER 28TH MEASURED 0.55" AND JANAURY 25TH MEASURED 0.53"; THESE TWO DAYS ACCOUNT FOR NEAR 30% OF THE ENTIRE WINTER'S PRECIPITATION. SEVERAL AFOREMENTIONED MILD DAYS ALSO BROUGHT SCATTERED RAIN AND EVEN THUNDERSTORMS AT TIMES THIS WINTER. THE LARGEST ONE DAY RAINFALL TOTAL WAS WHEN 0.44" FELL ON FEBRUARY 19TH IN FORT WAYNE. OVERALL, 3.64" OF PRECIPITATION FELL DURING WINTER 25/26, WHICH IS 3.43" BELOW NORMAL. WITH ONLY ~50% OF THE AVERAGE PRECIPITATION, THIS RANKS AS THE 8TH DRIEST WINTER ON RECORD. MOST NOTABLY, THIS WINTER WAS THE DRIEST IN 50 YEARS SINCE ONLY 3.22" WAS MEASURED DURING THE WINTER OF 76/77. A MONTH BY MONTH SUMMARY IS BELOW: DECEMBER 2025 ...A VERY COLD AND DRY 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 DECEMBER! 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 DEGREES (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 PERSPECTIVE 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 OCCURRENCES 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. JANUARY 2026 ...A COLD JANUARY; 11TH MOST SNOW ON RECORD... RECENT MEMORY WILL FIXATE ON THE ARCTIC CHILL THAT DESCENDED OVER THE MIDWEST DURING THE FINAL TWO WEEKS OF JANUARY. HOWEVER, RECALL THE MILD STRETCH THAT OCCURRED FROM THE 4TH THROUGH 14TH FEATURING HIGHS IN THE 40S, 50S, AND EVEN ONE DAY IN THE 60S. AS MILD AIR WAS DISPLACED, 1.0 INCH OF SNOW WAS RECORDED ON THE 14TH AND NUMEROUS CLIPPERS AND BOUTS OF LAKE EFFECT SNOW FOLLOWED. ONE TEMPERATURE RECORD WAS BROKEN DURING THE AFORMENTIONED MILD STRETCH. THE HIGH OF 62 DEGREES ON THE 9TH BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 59 SET IN 1939. THE PRECEDING DAY'S HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 59 NEARLY REACHED THE RECORD OF 61 SET IN 1965. THROUGH THE FIRST TWO WEEKS OF JANUARY, THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 6.5 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL (AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 32.7). IT WAS NOT UNTIL JANUARY 24TH THAT THIS DEPARTURE WAS ERASED AND THE MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS RIGHT AT NORMAL: 25.6 DEGREES. JANUARY ENDED WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 21.3 DEGREES WHICH IS 4.2 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 31ST COLDEST ON RECORD. SNOW CONTINUED TO SLOWLY PILE UP WITH A MONTHLY TOTAL OF 14.1 INCHES. THIS TIES 1979 AS THE 20TH MOST FOR JANUARY AND THIS IS THE MOST SINCE 14.3 INCHES FELL IN JANUARY 2019. THE GREATEST SINGLE-DAY TOTAL THIS MONTH WAS 8.7 INCHES ON THE 25TH WHICH BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 6.2 INCHES IN 2023. THROUGH JULY 1, THIS YEAR'S SNOW TOTAL NOW STANDS AT 29.8 INCHES, WHICH IS 9.4 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS IS THE MOST SINCE 41.2 INCHES ENDING JANUARY 31, 2014. THIS RANKS AS THE 11TH MOST ON RECORD. STRICTLY SPEAKING, SINCE DECEMBER 1, THE SNOW TOTAL STANDS AT 20.5 INCHES WHICH IS 2.1 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE MOST SINCE 2013-2014 (40.2 INCHES) AND RANKS AS THE 24TH MOST ON RECORD. CHARACTERISTIC OF CLIPPERS AND LAKE EFFECT SNOW SHOWERS WHICH PRODUCE DRY, FLUFFY SNOW, PRECIPITATION WAS ONLY 1.24 INCHES FOR THE MONTH. THIS IS 1.30 INCHES BELOW NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 29TH DRIEST ON RECORD. THIS IS SIMILAR TO JANUARY 2025 WITH 1.19". AS A RESULT OF CONTINUED BELOW-NORMAL PRECIPITATION, EXTREME DROUGHT (LEVEL 3 OF 4) PERSISTS FOR NORTHWEST OHIO, FOLLOWING THE US 24 CORRIDOR TOWARD LAFAYETTE, IN. THIS EXTREME DROUGHT BEGAN IN LATE-SEPTEMBER WITH A SMALL PORTION OF THE HENRY/PUTNAM OHIO COUNTY LINE. IN THE WEEKS THE FOLLOWED, EXTREME DROUGHT CONDITIONS HAVE ONLY EXPANDED AND NOW ENCOMPASS ABOUT 25% OF OUR 37-COUNTY COVERAGE AREA. SEE DROUGHT.GOV OR DROUGHTMONITOR.UNL.EDU FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. FEBRUARY 2026 ...AN OVERALL WARM AND DRY FEBRUARY... DESPITE SEVERAL RECENT WEEKS OF NEAR NORMAL TO ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES, FEBRUARY BEGAN ON A MUCH COLDER AND SNOWIER NOTE. A RECORD COLD LOW OF -9 DEGREES WAS SET ON THE VERY FIRST DAY OF THE MONTH, BREAKING THE PREVIOUS RECORD FROM 1936. PERSISTENT SNOWPACK ALLOWED FOR SEVERAL COLD NIGHTS IN THE SINGLE DIGITS AND HIGHS ONLY IN THE LOW 20S TO FOLLOW. BY FEBRUARY 10TH, THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS OVER 10 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL! THINGS QUICKLY TURNED AROUND AS TEMPERATURES WARMED AND THE SNOWPACK MELTED BY MID MONTH SEVERAL DAYS OF 50S AND EVEN A DAY IN THE 60S WERE OBSERVED; FEBRUARY 18TH WAS THE WARMEST DAY OF THE MONTH WITH A HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 66 DEGREES, WHICH WAS ONE DEGREE SHY OF TYING THE DAILY RECORD. DESPITE THE FRIGID START, THE MONTH FINISHED WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 29.6 DEGREES, WHICH WAS 0.9 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS WAS THE 32ND WARMEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD. WITH THE COLD TEMPERATURES, SNOW THAT FELL IN LATE JANUARY REMAINED ON THE GROUND THROUGH MID FEBRUARY. FORT WAYNE HAD A SNOWPACK OF ANYWHERE BETWEN 3-8" FROM JANUARY 26TH TO FEBRUARY 10TH. AFTER SEVERAL MILD FEBRUARIES WITH A MAXIMUM SNOW DEPTH OF 1", THIS WAS CERTAINLY ONE OF THE LONGER DURATION SNOWPACKS IN RECENT MEMORY. THERE WERE ONLY 7 DAYS OF MEASURABLE SNOWFALL THIS FEBRUARY. THE HIGHEST SINGLE DAY TOTAL WAS 3.0", WHICH FELL ON FEBRUARY 7TH. THIS WAS THE ONLY DAY WITH A SNOW TOTAL OVER 1" THIS MONTH. OVERALL, 5.5" OF SNOW FELL IN FEBRUARY, MAKING FOR A DEFICIT OF 2.3" BELOW NORMAL. UNSURPRISINGLY, THE SNOWFALL DEFICIT ALSO LED TO A LACK OF PRECIPITATION (RAIN + LIQUID EQUIVALENT OF MELTED SNOW) THROUGHOUT FEBRUARY. MUCH OF THE SNOW THAT DID FALL WAS LIGHT AND FLUFFY, WHICH WAS LACKING IN WATER CONTENT. WITH THE WARM UP MID MONTH, THERE WERE SEVERAL ROUNDS OF SCATTERED RAIN AND EVEN SOME EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS ON FEBRUARY 19TH. 0.44" OF RAIN FELL ON THIS DAY, ALTHOUGH THIS WASN'T ENOUGH TO MAKE UP THE MONTHLY DEFICIT. FEBRUARY FINISHED WITH 0.94" OF PRECIPITATION, WHICH IS THE LEAST SINCE ONLY 0.54" FELL IN 2004. THIS WAS THE DRIEST FEBRUARY IN OVER 20 YEARS AND RANKS AS THE 23RD DRIEST SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1897. BROWN/JOHNSON $$