883
CXUS53 KICT 012340
CLMCNU
CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
640 PM CDT SUN APR 1 2012
...............................
..THE CHANUTE KS CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH 2012
CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1981 TO 2010
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1894 TO 2012
WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR'S
VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE DATE(S)
NORMAL
............................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
HIGH 95 03/21/1916
LOW -4 03/11/1948
HIGHEST 83 03/31 83 03/17
LOWEST 24 03/05 21 03/06
AVG. MAXIMUM 70.3 58.1 12.2 57.3
AVG. MINIMUM 46.7 36.1 10.6 37.3
MEAN 58.5 47.1 11.4 47.3
DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS MAX <= 32 0 0.6 -0.6 0
DAYS MIN <= 32 8 10.6 -2.6 12
DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.0 0.0 0
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
MAXIMUM 12.08 1973
MINIMUM 0.00 1904
TOTALS 5.14 3.04 2.10 2.40
DAILY AVG. 0.17 0.10 0.07 0.08
DAYS >= .01 9 8.7 0.3 11
DAYS >= .10 7 5.0 2.0 5
DAYS >= .50 5 1.8 3.2 2
DAYS >= 1.00 1 0.7 0.3 0
GREATEST
24 HR. TOTAL 2.85 03/19 TO 03/20
DEGREE_DAYS
HEATING TOTAL 244 559 -315 555
SINCE 7/1 3363 4131 -768 4218
COOLING TOTAL 51 4 47 15
.............................................................
WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED 10.9
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 39/180 DATE 03/06
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 51/180 DATE 03/06
SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.40
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 18
NUMBER OF DAYS PC 9
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 4
AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 68
WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM 0 MIXED PRECIP 0
HEAVY RAIN 5 RAIN 6
LIGHT RAIN 9 FREEZING RAIN 0
LT FREEZING RAIN 0 HAIL 0
HEAVY SNOW 0 SNOW 0
LIGHT SNOW 0 SLEET 0
FOG 14 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 0
HAZE 1
- INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.
...HOT FUN IN THE MONTH OF MARCH...
MARCH 2012 WILL BE REMEMBERED AS ONE OF EXCEPTIONAL WARMTH FOR NUMEROUS
TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE SET OR TIED. WICHITA'S 57.9 DEGREE MONTHLY
AVERAGE MADE 2012 THE 2ND WARMEST MARCH ON RECORD...EXCEEDED ONLY BY THE
58.6 DEGREE AVERAGE SET IN 1910. SALINA'S MONTHLY AVERAGE OF 57.1
DEGREES MADE 2012 THEIR WARMEST MARCH EVER...EASILY BREAKING THE MARK OF
54.8 DEGREES SET IN 1946. CHANUTE'S 58.5 DEGREE AVERAGE MADE 2012 THEIR
2ND WARMEST ON RECORD...FALLING JUST 0.5 DEGREE SHY OF THE 59.0 DEGREE
RECORD SET IN 1910.
THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE DAILY RECORD TEMPERATURE EVENTS WERE OF THE
UNORTHODOX "WARMEST LOW" VARIANT. IN FACT...THERE WAS AN AMAZING 5 TO 6
DAY STRETCH...FROM THE 14TH TO THE 19TH...DURING WHICH WARMEST LOW
TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE EITHER SET OR TIED. THIS EXCEPTIONALLY WARM
PERIOD NO DOUBT FIGURED GREATLY IN MANY AREAS SETTING A MONTHLY RECORD
FOR WARMEST AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE.
WICHITA'S MONTHLY AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE OF 46.4 DEGREES MADE THIS THE
WARMEST MARCH ON RECORD...EASILY SURPASSING THE 44.4 DEGREE AVERAGE LOW
SET IN 1910. SALINA'S MONTHLY AVERAGE LOW OF 43.6 DEGREES ALSO MADE 2012
THEIR WARMEST ON RECORD...EASILY BREAKING THE MARK OF 41.7 DEGREES SET
IN 2007. CHANUTE'S MONTHLY AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE OF 46.7 DEGREES WAS
AN EVEN 2 DEGREES WARMER THAN THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 44.7 DEGREES SET IN
2007.
WICHITA EXPERIENCED A 5-DAY STRETCH...OR PERHAPS WE SHOULD SAY A 5-NIGHT
STRETCH...DURING WHICH LOW TEMPERATURES FAILED TO DROP BELOW 60 DEGREES.
IN EACH INSTANCE...FROM THE 14TH TO THE 18TH...RECORD WARMEST LOWS WERE
SET. SALINA SET RECORD WARMEST LOWS FROM THE 14TH TO THE 19TH...A 6-DAY
STRETCH. CHANUTE SET RECORD WARMEST LOWS OVER A 5-DAY STRETCH...FROM
THE 14TH TO THE 18TH AND EACH CASE...THE LOW WAS 60 DEGREES OR WARMER.
CHANUTE CLOSED OUT THE MONTH ON A HOT STREAK...REACHING THE LOWER 80S ON
THE LAST 6 DAYS. IN FACT...THEIR HOTTEST DAY OF MARCH OCCURRED ON THE
31ST WHEN THEY REACHED 83 DEGREES. CHANUTE REACHED 80 DEGREES OR WARMER
9 TIMES. SALINA ALSO REACHED 80 DEGREES ON 9 OCCASIONS AND ON 3 OF THOSE
DATES THEY REACHED 85 DEGREES...THEIR HOTTEST...86 DEGREES...WAS REACHED
ON THE 31ST.
IN ALL...THE 3 PRIMARY CLIMATE STATIONS...WICHITA (6)...SALINA (7) AND
CHANUTE (7) COMBINED TO SET 20 WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE RECORDS!
SURPRISINGLY...WICHITA FAILED TO SET OR EVEN TIE ANY RECORD HIGHS DURING
MARCH AND CHANUTE SET ONLY ONE RECORD HIGH...82 DEGREES ON THE 16TH. IN
CENTRAL KANSAS...SALINA SET ONE RECORD HIGH...85 DEGREES ON THE 14TH AND
TIED ONE...81 DEGREES ON THE 17TH. WITH SO RELATIVELY FEW RECORD HIGH
TEMPERATURE EVENTS...THE PASSWORD IN THE HIGH TEMPERATURE REALM WAS
CONSISTENCY.
NOW THAT YOU'VE RECEIVED THE '3RD DEGREE' ON TEMPERATURES LET'S TURN OUR
ATTENTION TO RAINFALL AND SEVERE WEATHER.
THE MOST NOTEWORTHY RAINFALL FACT OCCURRED DURING A PROLONGED STRETCH...
FROM THE 19TH TO THE 23RD...DURING WHICH AN INTENSE...VERY SLOW-MOVING
LOW PRESSURE CENTER MOVED ACROSS THE CENTRAL PLAINS. DURING THIS 5-DAY
PERIOD...EXACTLY 3.01 INCHES WERE MEASURED AT MID-CONTINENT AIRPORT.
THIS ACCOUNTED FOR 75% OF THE MONTHLY TOTAL OF 4.03 INCHES. DURING THIS
SAME 5-DAY PERIOD CHANUTE WAS SOAKED BY 3.90 INCHES...76% OF THEIR MARCH
TOTAL OF 5.14 INCHES. THE 2.16 INCHES MEASURED ON THE 19TH SET A RECORD
FOR THE DATE...BREAKING THE MARK OF 1.97 INCHES MEASURED WAY BACK IN
1927. SALINA'S MONTHLY TOTAL WAS ONLY 1.87 INCHES.
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...SOME OF WHICH PRODUCED DESTRUCTIVE HAIL AS LARGE
AS SOFTBALLS...ACCOUNTED FOR MOST OF THE HEFTY RAINFALLS THAT SOAKED
SOUTHERN KANSAS. IT WAS ON THE NIGHTS OF THE 28TH AND 29TH THAT THE MOST
POWERFUL THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRED OVER SOUTH-CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS.
BOTH NIGHTS...THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE NOT ONLY SLOW-MOVING...BUT BUILT
BACK TOWARD THE SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST ALONG A WEAK STATIONARY FRONT.
THE EVENING AND NIGHT OF THE 28TH WAS ESPECIALLY VIOLENT FOR NORTHERN
GREENWOOD COUNTY...MORE SPECIFICALLY IN AND AROUND MADISON...LOCATED IN
EXTREME NORTH-CENTRAL GREENWOOD COUNTY...WHERE IT WAS TRULY ONE 'HAIL'
OF A NIGHT.
THERE WERE 12 REPORTS OF HAIL RANGING FROM PING PONG BALLS TO SOFTBALLS.
THERE WAS ONE REPORT...FROM 4 MILES EAST OF MADISON...OF A "PLETHORA"
OF GOLFBALL-SIZED HAIL. THE SOFTBALL-SIZED HAIL LANDED IN MADISON. NOT
SURPRISINGLY...WINDOWS WERE SMASHED WITH MANY VEHICLES BADLY DAMAGED.
THERE WERE ALSO SEVERAL FUNNEL CLOUDS REPORTED...ONE OF WHICH WAS QUITE
LARGE. THE MADISON AREA BORE THE BRUNT OF THESE PROLIFIC HAIL-PRODUCING
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FOR JUST OVER 3 HOURS! ITS VERY FORTUNATE THAT NO
PEOPLE WERE INJURED.
WITH SUCH POWERFUL THUNDERSTORMS PARKED OVER EXTREME NORTHERN GREENWOOD
COUNTY...FLOODING BECAME A MAJOR CONCERN. DOPPLER ESTIMATED THAT 3 TO 4
INCHES DRENCHED THE AREA. STREET FLOODING IN MADISON WAS 6 INCHES DEEP
AND 1 MILE EAST OF MADISON...HIGHWAY 58 WAS BARRICADED.
THE NEXT EVENING SAW A VIRTUAL REPEAT PERFORMANCE...ONLY THIS TIME THE
ACTION OCCURRED OVER SOUTH-CENTRAL KANSAS...ESPECIALLY OVER THE WICHITA
METRO AREA.
ONCE AGAIN...LARGE HAIL WAS BY FAR THE PRIMARY CULPRIT...WITH 4 REPORTS
OF PING PONG BALL TO TENNISBALL-SIZED IN THE NORTHERN SUBURBS OF
WICHITA. THE TENNISBALL-SIZED HAIL WAS REPORTED 5 MILES 5 WESTSOUTHWEST
OF BEL AIRE. VERY HEAVY RAINS CAUSED FLOODING IN PARTS OF NORTH WICHITA
WHERE OLIVER WAS FLOODED BETWEEN NORTH 21ST AND NORTH 29TH STREETS.
THE ONLY WINTRY PRECIPITATION OCCURRED ON THE NIGHT OF THE 8TH WHEN A
POWERFUL COLD FRONT SURGED SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE STATE. AS THE COLD FRONT
APPROACHED...STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...PRODUCING QUARTER TO PING
BALL SIZED HAIL...DEVELOPED OVER SOUTH-CENTRAL KANSAS. AFTER FRONTAL
PASSAGE...AREAS OF SLEET SPREAD ACROSS THE AREA WITH ACCUMULATIONS OF
1/2 INCH REPORTED. THE SLEET WAS OCCASIONALLY MIXED WITH LIGHT FREEZING
RAIN AND LIGHT SNOW.
MARCH HAS CLEARLY PROVEN THAT THE ATMOSPHERE IS HEATING UP...NOT ONLY IN
THE TEMPERATURE REALM...BUT IN THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM REALM AS WELL. WE
WILL SOON SEE IF MARCH IS A PRECURSOR OF HOW CONVECTIVELY ACTIVE THE
NEXT 3 MONTHS WILL BE.
ES
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