We set many new weather records in 2012
There were literally dozens of new weather records for both temperatures and precipitation in 2012, which turned out to be the wettest year in recorded history since at least 1895.
Here are the month-by-month breakdowns:
JANUARY 2012
Last January was exactly 3 degrees milder than normal with an average maximum reading of 37 degrees and an average minimum temperature of 24 degrees. The month’s warmest afternoon was an almost springlike 55 degrees on Jan. 4, which tied the previous record high for the date set back in 1918. The month’s lowest reading was 13 degrees on Jan. 18.
January of 2012 was slightly wetter and a bit snowier than usual across North Idaho. The liquid precipitation total was 4.07 inches compared with the normal of 3.77 inches. The month’s snowfall was 25.9 inches, 4.5 inches above normal. A daily record snowfall of 10.1 inches on Jan. 19 was the first big snowstorm of 2012. It took me 3 hours to shovel the driveway as my snowblower broke down.
FEBRUARY 2012
Believe it or not, February of 2012’s biggest snowstorm occurred on ‘Leap Year Day,’ Feb. 29, when 6.8 inches, a record for the date, was measured on Player Drive. The .45 inches of liquid precipitation was likewise a record for Feb. 29.
The month’s total snowfall of 24.3 inches was more than double the February normal since 1895 of 11.9 inches. The 3.48 inches of liquid moisture was 1.31 more than the normal of 2.17 inches.
The monthly mean temperature of 32 degrees was 1 degree above normal with an average maximum of 38 degrees and an average low of 26 degrees. The highest temperature last February was 49 degrees on the 22nd. The month’s lowest reading was 15 degrees on the 27th.
MARCH 2012
March of 2012 was the wettest March since at least 1895 in Coeur d’Alene, topping the previous wettest March in 1916 by more than two inches with an incredible precipitation total of 7.51 inches, part of the wettest spring in the history of North Idaho. A daily record rainfall of 1.05 inches was also established on March 15.
Our total snowfall last March was 13.5 inches, again more than double the 117-year normal of 6.3 inches. A record 4.3 inches of the white stuff fell on the 22nd, my last shoveling of the snowy 2011-12 winter season.
The average (mean) temperature during March of 2012 was exactly normal at 38 degrees, despite having a record low maximum temperature of just 35 degrees on March 21, the first full day of spring. The month’s warmest reading was a mild 66 degrees on March 9 and the coldest morning was 19 degrees on March 7.
APRIL 2012
Once again, April, like many months in soggy 2012, had double its normal 1.77 inches of precipitation at 3.52 inches. There were two days with record rainfall, .52 inches on April 18 and .63 inches on April 30, when the total 2012 precipitation reached 18.58 inches, again nearly double normal for the first four months of the year.
The last measurable snows of the 2011-12 season fell on April 4 and 5, 3.1 inches, and pushed the season’s total up to 83.4 inches, 13.6 inches above the 117-year normal of 69.8 inches.
April was a bit milder than usual with an average maximum reading of 60 degrees, two degrees above normal. The month’s highest reading was a near-record 84 degrees on April 23. The average low was 36 degrees, likewise two degrees above normal. The coldest morning last April was 25 degrees on the 8th.
MAY 2012
May was the first month of 2012 with slightly below normal precipitation at 2.06 inches, .31 inches less than the 117-year normal of 2.37 inches. But, more than half of the month’s rainfall fell on May 21, which had a record 1.13 inches of precipitation. There was a ‘trace’ of snow on May 1.
Temperatures during May 2012 were approximately two degrees cooler than usual. The average maximum reading was just 65 degrees and the average low was a cool 46 degrees. The month’s warmest day was May 14 at 87 degrees. The chilliest morning was May 11 at a frosty 30 degrees.
JUNE 2012
Like the month of March, June 2012 was the wettest June since the inception of record-keeping on a regular basis in 1895 in the Coeur d’Alene area. The month’s total precipitation was 5.84 inches, which easily topped the previous record wet June in 1947, when 5.09 inches fell in town. The June 30 first half of 2012 rainfall total stood at an all-time high of 26.48 inches, nearly matching our normal local rainfall for an entire year of 26.77 inches in just 6 months!
Temperatures during June of 2012 were much cooler than normal. The average high was 69 degrees, 6 degrees below normal. The average minimum reading of 48 degrees was 3 degrees below normal. June’s warmest afternoon was 85 degrees on the 21st. The coolest morning was 35 degrees on June 7. There was a record low maximum reading of just 45 degrees on June 6.
JULY 2012
July’s rainfall total of 2.61 inches was nearly three times the 117-year normal of just .92 inches, usually the driest month of the entire year. A record 1.07 inches of precipitation was gauged at my station on Player Drive from severe thunderstorms that crashed through North Idaho on July 15.
Despite the unusually heavy rainfall, July of 2012 was actually a bit warmer than normal with an average high temperature of 85 degrees and an average low reading of 57 degrees. The month’s highest temperature was a toasty 97 degrees on July 12. The mercury dipped to 44 degrees on July 4.
AUGUST 2012
Things suddenly turned extremely warm and dry this past August as high pressure camped over the Inland Northwest. We went a record 32 days between July 20 and Aug. 21 without a single drop of rain in Coeur d’Alene. The only precipitation during all of August was a puny .23 inches from scattered thunderstorms on Aug. 21 just ahead of almost perfect weather conditions for the annual North Idaho Fair and Rodeo in late August. Our normal August rainfall since 1895 has been 1.23 inches, an inch more than what we received in August 2012.
Our August temperatures averaged a couple of degrees above normal. Our highest reading was 98 degrees on Aug. 19. Once again, despite supposed ‘global warming,’ we failed to reach 100 degrees this summer of 2012. Our coolest morning last August was 43 degrees on Aug. 25 during the fair.
SEPTEMBER 2012
September of 2012 was bone-dry with no measurable precipitation, which tied both 1975 and 1976 for extreme dryness. By month’s end, we had gone a record 40 days in a row without even a drop of rain. Even usually soggy Seattle set a new record for August/September droughts with just .03 inches of rain the entire period.
September temperatures, thanks to a boatload of sunshine, were about 5 degrees warmer than usual with an average high of 79 degrees compared to the normal since 1895 of 74 degrees. Our average low reading was 47 degrees. The month’s highest temperature at my station on Player Drive was 88 degrees on Sept. 8. The 36 degrees on Sept. 12 only produced scattered light frosts in the coldest outlying areas. There were 22 ‘Sholeh Days’ of 90 degrees or above during the summer of 2012, 3 such days less than normal.
OCTOBER 2012
The first measurable rain in Coeur d’Alene in an all-time record 53 days was gauged on Oct. 13, as the ‘Storm door’ to the Gulf of Alaska suddenly opened up. It never shut again until the very end of December.
Our total October 2012 precipitation, despite the slow start, finished at an above normal 2.98 inches. We saw measurable rainfall for 11 days straight between Oct. 21 and Halloween. A ‘trace’ of snow fell on Oct. 23, the first flakes of the season.
The month’s warmest temperature was 72 degrees on Oct. 10. The coldest morning was Oct. 5, when the mercury hit 28 degrees producing the first freezes of the fall of 2012.
NOVEMBER 2012
It was a bit milder than usual and quite wet in November of 2012. Our average (mean) temperature was 39 degrees compared with the 117-year normal of 37 degrees. Our highest temperature during the month was 62 degrees on Nov. 6. Our coldest morning was Nov. 10 with 19 degrees. We set a new record low maximum reading for the date on Nov. 9 with just 29 degrees.
Our total precipitation during November 2012 was 5.12 inches, more than 2 inches above the monthly normal of 3.07 inches. We measured a record daily rainfall for Nov. 19 with a whopping 24-hour total of 1.35 inches, which led to widespread local lowland flooding.
Our November snowfall total of 6.9 inches was slightly below the 117-year normal of 8.7 inches. We did see much heavier snowfalls at the higher elevations above 3,500 feet. This helped both Schweitzer and Lookout Pass to open around Thanksgiving.
DECEMBER 2012
The final month of 2012 continued to be damp and cool, but not harshly cold. Temperatures were near normal overall during December despite maximum readings two degrees below normal at 35 degrees compared to the 117-year average since 1895 of 37 degrees. The morning lows averaged 28 degrees due to extensive cloudcover, three degrees above normal in town. The month’s chilliest reading was 18 degrees on the 9th. The warmest afternoon was 48 degrees on the 1st.
We measured 5.85 inches of liquid precipitation this December on a record 29 out of 31 days with measurable amounts. Our final annual total of 43.27 inches of rainfall easily topped the previous all-time record of 38.77 inches of precipitation established in 1996, the year of the BIG ICE STORM. I doubt that we will see another year with above 40 inches of precipitation in town for at least another 15 to 20 years or more.
Snowfall during December 2012 was a healthy 28.8 inches. Our total 2012 snowfall was much above normal at 102.7 inches compared to the normal of 69.8 inches thanks to a snowy January through March and an above normal December snowfall.
Our average (mean) temperature of 46 degrees during 2012 was 2 degrees below the 12-month normal of 48 degrees. Global warming apparently forgot about North Idaho in 2012.
BRIEF 30-DAY NORTH IDAHO WEATHER OUTLOOK THROUGH FEB. 7
After a chilly, but dry, start to 2013, I see increasing amounts of precipitation returning during the last three weeks of January through the first seven days of February.
Temperatures should be near normal, which should mean that we will probably see an additional 25 to 30 inches of snow or more during the period, very close to what we gauged during December 2012.
I still see a 2012-13 snowfall total for the entire season near or slightly above 80 inches, again very close to the 83.4 inch total last season in 2011-12. But, as usual, only time will tell.
Cliff Harris is a climatologist who writes a weekly column for The Press. His opinions are his own. Email sfharris@roadrunner.com