PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...CORRECTED YEARLY PRECIP NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN 125 PM CST TUE JAN 2 2001 ...THE YEAR 2000 WEATHER IN REVIEW FOR DULUTH... ...DULUTH YEARLY DATA... AVERAGE ANNUAL TEMP......... 39.6 DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL....... +1.1 HIGH TEMP FOR THE YEAR...... 87 ON JULY 1ST. LOW TEMP FOR THE YEAR....... -18 ON DECEMBER 12TH.** ** NOTE...THIS IS ONLY THE 5TH TIME DURING THE LAST 125 YEARS OF RECORD KEEPING AT DULUTH THAT A LOW TEMPERATURE OF -20 OR COLDER WAS NOT REACHED DURING THE CALENDAR YEAR. OTHER YEARS WITHOUT A LOW OF AT LEAST -20 INCLUDE 1878...1890...1931 AND 1944. TOTAL ANNUAL PRECIPITATION...31.41 INCHES DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL........+1.41 INCHES GREATEST DAILY PRECIP........ 1.76 INCHES ON MARCH 8TH. GREATEST DAILY SNOWFALL...... 7.3 INCHES ON FEBRUARY 15TH. MAXIMUM SNOW DEPTH........... 16 INCHES FEBRUARY 16-18TH. PEAK WIND SPEED.............. 51 MPH FROM THE NORTHWEST ON MARCH 25TH. ...MONTHLY DATA... AVG MAX MIN TOTAL TOTAL TEMP/DEPARTURE/TEMP/TEMP/PRECIP/DEPARTURE/SNOWFALL JANUARY..... 10.3/ +3.3 / 35 /-17 / 0.77 / -0.45 /16.5 INCHES FEBRUARY.... 21.4/ +8.9 / 55 /-11 / 1.15 / +0.31 /13.3 INCHES MARCH....... 33.4/ +9.0 / 70 / -4 / 2.64 / +0.73 / 9.5 INCHES APRIL....... 38.1/ -0.5 / 72 / 17 / 1.38 / -0.87 / 5.6 INCHES MAY......... 52.9/ +2.1 / 82 / 29 / 3.07 / +0.04 / TRACE JUNE........ 56.0/ -3.8 / 88 / 32 / 4.18 / +0.36 / 0 JULY........ 64.6/ -1.5 / 87 / 46 / 3.50 / -0.11 / 0 AUGUST...... 64.7/ +1.0 / 84 / 46 / 4.42 / +0.43 / 0 SEPTEMBER... 53.9/ -0.3 / 84 / 26 / 2.02 / -1.82 / 0 OCTOBER..... 46.9/ +3.2 / 76 / 24 / 2.27 / -0.22 / TRACE NOVEMBER.... 28.6/ +0.2 / 58 / 1 / 5.08 / +3.28 /17.5 INCHES DECEMBER.... 4.4/ -8.4 / 31 /-18 / 0.93 / -0.31 /19.2 INCHES ...YEARLY HIGHLIGHTS AND RECORDS... THE NEW CENTURY STARTED OFF RATHER MILD WITH JANUARY TEMPERATURES ABOVE NORMAL. IN FACT JANUARY 2000 WAS ONLY THE 6TH JANUARY IN THE PAST 50 YEARS THAT DID NOT RECORD A LOW TEMPERATURE OF AT LEAST 20 BELOW. MILD CONDITIONS CONTINUED INTO FEBRUARY WITH FEBRUARY 2000 THE 5TH WARMEST BASED ON AIRPORT RECORDS. FEBRUARY ALSO MARKED THE SEASONAL END OF WINTER (DEC 1999-FEB 2000) WHICH WENT INTO THE RECORD BOOK AS THE 5TH WARMEST WINTER BASED ON AIRPORT RECORDS. THE MILD WEATHER PEAKED DURING MARCH AS MARCH 2000 TIED FOR THE 6TH WARMEST MARCH OF ALL-TIME. THE EARLIEST DATE THAT A 70 DEGREE TEMPERATURE WAS EVER RECORDED IN DULUTH OCCURRED ON THE 7TH OF MARCH OF 2000. APRIL SAW A RETURN TO NORMAL CONDITIONS WITH NO RECORDS DURING THE MONTH. MAY WAS WARMER THAN NORMAL WITH NORMAL PRECIPITATION. MAY WAS ALSO THE SUNNIEST MONTH OF THE YEAR WITH 73% OF THE POSSIBLE SUNSHINE. SOONER OR LATER THE PENDULUM WAS GOING TO SWING THE OTHER WAY AS JUNE OF 2000 BECAME THE 5TH COLDEST JUNE BASED ON AIRPORT RECORDS. THE COOLING TREND CONTINUED THROUGH JULY WITH BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND NORMAL PRECIPITATION. AUGUST WAS A LITTLE WARMER AND WETTER THAN NORMAL WITH NO RECORDS. SEPTEMBER 2000 WAS A MONTH OF LARGE TEMPERATURE SWINGS RANGING FROM HIGHS IN THE 70S AND 80S FOLLOWED BY DAYS WITH HIGHS IN THE UPPER 40S T0 MIDDLE 50S. SEPTEMBER WAS ALSO QUITE DRY AS WE FINISHED THE MONTH NEARLY 2 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. OCTOBER REBOUNDED WITH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES WITH THE MONTH ENDING UP AS THE 8TH WARMEST OCTOBER BASED ON AIRPORT RECORDS. PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER WAS JUST A LITTLE BELOW NORMAL. NOVEMBER 2000 MADE A RUN AT THE ALL-TIME PRECIPITATION MARK FOR NOVEMBER BUT WOUND UP SECOND JUST MISSING THE RECORD BY THREE TENTHS OF AN INCH. TEMPERATURES FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER WERE RIGHT AROUND NORMAL. NOVEMBER WAS ALSO THE CLOUDIEST MONTH WITH ONLY 14 PERCENT OF THE POSSIBLE SUNSHINE. WITH THE INFLUENCES OF EL NINO AND LA NINA GONE...THE WINTER SEASON GOT OFF TO A CHILLY START. DECEMBER OF 2000 GOES INTO THE RECORD BOOKS AS TIED WITH THE 5TH COLDEST DECEMBER OF ALL-TIME...AND THE 4TH COLDEST DECEMBER ON RECORD FOR THE AIRPORT WITH AN AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE OF ONLY 4.4 DEGREES. PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH WAS A LITTLE BELOW NORMAL. AIRPORT RECORDS DATE BACK TO 1941...WHILE ALL-TIME RECORDS DATE BACK TO 1870. SS/WJC
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