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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URL: http://climate.umn.edu/doc/journal/dlh2000.htm
Last modified: January 4, 2001