Ken Scheeringa and Kayla Hudson Feb 7, 2013 (765) 494-8105 http://www.iclimate.org January 2013 Climate Summary Month Summary Winter or spring? January featured several dramatic swings in temperature and weather typical of each season. Two significant storms, each about 3 days long, triggered the month s wildest weather. The highlight of the first storm was flash flooding which resulted in one highway death and road closings statewide. The second storm began spring-like with two confirmed tornadoes and high wind damage to homes, buildings, trees, and power lines. The winter half of the storm caused two major accidents on Indiana interstates on the last day of the month: a morning 14-vehicle crash on I-65 and later an afternoon 40-vehicle pileup on I-70. One person later died due to his injuries in the second incident. January 2013 was overall warmer than normal. The state average temperature was 29.7 F, that is, 3.7 F above normal. This ties as the 46 th warmest January on record in Indiana. Just last year January was warmer when the state temperature was 32.1 F, ranking in 26 th place. The warmest January on record since 1895 was a 39.2 F average in 2006. This was part of a 3-year run of warm Januaries in 2005, 2006, and 2007. The day split in January 2013 slightly favored warmer days. The numbers are 12 days of below normal temperature, 2 days at normal, and 17 days with above normal temperature. The state average temperature was at least 10 F above normal on 9 days and at least 20 F above normal on 4 days. There was even 1 day when the state average temperature was 30 F above normal! On 5 days the average temperature was 10 F or more below normal. The highest official temperature this month was 71 F on January 30 th at Spencer and the coldest was -6 F recorded at Wanatah on January 23 rd. January was wetter than usual with a state average precipitation at 4.70 inches, which is 2.26 inches above normal. This places this month near the top as the 17 th wettest January on record since 1895. The most recent wetter January was in 2007 with a state precipitation of 4.88 inches, good for 14 th place. Then there was January 2005 with 7.06 inches, ranking in the 6 th spot. The wettest January on record was a 10.17 inch amount in 1950. Regionally precipitation this month was about 190% of normal in northern Indiana, 210% of normal in central, and 180% of normal in southern counties. The highest daily cooperative station precipitation total this month was 4.60 inches at Brazil, measured on January 14 th. In the CoCoRaHS network the heaviest single day precipitation amount was 3.84 inches at Darmstadt on January 13 th. Precipitation generally fell on about 14 days in Indiana this month. The heavier snowfalls came near the start and end of the month. The highest snowfall total for January at a CoCoRaHS station was 11.5 inches at Granger. The multiple warm rain events
certainly cut into snowfall totals. Snow fell on about 7 days this month. Snowfall totals maps are found later in this report. Lingering soil moisture deficit areas in Indiana after the 2012 drought finally showed some improvement in January according to the US Drought Monitor. After almost no change in December, the heavy January rainfall has eliminated shortages in central and southern Indiana and has improved conditions in the remaining drought area of far northern Indiana. The January rains in each case had come after strong warm ups which has thawed soils enough to benefit from the new moisture. A university student was killed in Grant county on January 13 th when his car hydroplaned on SR 26 in heavy rain, then flipped into standing water in a saturated farm field. The other weather related death this month was a result of the 40-car pileup in Hendricks county on January 31 st. Details on all weather impacts this month can be found in the weekly narratives which follow. January 1 st 7 th With the blizzard of 2012 behind us the weather of 2013 has begun much quieter. Two cold fronts passed quickly through Indiana early on New Years Day. The state averaged temperature started the year at about 2 F below normal but behind the pair of fronts fell to 11 F below normal the next day, the lowest temperature of the week. A high pressure ridge at ground level sprawled across the nation, drawing cold Canadian air into Indiana. On January 3 rd this ridge moved east of the state, allowing a gradual warm up over the next 4 days. A weak dry cold front moved through Indiana the next day but did not interrupt the warming trend. Temperatures rose quickly to 5 F below normal, then to 2 F above normal the day after. On January 6 th a new cold front passed through Indiana, dropping temperatures slightly to right at normal to finish the week. Overall for this first week of the year state temperatures averaged about 4 F below normal. Compare this to the normal daily maximum temperature which ranges from 32 F in our far northern counties to 41 F in the south. Daily minimums this week typically vary between 18 F and 24 F north to south across the state. The two cold fronts on New Years Day dropped a few hundreths of an inch of precipitation generally around the state. The fronts which passed through later in the week were dry so precipitation this week wrapped up far below normal. On average precipitation totaled about 0.05 inch in northern and central Indiana and barely 0.10 inch in the south. These amounts equate to less than 10% of normal in northern and central counties and about 15% of normal in southern Indiana. The largest daily amount in the CoCoRaHS network was 0.52 inch on January 1 st measured at two spots in Shoals. With no precipitation noted after the holiday these also are the highest weekly totals. Light snow fell this week across most of the state except along the Ohio River. The greatest snow totals were found in two bands, one across northern Indiana from about Rensselaer to Fort Wayne while the second stretched from near Shoals to Rushville. The snow came at the start of the week with the highest amounts of 2.3 and 2.2 inches reported by two Shoals observers. The CoCoRaHS volunteers at Wheatfield, Angola, and North Judson each recorded 2.0 inches. No snow was received the rest of the week so these amounts are also the weekly totals. Maps of weekly Indiana precipitation and snowfall totals are found at the end of each narrative below.
With cold seasonal temperatures and mostly dry conditions the weekly US Drought Monitor depiction for Indiana has changed little the past several weeks. The driest part of the state continues to be generally north of a Lake Village to Fort Wayne line, rated to be in moderate drought (D1 category). Abnormally dry conditions were found in a 10 to 20 mile wide band immediately south of the moderate drought area. Two other west to east bands of abnormally dry soils persist, one about 50 miles wide extending from about Terre Haute to Batesville, and a second in far southwest Indiana south of a line from New Harmony to Tell City. The Drought Monitor rates about 16% of state area to be in moderate drought and 41% as abnormally dry. Just under 60% of all Indiana land area is evaluated to have adequate soil moisture for this time of year. January 8 th 14 th Thermometers in Indiana went on a wild ride this week, climbing more than 20 F early in the week before a 34 F fall near its end. Heavy rainfall late in the week led to multiple accidents, several closed roads and bridges, vehicles stuck in high water, flood and tornado warnings, and the death of a young driver. Temperatures were on the rise the first 5 days of this week. High pressure over Virginia pumped warm air from the southern states into Indiana, lifting temperatures to near 8 F above normal to start the week. A storm system reached the state the next day, its warm front passing through Indiana and boosting temperatures into the 13 F above normal range. This storm raced to the Atlantic Ocean on January 10 th carried by a fast moving trough in the upper atmosphere. A surface high pressure center chasing the storm moved quickly east of Indiana itself that same day, leaving no time for cold air to reclaim the state. So temperatures continued warming, to 21 F above normal by January 11 th. A new storm system with an occluded front passed through Indiana that day, closely followed by a stronger storm approaching on January 12 th. Strong southwesterly winds in the upper atmosphere enhanced the transfer of very warm moist air at ground level into Indiana. The southern gateway was open to unseasonable warmth with temperatures 30 F above normal! The weather would now change dramatically. Early on January 13 th two cold fronts moved through Indiana, shutting down the warm southerly air flow and tapping into much colder air from the north. Temperatures plummeted to 13 F above normal, then to 4 F below normal by January 14 th as cold
air continued to flow into the state to close the week. Overall for the week state temperatures averaged about 14 F above normal. Normally in the second week of January daily maximum temperatures should vary from about 31 F to 41 F north to south across Indiana. Daily minimums typically range from about 18 F in far northern areas to 24 F in the southwest corner of the state. The long warm up the first half of this week allowed southerly winds to pick up moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and transport it to Indiana. Rainfall was light the first few days until about 0.7 to 0.9 inch fell in the state on January 11 th. The major weather change on January 13 th brought another round of precipitation, this time averaging about 0.9 inch in northern Indiana to 1.8 inch in central and southern areas, transitioning from rain to freezing rain, sleet, and snow. Regional total precipitation for the week was near 1.8 inch in northern Indiana, 3.1 inches in central, and 3.5 inches in southern counties. With only one dry day this week these totals were far beyond normal and equate to about 430% of normal in the north, 730% of normal in central Indiana, and 650% of normal in the south! The heaviest one day rainfall this week occurred in southwest and east central Indiana as evidenced by CoCoRaHS network readings the morning of January 13 th. That morning the Darmstadt observer measured 3.84 inches for the 24 hours while in Bloomfield 3.72 inches fell into the gage. An Evansville volunteer reported 3.70 inches for the day. In Washington 3.52 inches fell. The Eaton gage in Delaware county also collected 3.52 inches for the day. The overall totals for the week were impressive. The CoCoRaHS observer in Francisco had 5.99 inches for the 7 days and at Darmstadt the total was 5.82 inches. The Washington and Greencastle volunteers each reported 5.55 inches for the week while the Evansville data summed to 5.49 inches. On January 13 th the rain transitioned to freezing rain and sleet in most of Indiana and to a little snow in far northern counties. The largest one day snow was measured on the morning of January 14 th and included 1.5 inch in Demotte, 0.7 inch at Goshen and Chesterton, and 0.5 inch in Elkhart and Mishawaka. The weekly precipitation and snowfall total maps are found at the end of this narrative. Heavy rainfall started to cause problems already on January 12 th. Severe thunderstorms in the Evansville area caused flash flooding throughout the city, especially around viaducts, resulting in at least 20 traffic accidents. Several Vanderburgh county roads were closed due to high water. Tornado warnings were issued in Vanderburgh and Warrick counties. A touchdown occurred in Kentucky but none in Indiana. Meanwhile in the center of Indiana it was windy. Siding was ripped off a Marion county home while a few trees and a fence were torn down by high winds near Greenwood in Johnson county. The storm impacted central and northern Indiana the next day. Flood warnings extended into more counties. Several roads were closed in Johnson county. In Marion county police had to rescue drivers in their cars stuck in mall parking lots, surrounded by high water. Vehicles trapped by high water was a common scene around Indianapolis on scattered streets and in parks. Just to the north in Hamilton county many city street intersections were closed due to high water. A driver had to be rescued at one flooded intersection where barricades were ignored. In Delaware county several bridges and roads were closed as travel advisories were issued due to heavy flooding there. One school had to cancel classes for the day. A flooded section of SR 26 had to be closed in Blackford county. Some roads in Jay county were even washed away by rushing flood waters. Vehicles became stranded on bridges over the Mississinewa River in Randolph county. In Grant county a university student was killed when his car hydroplaned on SR 26 in heavy rain, then flipped into 5 feet of standing water in a saturated farm field next to the highway.
The misery continued into January 14 th. More state roads were closed in Greene, Knox, Daviess, Martin, Lawrence, Jackson, Orange, and Washington counties in southern Indiana. Despite days of heavy rain, some major central Indiana rivers seemed to crest quickly that day. River flooding would peak in southwest Indiana on January 18 th. The intense rainfall this week won t be captured in the US Drought Monitor map until the January 22 nd edition. Meanwhile in the January 15 th edition the abnormally dry designation (D0 category) has been removed from southwest Indiana. The reclassification was to adequate soil moisture status. No other changes were made to the Indiana map. January 15 th 21 st Thermometers continue to bounce high and low this month in Indiana. The dramatic cold snap at the end of last week was brief. A slow warming trend was underway the first half of this third week of January before another cold wave brought back the winter chill. A fast jet stream with southwesterly winds in the upper atmosphere assisted high pressure at ground level in the early week warm up. Temperatures started the week near normal then rose to 6 F above normal by January 17 th. A weak cold front arrived in Indiana that day but temperatures fell only a couple degrees. The next day a ridge to the south of the state resumed the warm air flow lifting Indiana temperatures to 12 F above normal, the warmest of the week. The high pressure ridge moved to the Atlantic coast the next day and on January 19 th a second but stronger cold front moved through Indiana. Northerly winds returned and cold Canadian air dropped temperatures quickly. As the week closed thermometers had fallen to 8 F below normal, a 20 F drop from mid-week. Typically at this time in January daily maximum temperatures should range from 31 F in northern Indiana to 41 F in the far southwest. Daily minimums normally vary between 17 F and 24 F north to south across the state. A deep closed low pressure system in the upper atmosphere had developed and drifted across our southern states during the week, separated from the main storm track to its north. The upper westerly winds of this storm track did not tap into the vast moisture supply of the Gulf of Mexico. Fronts over our state were mostly dry, giving Indiana little precipitation this week. On average less than 0.05 inch of precipitation fell statewide, that is, less than 5% of normal for the week. The
highest daily CoCoRaHS precipitation amount was 0.96 inch on January 15 th measured at Charlestown. The Galena gage reading of 0.38 inch the next day was the second most. Only a few hundreths of an inch fell on the other 6 days. Charlestown also had the highest weekly total at 1.02 inch with runners up far behind this total. A little snow was measured on the morning of January 16 th, most locally in south central Indiana. The heaviest daily snowfall was 1.0 inch received at Sellersburg and New Albany. Crown Point in far northwest Indiana noted 0.6 inch that day. These were also the highest weekly totals in the state. A weekly map of precipitation and snowfall is found at the end of this narrative. The intense rainfall a week ago in Indiana began to show in updates to the US Drought Monitor. The Indiana drought map had not changed much in the six weeks since the end of November. Then in the January 15 th edition the abnormally dry (D0 category) area in far southwest Indiana was eliminated. More extensive changes were made in the January 22 nd update. The abnormally dry region in central Indiana was erased and soils in that area are now rated at normal soil moisture status. In northern Indiana the eastern portion of the moderate drought region (D1 category) has been reclassified to abnormally dry (D0 category). This leaves only Lake, Porter, Laporte, and parts of St Joseph and Elkhart counties remaining in moderate drought. This category now accounts for just 6% of total Indiana land area. About 13% of Indiana is now classified as abnormally dry with the remaining 81% of state land declared as drought free. January 22 nd 31 st These final days of January were action packed with weather related events. Two confirmed tornadoes, widespread wind damage, freezing rain, snow, hail, and a 47 F spread in state average temperature were some of the highlights. On the final day of the month two multi-vehicle pileups on icy highways in snow squalls occurred. A 14-vehicle crash that morning closed I-65. A few hours later a 40-vehicle pileup shut down I-70 for the rest of the day. One person died later in the day due to his injuries in this latter accident. Temperatures were very cold on January 22 nd at 17 F below normal. A 7-day warm up now began, slow at first then accelerating near its end. Thermometers rose to near 11 F below normal on
January 24 th as a high pressure ridge cleared away clouds and brought sunny skies to Indiana. The ridge moved east the next day. Weather systems continue to race eastward across Indiana. An Alberta clipper cold front passed through the state on January 26 th but there was little time for cold air to filter in. Temperatures continued to rise to 2 F below normal, then to 5 F above normal the next day, as high pressure behind the cold front rushed to the east and pulled more warm air into the state. A warm front moved through Indiana on January 28 th, forming a sector of warm air. State average temperatures now ramped up quickly to 14 F above normal, then to 29 F above normal the next day. A dramatic weather change took place on January 30 th as an intense storm system pushed three cold fronts through Indiana that day, lowering the state average temperature to 3 F below normal by the end of the 10 days. Actual temperatures in some locations plummeted 60 F in less than 48 hours! Overall for the 10 day interval the state temperature averaged to 2 F above normal. Typically in this last part of January daily maximum temperatures should range between 31 F in far northern Indiana to 42 F in the southwest corner of the state. Normal daily minimums would vary from 18 F to 24 F north to south across the state. There were just two dry days at the start of the 10 day interval. Then very light daily precipitation transitioned to moderate amounts when the warm air sector formed. Precipitation became heavy when the triplet of cold fronts arrived on January 30 th. Regionally over the 10 days about 1.8 inch of precipitation fell across northern Indiana and 1.6 inch in central and southern areas. These totals equate to about 320% of normal in the north, 200% of normal in central areas, and 160% of normal in southern Indiana. The heaviest single day precipitation measured by CoCoRaHS observers was found in north central Indiana on January 30 th. The Elkhart volunteer recorded 3.00 inches, while 2.41 inches fell in Plymouth, and 2.36 inches at Wakarusa. Two volunteers at Goshen noted 2.34 and 2.29 inches that day. This same region had the highest totals for the 10 day interval. Two Elkhart gages collected 3.68 and 3.17 inches. Plymouth precipitation summed to 2.92 inches while 2.84 inches was totaled at Kingsbury and 2.82 inches in Goshen. The heaviest one day snowfall around the state was measured in northwest Indiana on January 24 th. Three Laporte stations observed 7.5 inches, 6.2 inches, and 6.0 inches. Wheatfield and Valparaiso also posted 6.0 inches for the day. The Laporte snowfall totals for the 10 days were 9.1 and 7.0 inches. Two Valparaiso snow totals came to 7.5 and 6.8 inches. An Indiana map of precipitation and snowfall totals for the 10 day interval is found at the end of this narrative. A series of Alberta clipper storms moved through the state over the 10 days and deposited dustings of light snow in central Indiana that made roads slick. Several slide offs and vehicle crashes were reported on January 24 th and 25 th. Freezing rain on January 27 th trekked northward across the state, causing many slide off accidents before warming temperatures later in the day turned the precipitation to all rain. But weather news headlines were focused on the major storm system that wreaked havoc in Indiana the final four days of the month. The first severe weather associated with this storm appeared on January 28 th. One inch hail covered the ground along the Lake Michigan coastline and to the east near Elkhart but no damages were noted. On January 29 th an unconfirmed tornado was reported in Greene county where a barn was destroyed. Winds peaked at 60 mph to 70 mph causing damage to homes throughout the southern
half of the state. In Knox county a tree fell through a house and windows were broken in nearby homes. Roofs were torn off houses in Washington and Orange counties. Home porches were picked up and thrown in Orange and Shelby counties where houses were also damaged. In far southern Indiana buildings were damaged in Harrison county and a garage was destroyed in Spencer county. Trees falling on power lines and highways is a common nuisance with these storms. Road closures, power outages, or fallen trees were reported in Greene, Montgomery, Marion, Bartholomew, Wayne, and Switzerland counties. Across the state in Elkhart county, a corn crib and barn door were destroyed and chopper wagons were flipped over. The next day the heavy action moved to far southern Indiana. A confirmed EF-0 tornado with 80 mph winds touched down for 0.4 mile in Harrison county. Four homes and two barns were damaged in that tornado. A home porch was thrown 30 feet and trees were ripped down. In Orange county a confirmed EF-1 tornado with 95 mph winds touched down for 400 yards. Some forested trees fell before the tornado damaged a home roof and stole the porch. The fierce winds drove small twigs through the home s siding and took down power lines. High winds also affected nearby Washington county. A roof was torn off a home there, two barns were damaged, and power lines were taken down. In Perry county a home and garage were damaged. Farm tanks were flipped over and more trees were brought down. Snow squalls on January 31 st contributed to two major traffic accidents on Indiana interstates. The first accident occurred in mid-morning near Frankfort in Clinton county. Four jackknifed semitrucks and 10 vehicles collided, closing all southbound lanes. About 4 hours later 20 semi-trucks and 20 other vehicles piled up near Plainfield in Hendricks county. At least 10 people were injured in the chain reaction of crashes caused by near zero visibility in snow squalls and very slick road conditions. Later in the day one of the injured died in a hospital from his injuries. The pileup required many hours to clean up with traffic backed up for at least 8 miles. There was no change this week in Indiana drought status according to the US Drought Monitor. Lake, Porter, Laporte, and part of St Joseph county continue to be rated in moderate drought status (D1 category). Soils in the remainder of the northern two tiers of Indiana counties are still classified to be abnormally dry (D0 category). Soil moisture is rated as normal elsewhere across the state, which accounts for 81% of total Indiana land area.
January 2013 Temperature Region Temperature Normal Deviation Northwest 26.8 23.0 3.8 North Central 27.2 23.2 4.0 Northeast 27.2 23.1 4.1 West Central 28.7 25.1 3.6 Central 28.9 25.3 3.6 East Central 29.0 24.7 4.3 Southwest 33.2 29.9 3.3 South Central 33.3 29.9 3.4 Southeast 32.7 29.1 3.5 State 29.7 26.0 3.7 Precipitation Region Precipitation Normal Deviation Percent of Normal Northwest 3.57 1.88 1.70 190 North Central 3.93 2.05 1.88 191 Northeast 3.50 1.98 1.52 176 West Central 4.92 2.28 2.63 215 Central 5.18 2.34 2.84 221 East Central 4.12 2.29 1.83 180 Southwest 6.20 3.00 3.20 207 South Central 5.62 3.10 2.51 181 Southeast 4.16 3.00 1.16 139 State 4.70 2.44 2.26 193
Winter (December 2012 January 2013) Temperature Region Temperature Normal Deviation Northwest 31.0 25.8 5.3 North Central 31.0 25.9 5.0 Northeast 30.9 25.9 5.1 West Central 32.6 27.8 4.9 Central 32.9 28.0 4.9 East Central 32.8 27.4 5.4 Southwest 36.8 32.2 4.6 South Central 36.6 32.2 4.4 Southeast 36.0 31.6 4.4 State 33.4 28.6 4.9 Precipitation Region Precipitation Normal Deviation Percent of Normal Northwest 5.85 4.53 1.31 129 North Central 6.53 4.84 1.69 135 Northeast 5.82 4.67 1.15 125 West Central 7.99 5.25 2.74 152 Central 8.59 5.33 3.27 161 East Central 7.69 5.16 2.53 149 Southwest 9.58 6.53 3.05 147 South Central 9.93 6.66 3.27 149 Southeast 9.07 6.41 2.66 141 State 7.97 5.49 2.48 145
2013 Annual (same as January) Temperature Region Temperature Normal Deviation Northwest 26.8 23.0 3.8 North Central 27.2 23.2 4.0 Northeast 27.2 23.1 4.1 West Central 28.7 25.1 3.6 Central 28.9 25.3 3.6 East Central 29.0 24.7 4.3 Southwest 33.2 29.9 3.3 South Central 33.3 29.9 3.4 Southeast 32.7 29.1 3.5 State 29.7 26.0 3.7 Precipitation Region Precipitation Normal Deviation Percent of Normal Northwest 3.57 1.88 1.70 190 North Central 3.93 2.05 1.88 191 Northeast 3.50 1.98 1.52 176 West Central 4.92 2.28 2.63 215 Central 5.18 2.34 2.84 221 East Central 4.12 2.29 1.83 180 Southwest 6.20 3.00 3.20 207 South Central 5.62 3.10 2.51 181 Southeast 4.16 3.00 1.16 139 State 4.70 2.44 2.26 193
Drought Summary from the U.S. Drought Monitor Below is a drought summary for the state of Indiana from the U.S. drought monitor. Areas in white are not experiencing any drought. Yellow areas are abnormally dry, but not considered a drought. Drought begins when the moisture levels become more severe, with beige, orange, red, and brown indicating increasing levels of drought (moderate, severe, extreme, and exceptional, respectively). The table below indicates how much of the state is not under drought conditions, and also how much of the state is under drought conditions from its respective column upwards. For example, January 1 st has 16.0% of Indiana under at least D1- D4 drought status and 40.9% under at least D0-D4 status. Subtracting the D1-D4 category (16.0%) from the D0-D4 category (40.9%), tells us that 24.9% of Indiana is in the D0 category alone (abnormally dry). Please note, however, that these areas are not exact, and much of this drought map has been created from reports throughout the state and in estimation, so use this information as a general view rather than for specifics.
January 1 st Drought Summary
January 8 th Drought Summary
January 15 th Drought Summary
January 22 nd Drought Summary
January 29 th Drought Summary