2002 Sioux City Area Climate Summary

SIOUX CITY AREA
CLIMATIC SUMMARY
2002

By Richard Ryrholm
Climatic Focal Point
National Weather Service, Sioux Falls

...SIOUXLAND HAD ITS TYPICAL WEATHER UPS AND DOWNS IN 2002...

Precipitation and temperature came out to near normal in the Sioux City area in 2002...but there were some wide seasonal swings. Precipitation at the Sioux Gateway Airport measured 25.14 inches for 2002. Temperatures averaged out to 49.2 degrees for 2002...a little warmer than the normal annual temperature of 48.3 degrees. The following is a chronological account of the weather events of 2002 in the Siouxland...

January 26th...The high of 71 degrees was not only a record for the date...but was also the warmest ever for the month of January. Overall...January 2002 averaged 9.0 degrees above normal.

January 31st...6.2 inches snowfall was recorded at the airport...for the heaviest snowfall of 2002.

February 4th...The minimum was 8 below zero for the lowest temperature of the season and the year.

February 9/10th...4.4 inches snowfall was recorded at the airport...along with wind gusts to 37 mph...causing near blizzard conditions in open areas.

February 23rd...A new record high of 68 was recorded...beating the old record of 62 degrees in 1976.

March 1st...5.3 inches snowfall was recorded along with blowing and drifting snow causing Interstate 29 to be closed for 90 minutes.

March 8/9th...Freezing rain was followed by 5.3 inches of snowfall and wind gusts to 49 mph at the airport.

April 15th...A record high of 96 degrees was established...smashing the old record of 85 degrees in 1985. It was also the warmest ever temperature so early in the season.

April 16th...Thunderstorm wind gusts hit 55 mph at the airport...and 66 mph in Sioux City...damaging a garage.

May 11th...1.73 inches of rain occurred at the airport.

May 28/29th...Severe thunderstorms brought street flooding heavy rains to Sioux City in the late evening and early morning...but it missed the airport which registered only .19 inch of rain.

June 7th...Heavy rain again caused street flooding in Sioux City but not at the airport.

June 10/11th...1.94 inches rainfall occurred at the airport.

July 20th...The high was 99 degrees for the warmest temperature of 2002. The months of June and July averaged well above normal in temperature and were fortunately near normal in precipitation.

July 21st...Severe thunderstorms brought golf ball size hail which damaged vehicles...and wind gusts to 70 mph in Sioux City.

July 25th...Thunderstorms again brought some golf ball hail into Sioux City in the early morning. A total of 1.95 inches rain occurred within 24 hours at the airport from the 24th to 25th.

August 4th...2.06 inches of rain was recorded for the heaviest 24 hour precipitation event at the airport in 2002.

August 16th...Nickel size hail was reported in Sioux City.

October 23rd...A snowfall of 2.5 inches was recorded for the most daily snowfall of the month. However...there was a total of 7.6 inches snowfall for the month...making it the 3rd snowiest October on record. The snow also helped make October 2002 the 3rd coldest October on record.

December 28th...The high was 60 degrees for a new record beating the old record for the date of 57 degrees.

THE FOLLOWING TABLES GIVE A MONTH BY MONTH BREAKDOWN OF WEATHER IN 2002 AT THE SIOUX CITY AIRPORT...

TEMPERATURES

AVERAGE             DEPARTURE  EXTREMES   MONTHLY
 MONTH          MAX   MIN   MONTHLY  FROM NORM  HIGH LOW   RECORDS

JANUARY        39.9  15.3     27.6    PLUS 9.0   71   2B
FEBRUARY       40.2  18.0     29.1    PLUS 4.0   68   8B
MARCH          38.7  18.8     28.8   MINUS 7.7   61   7B
APRIL          64.3  37.7     51.0    PLUS 1.5   96  15
MAY            71.4  44.3     57.9   MINUS 3.3   94  30
JUNE           86.7  62.8     74.8    PLUS 4.3   97  47
JULY           88.7  66.8     77.7    PLUS 3.1   99  56
AUGUST         82.1  60.8     71.5   MINUS 0.6   95  46
SEPTEMBER      78.0  51.8     64.9    PLUS 1.8   95  33
OCTOBER        54.6  34.4     44.5   MINUS 6.3   81  18  3RD COLDEST
NOVEMBER       46.9  22.6     34.7   MINUS 0.1   72   8
DECEMBER       40.8  16.3     28.5    PLUS 6.2   60   1B 

 2002          61.0  37.5     49.2    PLUS 0.9   99   8B

NORMAL YEAR    59.5  37.0     48.3

PRECIPITATION (INCHES) AND WINDS

DEPARTURE           DEPARTURE   MAX WIND GUSTS...
   MONTH           FROM NORM  SNOWFALL FROM NORM  DIRECTION/MPH/DATE 

JANUARY     .44   MINUS  .15     7.0     PLUS 0.7     NW 40 ON 14TH
FEBRUARY    .38   MINUS  .24     4.4    MINUS 1.4     NW 44 ON 26TH
MARCH       .95   MINUS 1.05    10.6     PLUS 3.4     NW 49 ON 9TH
APRIL      2.99    PLUS  .24      T     MINUS 1.5     SW 55 ON 16TH
MAY        2.60   MINUS 1.15      0     MINUS 0.1      S 45 ON 22ND
JUNE       3.69    PLUS  .08      0                   SW 49 ON 10TH
JULY       4.16    PLUS  .86      0                    S 48 ON 30TH
AUGUST     5.67    PLUS 2.77      0                   NW 39 ON 17TH
SEPTEMBER  1.27   MINUS 1.15      0                   SE 52 ON 18TH
OCTOBER    2.64    PLUS  .65     7.6     PLUS 6.9     NW 44 ON 4TH
NOVEMBER    .22   MINUS 1.18     2.3    MINUS 1.6     NW 51 ON 29TH
DECEMBER    .13   MINUS  .53     1.2    MINUS 5.1     NW 40 ON 19TH

 2002     25.14   MINUS  .85    33.1     PLUS 1.3     SW 55 APR 16TH
 
RICHARD S. RYRHOLM...CLIMATIC FOCAL POINT