Temperatures averaged out to near normal in the Siouxland in 2003, with the usual monthly swings. Precipitation at the Sioux Gateway Airport measured 28.19 inches for the year, 2.20 inches above normal. Growing season precipitation was quite adequate. The following is a chronological account of the weather events of 2003 in the Siouxland...
January 7th...The high temperature of 64 degrees was a record for the date, smashing the old record of 53 degrees in 1990.
January 17th...The minimum was 14 below zero, for the lowest temperature of the year.
February 14-15th...4.3 inches of snowfall was measured at the airport, preceded by rain, with a total of .92 inch precipitation.
March 4th...Around 3 inches of snowfall caused slick roads in the area.
March 27th...1.11 inches of precipitation, mostly rain, was recorded.
April 1st...The high temperature of 88 degrees was a record for the date.
April 6-7th...There was a total of 9.5 inches snowfall for the biggest snow of the year. 6.3 inches of this fell on April 6th, a record snowfall for the date.
April 13th...6 days after the big snow, there was a record high of 87 degrees, and the high for the month of 89 occurred on April 14th.
April 30th...1.23 inches of rain occurred at the airport, a record precipitation for the date.
May 4th...1.86 inches of rain was recorded at the airport.
June 9th...Severe thunderstorms hit Sioux City in the evening, bringing hail up to golf ball size, winds up to 70 mph, flash flooding, and even a small tornado near Sergeant Bluff.
June 23-24th...Severe thunderstorms affected the area in the evening and overnight, with high winds causing widespread damage. There was also 1.41 inches of rain at the airport.
July 4th...1.87 inches of rain fell at the airport, and dime size hail was reported in Sioux City in the late evening.
August 18th...Quarter size hail was reported in Sioux City and winds up to 70 mph occurred south of the city. The airport had 1.09 inches rain.
August 18th and 25th...The high was 98 degrees, for the highest temperature of the year.
September 9-11th...A total of 5.73 inches of rain fell, by far the biggest rainfall event of the year. This was a timely rainfall, as the rest of the period from August through October was rather dry.
October 1st...A record low of 25 degrees was tied, signaling an end to the growing season.
October 19th...The high was 88 degrees, a new record for the date.
November 3rd...There was a record precipitation for the date of 0.87 inch of rain.
December...Temperatures averaged 6.1 degrees above normal for the month.
THE FOLLOWING TABLES GIVE A MONTH BY MONTH BREAKDOWN OF WEATHER IN 2003 AT THE SIOUX CITY AIRPORT...
AVERAGE DEPARTURE EXTREMES MONTHLY MONTH MAX MIN MONTHLY FROM NORM HIGH LOW RECORDS JANUARY 31.0 10.4 20.7 PLUS 2.1 64 14B FEBRUARY 33.5 10.2 21.8 MINUS 3.3 56 7B MARCH 49.3 23.9 36.6 PLUS 0.1 81 7B APRIL 63.2 38.4 50.8 PLUS 1.3 89 16 MAY 70.2 45.8 58.0 MINUS 3.2 86 35 JUNE 80.0 57.0 68.5 MINUS 2.0 91 47 JULY 85.9 62.9 74.4 MINUS 0.2 96 50 AUGUST 87.4 61.4 74.4 PLUS 2.3 98 53 SEPTEMBER 75.0 45.2 60.1 MINUS 3.0 92 28 OCTOBER 67.8 38.5 53.1 PLUS 2.3 88 22 NOVEMBER 45.5 24.5 35.0 PLUS 0.2 69 6 DECEMBER 36.0 20.7 28.4 PLUS 6.1 53 6 2003 60.4 36.6 48.5 PLUS 0.2 98 14B NORMAL YEAR 59.5 37.0 48.3
DEPARTURE DEPARTURE MAX WIND GUSTS... MONTH FROM NORM SNOWFALL FROM NORM DIRECTION/MPH/DATE JANUARY .22 MINUS .37 3.1 MINUS 3.2 NW 51 ON 9TH FEBRUARY .94 PLUS .32 4.9 MINUS 0.6 NW 56 ON 11TH MARCH 1.67 MINUS .33 2.8 MINUS 3.0 NW 43 ON 28TH APRIL 3.15 PLUS .40 9.5 PLUS 7.6 S 39 ON 15TH MAY 3.79 PLUS .04 0 NW 55 ON 30TH JUNE 4.04 PLUS .43 0 NW 58 ON 9TH JULY 3.72 PLUS .42 0 W 52 ON 5TH AUGUST 1.67 MINUS 1.23 0 W 56 ON 18TH SEPTEMBER 6.65 PLUS 4.23 0 NW 40 ON 26TH OCTOBER .63 MINUS 1.36 T MINUS 0.8 NW 51 ON 28TH NOVEMBER 1.16 MINUS .24 1.3 MINUS 3.5 NW 56 ON 12TH DECEMBER .55 MINUS .11 5.7 MINUS 0.6 NW 49 ON 16TH 2003 28.19 PLUS 2.20 27.3 MINUS 4.1 NW 58 JUNE 9TH RICHARD S. RYRHOLM...CLIMATIC FOCAL POINT
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