National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce
 
000
CXUS54 KLZK 042109
CLALIT

CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
309 PM CST TUE JAN 04 2022

...................................

...THE LITTLE ROCK ADAMS FIELD CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE YEAR OF 2021...

CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1991 TO 2020
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1874 TO 2022

WEATHER         OBSERVED          NORMAL  DEPART   LAST YEAR`S
                VALUE   DATE(S)   VALUE   FROM     VALUE DATE(S)
                                          NORMAL
................................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
 HIGH            114   08/03/2011
 LOW             -12   02/12/1899
HIGHEST          100   09/01         73      27       97  08/11
                                                          08/10
LOWEST            -1   02/16         52     -53       22  02/14
                                                          01/20
AVG. MAXIMUM    73.2               72.3     0.9     72.2
AVG. MINIMUM    52.6               51.1     1.5     52.4
MEAN            62.9               61.7     1.2     62.3
DAYS MAX >= 90    66               76.4   -10.4       62
DAYS MAX <= 32     8                3.1     4.9        1
DAYS MIN <= 32    47               50.1    -3.1       35
DAYS MIN <= 0      1                0.0     1.0        0

PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
 MAXIMUM       81.79   2009
 MINIMUM       28.26   1963
TOTALS         43.71              50.42   -6.71    60.04
DAILY AVG.      0.12               0.14   -0.02     0.16
DAYS >= .01      116              105.9    10.1      134
DAYS >= .10       74               71.3     2.7       88
DAYS >= .50       37               34.2     2.8       41
DAYS >= 1.00      12               14.6    -2.6       13
GREATEST
 24 HR. TOTAL   3.13   06/07 TO 06/08               3.74  08/26 TO 08/27

SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
 TOTAL          32.6   1960
 24 HR TOTAL    13.0   01/17/1893 TO 01/18/1893
 SNOW DEPTH       15   02/18/2021
                       02/21/1918
TOTALS          20.3                3.8    16.5        T
 LIQUID EQUIV   2.00               0.40    1.60        T
SINCE 7/1        0.0                0.6    -0.6       MM
 LIQUID 7/1     0.00               0.00    0.00       MM
SNOWDEPTH AVG.     0                                   0
DAYS >= TRACE      7                2.2     4.8        5
DAYS >= 1.0        2                1.1     0.9        0
GREATEST
 SNOW DEPTH       15R  02/18                           0  MM
 24 HR TOTAL    11.8   02/17 TO 02/17                  T  12/14 TO 12/15
                                                          02/20 TO 02/20
                                                          02/06 TO 02/06

DEGREE DAYS
HEATING TOTAL   2803               3165    -362     2805
 SINCE 7/1       832               1264    -432       MM
COOLING TOTAL   2164               1989     175     1935
 SINCE 1/1      2164               1990     174       MM

FREEZE DATES
RECORD
 EARLIEST     10/20/1989
 LATEST       04/19/1983
EARLIEST                        11/05
LATEST                          03/03
................................................................

WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED              6.9
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION    37/350    DATE  05/04
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION    43/320    DATE  04/18

SKY COVER
AVERAGE SKY COVER           0.56
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR          107
NUMBER OF DAYS PC            130
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY        128


WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM             69     MIXED PRECIP               1
HEAVY RAIN               43     RAIN                      64
LIGHT RAIN              128     FREEZING RAIN              1
LT FREEZING RAIN          2     HAIL                       0
HEAVY SNOW                2     SLEET                      2
FOG                     164     FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE     18
HAZE                     32

-  INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R  INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T  INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.

&&

...A REVIEW OF 2021 WEATHER AND CLIMATE DATA FOR LITTLE ROCK ADAMS
FIELD...

SUMMARY
======================================================================
2021 AT LITTLE ROCK WAS THE FIRST YEAR IN THREE YEARS TO FEATURE A
TRIPLE-DIGIT READING AND THE FIRST YEAR IN 32 YEARS TO FEATURE A BELOW
ZERO TEMPERATURE. IN FACT, IT WAS THE FIRST YEAR SINCE 1985 TO ACCOMPLISH
A TRIPLE-DIGIT AND BELOW ZERO TEMPERATURE IN THE SAME YEAR. THIS MADE
THE ANNUAL RANGE, OR DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE HIGHEST AND LOWEST
TEMPERATURE, 101 DEGREES AND THE HIGHEST SINCE 2011. PRELIMINARILY, THIS
WAS THE WARMEST YEAR SINCE 2017. THIS WAS LARGELY DUE TO SIGNIFICANTLY
ANOMALOUS WARMTH DURING THE MONTHS OF OCTOBER AND DECEMBER.

THERE WERE 46 DAYS WITH LOWS AT OR BELOW FREEZING, WHICH WAS THE
MOST IN 2 YEARS (SINCE 2019). FOR THE 1ST TIME SINCE 2018, THE
TEMPERATURE HIT 100 DEGREES, THOUGH IT WAS ONLY ON ONE DAY
(SEPTEMBER 1ST). FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1989, LITTLE ROCK RECORDED
A TEMPERATURE AT OR BELOW ZERO DURING THE YEAR (FEBRUARY 16TH).

IN TERMS OF DEPARTURES FROM NORMAL (OR COMPARISON WITH THE 30-YEAR
AVERAGE 1991-2020), DECEMBER SHOWED THE MOST ANOMALOUS/SIGNIFICANT
WARMTH, WITH A DEPARTURE OF +11.8 DEGREES. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT
COLD, BY FAR, OCCURRED IN FEBRUARY, WITH A DEPARTURE OF -8.7. IN
TERMS OF ACTUAL TEMPERATURES, THOUGH THE WARMEST MONTH WAS AUGUST,
AND THE COLDEST MONTH WAS FEBRUARY.

RAINFALL WAS BELOW AVERAGE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOUR YEARS. IN FACT,
2021 WAS THE DRIEST YEAR IN NINE YEARS (SINCE 2012). THERE WERE 105
DAYS WITH MEASURABLE RAINFALL, WHICH WAS THE FEWEST SINCE 2017. THE
WETTEST MONTH WAS, ODDLY ENOUGH, JUNE, AND THE DRIEST MONTH WAS
SEPTEMBER.

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THREE YEARS, MEASURABLE SNOW FELL AT LITTLE ROCK IN
2021. IT WAS ALL IN FEBRUARY, IT WAS ALL WITHIN A SEVEN-DAY PERIOD, AND
IT CAME IN RECORD AMOUNTS. IT WAS THE SNOWIEST YEAR IN 55 YEARS (SINCE
1966), AND THE 3RD SNOWIEST YEAR SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1874. ONLY
1966 (21.8 INCHES), AND 1960 (32.6 INCHES) HAD MORE SNOW. IN TERMS OF
AVERAGE SNOW DEPTH, IN 146 FULL YEARS OF RECORDS, 2021 HAD THE 2ND
HIGHEST AVERAGE SNOW DEPTH OF ANY GIVEN YEAR AT LITTLE ROCK, WITH 0.2
INCHES. ONLY 1918 HAD A HIGHER AVERAGE DEPTH, WITH 0.4 INCHES.
======================================================================
PLEASE REMEMBER, ALL DATA LISTED BELOW IS PRELIMINARY UNTIL FINAL
QUALITY CONTROL BY THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION IN
ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA.

(DFN = DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL)

2021 TEMPERATURE AVERAGES AND EXTREMES  LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS
---------------------------------------------------------------------
          AVERAGE TEMPERATURES              TEMPERATURE EXTREMES
MONTH   HIGH       LOW  MONTHLY    DFN  MAX DATE(S)        MIN DATE(S)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
JAN     51.9      33.9    42.9    +2.2     75 25               22 12
FEB     44.4      27.6    36.0    -8.7     76 28               -1 16
MAR     67.6      44.6    56.1    +3.4     82 27               32  3
APR     71.3      48.1    59.7    -1.7     84 12               33  2
MAY     78.4      58.6    68.5    -1.4     89 27               47 14
JUN     87.7      69.6    78.7    +0.7     96 12               57 23
JUL     90.8      71.9    81.4     0.0     99 31, 30           60  4
AUG     92.1      72.9    82.5    +1.7     98 12, 11           65  5
SEP     88.1      64.7    76.4    +2.4    100  1               50 24
OCT     78.0      56.6    67.3    +4.7     88  8               42 31
NOV     62.5      38.1    50.3    -0.8     77 17               29 26
DEC     65.3      44.4    54.8   +11.8     78 25, 10, 2        27 20, 13
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ANNUAL  73.2      52.6    62.9    +1.2    100 SEP. 1          -1 FEB. 16


2021 RAINFALL, DEPARTURES, AND EXTREMES  LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS
---------------------------------------------------------------------
MONTH    RAINFALL   DFN   MAX/CALENDAR DAY  MAX/24 HOURS
---------------------------------------------------------------------
JAN       2.49    -1.01   0.80/24TH         1.92/24TH-25TH
FEB       5.02    +1.36   1.34/26TH         1.61/25TH-26TH
MAR       4.58    -0.88   1.28/25TH         1.28/25TH
APR       4.02    -1.57   1.42/23RD         1.93/23RD-24TH
MAY       4.48    -0.60   1.10/18TH         1.39/17TH-18TH
JUN       7.11    +3.56   2.56/8TH          3.13/7TH-8TH
JUL       3.62    +0.29   1.00/22ND         1.20/22ND-23RD
AUG       1.31    -1.85   0.98/15TH         0.98/14TH-15TH
SEP       1.10    -1.91   0.82/17TH         0.82/17TH
OCT       3.89    -0.58   1.56/2ND          1.57/1ST-2ND
NOV       2.02    -2.70   0.99/11TH         1.00/10TH-11TH
DEC       4.07    -1.01   1.46/18TH         1.46/18TH
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ANNUAL   43.71    -6.71  2.56 JUN. 8TH     3.13 JUN. 7TH-8TH

2021 SNOWFALL, DEPARTURES, AND EXTREMES  LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS
---------------------------------------------------------------------
MONTH SNOW   DFN   MAX/CALENDAR DAY  MAX/24-HOUR  GREATEST DEPTH/DATE
---------------------------------------------------------------------
JAN    T    -1.1       T/11TH           T/11TH             0
FEB  20.3  +18.7    11.8/17TH        11.8/17TH           15/18TH
MAR   0.0   -0.5     0.0              0.0                  0
APR   0.0    0.0     0.0              0.0                  0
OCT   0.0    0.0     0.0              0.0                  0
NOV   0.0    0.0     0.0              0.0                  0
DEC   0.0   -0.6     0.0              0.0                  0
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ANN. 20.3  +16.5    11.8/FEB. 17TH   11.8/FEB. 17TH  15/FEB. 18TH


---------------------------------------------------------------------
MISCELLANEOUS DATA (FIRST/LAST DATES, ETC.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
DAYS WITH MINIMUMS AT OR BELOW FREEZING     46  MOST SINCE 2019
DAYS WITH MINIMUMS AT OR BELOW ZERO          1  MOST SINCE 1989
DAYS WITH MAXIMUMS AT OR BELOW FREEZING      8  MOST SINCE 2011
DAYS WITH MAXIMUMS AT OR ABOVE 90 DEGREES   66  MOST SINCE 2019
DAYS WITH MAXIMUMS AT OR ABOVE 100 DEGREES   1  MOST SINCE 2018
LAST FREEZE                          MARCH 3RD  LATEST SINCE 2019
FIRST 80-DEGREE DAY                 MARCH 27TH  LATEST SINCE 2019
FIRST 90-DEGREE DAY                  JUNE 10TH  LATEST SINCE 2017
LAST 90-DEGREE DAY              SEPTEMBER 20TH  LATEST SINCE 2019
LAST 80-DEGREE DAY                OCTOBER 24TH  LATEST SINCE 2018
FIRST FREEZE                      NOVEMBER 5TH  EARLIEST SINCE 2019

DAILY RECORD TEMPERATURES TIED OR BROKEN DURING THE YEAR
---------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE        RECORD TYPE                NEW RECORD  PREVIOUS RECORD
---------------------------------------------------------------------
FEB. 14TH   COLDEST HIGH TEMPERATURE   23 IN 2021  33 IN 1914, 1902
FEB. 15TH   COLDEST HIGH TEMPERATURE   14 IN 2021  30 IN 1905
            LOW TEMPERATURE             7 IN 2021  13 IN 1905
FEB. 16TH   COLDEST HIGH TEMPERATURE   20 IN 2021  25 IN 1958, 1900
            LOW TEMPERATURE            -1 IN 2021  14 IN 1900
FEB. 17TH   COLDEST HIGH TEMPERATURE   21 IN 2021  23 IN 1910
FEB. 19TH   LOW TEMPERATURE             6 IN 2021  17 IN 1910
FEB. 20TH   LOW TEMPERATURE             9 IN 2021  20 IN 1936, 1929
FEB. 21ST   LOW TEMPERATURE            16 IN 2021  16 IN 1968
APR. 21ST   LOW TEMPERATURE            35 IN 2021  39 IN 1983, 1953, 1936
APR. 22ND   LOW TEMPERATURE            38 IN 2021  38 IN 1927
JUN. 23RD   LOW TEMPERATURE            57 IN 2021  57 IN 1902
OCT. 13TH   WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE    71 IN 2021  69 IN 1886
DEC. 10TH   HIGH TEMPERATURE           78 IN 2021  78 IN 1889
            WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE    63 IN 2021  58 IN 1946
DEC. 25TH   HIGH TEMPERATURE           78 IN 2021  73 IN 1942
DEC. 27TH   WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE    63 IN 2021  62 IN 1971
DEC. 28TH   WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE    63 IN 2021  61 IN 1984

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND HONORABLE MENTION (TEMPERATURE DATA)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE                    PARAMETER AND DATE(S)     INFORMATION
---------------------------------------------------------------------
FEB. 15TH              HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 14    2ND COLDEST ON RECORD FOR FEB.
FEB. 15TH              DAILY AVERAGE OF 10.5     6TH COLDEST ON RECORD FOR FEB.
FEB. 16TH              LOW TEMPERATURE OF -1     5TH COLDEST ON RECORD FOR FEB.
                                                 LATEST BELOW ZERO TEMP ON RECORD
FEB. 16TH              DAILY AVERAGE OF 9.5      5TH COLDEST ON RECORD FOR FEB.
DEC.  2ND, 10TH, 25TH  HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 78    4TH WARMEST ON RECORD FOR DEC.
DEC. 10TH              DAILY AVERAGE OF 70.5     7TH WARMEST ON RECORD FOR DEC.

DAILY RECORD RAINFALL TIED OR BROKEN DURING THE YEAR
---------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE       NEW RECORD    PREVIOUS RECORD
---------------------------------------------------------------------
DEC. 18TH  1.46 IN 2021    0.94 IN 2002

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND HONORABLE MENTION (RAINFALL DATA)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE          PARAMETER                        INFORMATION
---------------------------------------------------------------------
NONE.


DAILY RECORD SNOWFALL TIED OR BROKEN DURING THE YEAR
---------------------------------------------------------------------
DATE         NEW RECORD          PREVIOUS RECORD
---------------------------------------------------------------------
FEB. 15TH    7.7 IN 2021          2.3 IN 1969
FEB. 17TH   11.8 IN 2021          6.1 IN 1910


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND HONORABLE MENTION (SNOWFALL DATA)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
-FEB. 17TH       11.8 INCHES SNOW
--HIGHEST CALENDAR DAY SNOWFALL IN FEB. PREVIOUS RECORD 8.5 INCHES ON
FEBRUARY 23, 1966.
--HIGHEST 24-HOUR SNOWFALL IN FEB. PREVIOUS RECORD 11.2 INCHES FEBRUARY
18-19, 1921.
--2ND HIGHEST CALENDAR DAY SNOWFALL ON RECORD. ONLY MARCH 6, 1875 WAS
HIGHER (12.0 INCHES).

-FEB. 15TH        7.7 INCHES SNOW
--4TH HIGHEST CALENDAR DAY SNOWFALL IN FEB.

-FEB. 14TH-15TH   8.2  INCHES SNOW
--4TH HIGHEST 24-HOUR SNOWFALL IN FEB.


OTHER NOTEWORTHY PHENOMENA DURING THE YEAR
---------------------------------------------------------------------
-FEB. 18TH
--SNOW DEPTH OF 15 INCHES MARKED THE HIGHEST MEASURED SNOW
DEPTH SINCE JANUARY 21, 1918 AND TIED JANUARY 21, 1918 FOR THE GREATEST
SNOW DEPTH ON RECORD AT LITTLE ROCK.
--HIGHEST FEBRUARY SNOW DEPTH ON RECORD. PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 9 INCHES ON
FEBRUARY 19, 1921.
-FEB.
--AVERAGE SNOW DEPTH OF 2.1 INCHES WAS HIGHEST FOR ANY GIVEN MONTH SINCE
JANUARY 1918 AND 2ND HIGHEST ON RECORD.

$$

57