September 2012 Climate Summary

...SEPTEMBER 2012 MONTHLY CLIMATE SUMMARY...

September 2012 was a near normal month for temperatures across the majority of the Mid-South region.  Precipitation on the other hand, was above normal for all climate sites by an average of 3.31 inches.  Tupelo checked in with the highest precipitation amounts for the month with Memphis coming in right behind.  For the year...2012 is still on pace as the warmest year on record at all sites with the exception of Jackson, Tennessee which comes in at second only to 1954.  Recent rainfall in the month of September has allowed 2012 to fall out of the top 10 driest years on record for Memphis, Jackson, and Tupelo.  For Jonesboro, 2012 continues to be one of the driest years on record.  Here is the climate data that tells the story:

Temperature Data:

                              Memphis   Jackson   Jonesboro   Tupelo

Average Temperature (SEPT)  :   75.3      70.8       73.4      72.8

Normal Avg. Temp (SEPT)     :   75.2      71.4       74.9      74.1

Departure from Normal (SEPT):    0.1      -0.6        1.5      -1.3

Average Temperature (YEAR)  :   66.8      66.0       67.8      68.2

Normal Avg. Temp (YEAR)     :   69.7      62.9       63.2      65.3

Departure from Normal (YEAR):    2.9       3.1        4.6       2.9

Precipitation Data:

                              Memphis   Jackson   Jonesboro   Tupelo

Total Precipitation (SEPT)   :  7.01      5.95       5.54      7.71

Normal Precipitation (SEPT)  :  3.09      3.38       3.06      3.44

Departure from Normal (SEPT) :  3.92      2.57       2.48      4.27

Total Precipitation (YEAR)   : 27.30     31.10      24.96     38.46

Normal Precipitation (YEAR)  : 38.47     39.25      34.17     39.91

Departure from Normal (YEAR) :-11.17     -8.15      -9.21     -1.45

Using the 1981-2012 set of normals, the following tables show rank, average temperature, departure, and its year of occurrence.

Top 10 warmest years through September 30:

MEMPHIS                        JACKSON               

RNK     AVG     YR      DEP     RNK     AVG     YR      DEP

1       69.9    2012    3.8     1       66.4    1954    3.5

2       68.5    2007    2.4     2       66.2    2012    3.3

3       68.3    1925    2.2     3       65.9    1953    3.0

4       68.2    2005    2.1     4       65.6    1952    2.7

4       68.2    1998    2.1     5       65.3    1990    2.4

4       68.2    1921    2.1     6       65.0    1991    2.1

7       67.9    2006    1.8     7       64.9    1955    2.0

8       67.8    2000    1.7     8       64.8    2007    1.9

9       67.7    1954    1.6     9       64.7    1986    1.8

10      67.7    1990    1.6     10      64.5    1987    1.6

JONESBORO                      TUPELO                        

RNK     AVG     YR      DEP     RNK     AVG     YR      DEP

1       68.7    1921    5.5     1       68.3    2012    2.9

2       67.9    2012    4.7     2       68.2    1938    2.8

2       67.8    1925    4.6     2       68.2    2006    2.8

3       67.6    1901    4.4     4       68.1    1954    2.7

4       67.1    1954    3.9     5       67.9    2007    2.5

5       66.7    1932    3.5     6       67.4    1939    2

6       66.3    1998    3.1     6       67.4    1953    2

7       66.2    1986    3.0     8       67.3    1990    1.9

8       65.8    1911    2.6     9       67.2    1944    1.8

9       65.6    1943    2.4     9       67.2    1933    1.8 

Using the 1981-2012 set of normals, the following tables show rank, precipitation, departure, and its year of occurrence.

Top 10 wettest Septembers:

MEMPHIS                        JACKSON               

RNK     PRE     YR      DEP     RNK     PRE     YR      DEP

1       12.34   2002    9.25    1       13.09   2002    9.71

2       10.82   1920    7.73    2       10.22   1977    6.84

3       9.07    1890    5.98    3       7.89    1996    4.51

4       8.59    2009    5.50    4       7.68    1989    4.3

5       7.61    1958    4.52    5       7.22    1988    3.84

6       7.48    1957    4.39    6       6.82    1972    3.44

7       7.38    1965    4.29    7       6.14    1962    2.76

8       7.01    2012    3.92    8       5.95    2012    2.57

9       6.71    1906    3.62    9       5.65    1979    2.27

10      6.43    1977    3.34    10      5.64    2009    2.26

JONESBORO                      TUPELO                

RNK     PRE     YR      DEP     RNK     PRE     YR      DEP

1       12.27   1906    9.21    1       10.64   2002    7.20

2       10.32   1965    7.26    2       10.03   1958    6.59

3       10.16   1937    7.10    3       9.69    2009    6.25

4       9.61    1898    6.55    4       8.47    1932    5.03

5       8.68    1970    5.62    5       8.33    2011    4.89

6       8.24    1988    5.18    6       8.09    1979    4.65

7       7.98    2009    4.92    7       7.71    2012    4.27

8       7.39    1945    4.33    8       7.13    1950    3.69

9       7.33    1964    4.27    9       7.01    1948    3.57

9       7.33    1900    4.27    10      6.95    1980    3.51

Significant Weather Events:

For September 2012:  The drought continued to be the main story across the region.  Drought conditions have improved somewhat due to above normal rainfall for the month.  Rivers across the region are slowly on the rise due to recent rainfall.

There were a few severe weather events across the Mid-South during the month of September.  On September 1^st, a series of severe thunderstorms produced damage in portions of northeast Arkansas, the Missouri boot heel, and West Tennessee.  The most significant of the damage was caused by an EF2 tornado in Corning, Arkansas where the airport sustained damage to multiple hangars and aircraft.  There was also an EF0 tornado in Bucoda, Missouri where a farm shed was damaged.  Later in the month another round of severe thunderstorms produced sporadic wind damage across the Mid-South region.  This damage mostly consisted of trees and power lines down.  There were also reports of quarter sized hail in Kenton, Tennessee on September 5^th. 

CDG