A Review of Weather Events of 2022

The year 2022 featured several notable weather events. We kicked off the year with severe weather on New Year's Day that produced an EF-2 in Hopkinsville, KY. A couple winter storms impacted the region with snow and ice on January 6 and Feb 3-4. Several other severe weather events produced significant wind damage and tornadoes including an EF-2 tornado that struck Mt Carmel, IL on May 19. Heat waves were plentiful during the summer with heat index readings soaring well above 105 on numerous days. Cape Girardeau tied their all-time warmest heat index of 123 on July 20. We also endured a severe to extreme drought during the Fall season which produced rare wildfires on October 14 and record low river levels along portions of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. Finally, right before Christmas we endured an arctic plunge that dropped wind chills to their lowest levels in over 25 years. We also experienced 1 to 3 inches of snow on December 22 that led to our first White Christmas since 2010.

Some locations across our region experienced a 150 degree swing in "feels like" temperatures from summer heat waves to the brutal cold on December 22-23. For example, Cape Girardeau observed a 123 heat index on July 20 and then a wind chill of -27 on December 23!

Review of top weather events in 2022 (in chronological order). CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE

1. N ew Year's Day - Severe weather including
EF-2 tornado in Hopkinsville, KY

Image: Tornado track through Hopkinsville, KY

2. J anuary 6 - Winter storm leaves behind a 3-6" swath
of snow across western Kentucky

Image: Snowfall accumulations from this event

3. February 3-4 Ice storm across the western KY Pennyrile
and moderate snow accumulations further west

Image: Ice accumulations observed during this event

4. April 13 Severe weather produces 6 tornadoes
across western KY

Image: EF-1 Tornado track map in the Mayfield, KY area

5. M ay 19 Severe weather along the I-64 corridor
with an EF-2 tornado hitting Mt Carmel, IL

Image: EF-2 Tornado track that hit Mt Carmel, IL

6. Summer Heat Waves: June 12-16, July 4-8, and July 20
All events produced heat index readings over 105 for an extended period with localized readings up to 120.

Image: Peak Heat Index observed on July 20, 2022

7. August 1 Severe weather produced significant
wind damage across the Evansville, IN area

Image: Storm clouds in Evansville, IN courtesy of Kristin Valandra

8. October 14 Rare wildfires in our area due to
prolonged drought

Image: Grass fire near Kuttawa, KY
courtesy of Mandy Neal and Beau Dodson

9. Fall Drought & Record Low River Levels Many locations experienced one of their driest Falls on record. Most of the region was in Severe to Extreme drought by late November.

Image: Tower Rock along Mississippi River accessible by foot due to low river levels. Picture courtesy of Reece Streufer

10. December 22-23 - Extreme Cold and Snow. Coldest wind chills in over 25 years with values of -20 to -30. 1 to 3 inches of snow on Dec 22 leads to first White Christmas since 2010.

Image: Snowfall totals from December 22nd.