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KENTUCKY MONTHLY AND ANNUAL CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR -- 2019 By: Tom Priddy and Matt Dixon -- UK Agricultural Weather Center * Based on Preliminary Data. Weekly graphs available within the UKAWC Kentucky Weather Information Web site. Sources: UKAWC, NCDC and Midwest Regional Climate Center === Kentucky Climate Summary For the Period December 2019 Above Normal Temperatures and Precipitation: * The state averaged over 5 inches for the month of December, marking the third straight month with above normal rainfall following drought conditions in September. Most of the rain fell over the second half of the month. The most prominent event occurred on the 16th and 17th when Kentucky averaged nearly 2 inches and led to some flooding issues. Looking at the year as a whole, preliminary data suggests that 2019 will place in the top 5 wettest years on record for Kentucky with data going back to 1895. This would make back to back years placing in the top 5. Looking at temperatures, other than some short-lived bouts of winter cold, above normal temperatures were common throughout the month. This was especially the case over the last week of 2019 as Kentucky saw several days in the 60s. In fact, some locations topped 70 degrees. Putting this into perspective, normal high temperatures for this time of year run in the low to middle 40s. Temperatures for the period averaged 43 degrees across the state which was 5 degrees warmer than normal. High temperatures averaged from 52 in the West to 52 in the East. Departure from normal high temperatures ranged from 4 degrees warmer than normal in the West to 4 degrees warmer than normal in the East. Low temperatures averaged from 35 degrees in the West to 35 degrees in the East. Departure from normal low temperature ranged from 5 degrees warmer than normal in the West to 7 degrees warmer than normal in the East. The extreme high temperature for the period was 72 at CADIZ 4SW and the extreme low was 12 at ALEXANDRIA 5NW. Precipitation (liq. equ.) for the period totaled 5.10 inches statewide which was 0.65 inches above normal and 115% of normal. Precipitation totals by climate division, West 3.41 inches, Central 5.71 inches, Bluegrass 5.12 inches and East 6.15 inches, which was -1.47, 0.89, 1.25 and 1.92 inches respectively from normal. By station, precipitation totals ranged from a low of 1.71 inches at POPLAR BLUFF ASOS to a high of 8.17 inches at LIBERTY 3SW. * = Based on preliminary data Summarized and averaged data for the period 20191201 to 20191231(Last 31 Days) (Not for Legal purposes. Departure from Norms based on climate divisional Averages) AIR TEMPERATURE PRECIPITATION ExtremeTemp STATION MAX DEV MIN DEV AVR DEV TOTAL DEV %NORM HI LO -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WEST(CD1) 52 4 35 5 44 5 3.41 -1.47 70 72 14 CENTRAL(CD2) 52 5 36 7 44 6 5.71 0.89 118 71 13 BLUEGRASS(CD3) 50 4 33 5 41 4 5.12 1.25 132 69 12 EAST(CD4) 52 4 35 7 43 5 6.15 1.92 145 71 13 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STATE 52 5 35 6 43 5 5.10 0.65 115 72 12 === Kentucky Climate Summary For the Period November 2019 Below Normal Temperatures and Above Normal Precipitation: November 2019 was the 13th coldest November on record for the Bluegrass State. Starting the month, Kentucky saw three straight nights of temperatures dropping into the middle 20s to around 30, which essentially brought an end to the 2019 growing season. This might have seemed warm compared to low temperatures over the next couple weeks. After the passage of a cold front on the 7th, air of Canadian origen sent lows into the upper teens to middle 20s. This was followed by an early season shot of arctic air following another cold front on the 11th. Highs stayed in the 20s on the 12th and then dropped into the teens and single digits that night. The Kentucky Mesonet Station in Henderson recorded the lowest temperature across the state that night with a low of 2 degrees. With that said, warmer air arrived over the second half of the month. After starting November with two straight weeks of below normal temperatures, the state went in the opposite direction for the second half of the month. The warmer temperatures were accompanied by a couple weeks of significant rainfall. In fact, the month ended with the third wettest week of 2019 as the state averaged 3.43 inches between two different rounds of widespread light to moderate rainfall. Drought now seems like a distant memory as soils became saturated and led to some minor flooding issues. Overall, the state averaged 4.71 inches for November. Temp Norm Dep Prcp Norm Dep %Norm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ WEST(CD1) 41.2 48.0 -6.8 5.18 4.37 0.81 119 CENTRAL(CD2) 41.6 47.3 -5.7 5.26 4.07 1.19 129 BLUEGRASS(CD3) 40.4 45.8 -5.4 4.43 3.59 0.84 123 EAST(CD4) 41.4 46.2 -4.8 4.14 3.66 0.48 113 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Statewide KY 41.2 46.8 -5.6 4.71 3.91 0.80 120 === Kentucky Climate Summary For the Period October 2019 Above Normal Temperatures and Precipitation: Record breaking dry conditions in September was followed by an exceptionally wet October. Overall, it was the third wettest October on record with an average of 6.45 inches, over three inches above normal for what is normally our driest month of the year. While frontal boundaries were the main sources of rainfall, Kentucky also saw the remnants of two tropical storms move through the region. In combination with the end of the growing season, drought conditions improved dramatically. According to the US Drought Monitor, the month started with over 92% of the state experiencing drought conditions. In fact, roughly 58% of Kentucky was under a severe drought, while a small section of Southeastern Kentucky (4%) was even experiencing an extreme drought. By the last update of the month, on October 29th, only 7% of the state was experiencing drought conditions and none was under a severe or extreme drought situation. Despite the drought improvement, some impacts will last into the winter months. While pasture conditions improved slightly, producers still needed to supplement with hay, putting stress on winter supplies. Looking at temperatures, record high temperatures were in place to start the month as highs consistently jumped well into the 90s. While daily records were broken, all- time highs for October were also surpassed. Many locations even jumped into the upper 90s. Significantly cooler air then filtered into the area behind a departing cold front over the second weekend of the month. Temperatures dropped well into the 30s, prompting the first frost advisories of the season to be issued. Ultimately though, it was one of the warmer October’s on record, placing 18th warmest on the 125 year record. This marked the fourth straight month that the state average temperature was above normal. Temp Norm Dep Prcp Norm Dep %Norm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ WEST(CD1) 60.3 58.6 1.7 6.28 3.67 2.61 171 CENTRAL(CD2) 60.2 57.4 2.8 6.92 3.51 3.41 197 BLUEGRASS(CD3) 59.7 56.2 3.5 6.79 3.29 3.50 206 EAST(CD4) 60.2 56.1 4.1 6.02 3.03 2.99 199 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Statewide KY 60.1 57.0 3.1 6.45 3.35 3.10 193 === Kentucky Climate Summary For the Period September 2019 Recording Breaking Above Normal Temperatures and Below Normal Precipitation: September 2019 is officially the driest September Kentucky has ever seen (data going back to 1895). The state averaged 0.23 inches, which pushed September of 1997 to number two all-time (averaged of 0.30 inches). Rainfall was simply scarce for much of the month. September opened with one of the driest weeks Kentucky has seen in quite some time. In fact, the state only averaged one hundredth of an inch, which was the first time Kentucky saw an average less than a tenth of an inch since early February. The dry weather then continued with the state only averaging 0.06 inches through the first half of September. In addition to the dryness, unrelenting heat developed across the area. Highs in the low to middle 90s were common across the state, many even jumping into the upper 90s on the 10th. Lexington Airport hit 100 degrees for the first time since 2012. This heat, which lasted for the remainder of the month, pushed Kentucky to its second warmest September of all-time. By the third week September, many stations across the state, including Louisville, Bowling Green, Paducah, Lexington, and Jackson, all had not recorded any rainfall for at least 25 straight days. Lexington and Jackson actually went the entire month without recording any rainfall. By the end of September, Kentucky had went four straight weeks of seeing much below normal rainfall. The combination of dry conditions and unseasonable heat deepened drought conditions significantly and quickly across the area, primarily in the agricultural sector. The Kentucky Crop Report had topsoil moisture rated at 87% short/very short and subsoil at 80%. By the end of the month, a small section of Southeastern Kentucky was upgraded to an ‘Extreme’ drought by the US Drought Monitor, while ‘Severe’ drought was expanded to cover 58% of the state. Impacts were numerous across the state. Pastures were burning up, turning brown, and becoming increasingly dormant. This led many producers to start feeding winter hay months ahead of time. While future winter hay supplies dwindled, late season cuts were also down tremendously with many producers reporting yields of about 50% of normal. In addition, the dry weather put a halt to pasture renovations for fear of failure. The drought also took a toll on farm ponds and streams. Many running low led to the sources becoming questionable as a water source. Reports of hauling water became more prevalent later in the month, especially across Central and Southeastern Kentucky. Row crops saw some benefits and also negatives from the dry weather. On the plus side, harvest progressed at a rapid pace with both corn and beans finishing ahead of the five year average pace. On the negative side, dry down was rapid this year with many county agents reporting moisture for corn at 11-12% and beans at 7, 8, 9%. In addition, combine and associated field fires were reported in multiple locations. A combination of dry conditions, low humidity, and breezy winds at times led to an enhanced fire danger, prompting many counties to issue burn bans. As a side note, having a month place in the top five warmest and driest of all time simply does not happen too much. Since 1895, this has only happened three other times, twice in July in 1901 and 1930, in addition to August of 2007. Summarized and averaged data for the period 20190901 to 20190930(Last 30 Days) (Not for Legal purposes. Departure from Norms based on climate divisional Averages) AIR TEMPERATURE PRECIPITATION ExtremeTemp STATION MAX DEV MIN DEV AVR DEV TOTAL DEV %NORM HI LO -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WEST(CD1) 89 7 64 5 76 5 0.45 -3.04 13 99 46 CENTRAL(CD2) 88 7 62 4 76 7 0.19 -3.68 5 99 45 BLUEGRASS(CD3) 87 7 62 5 75 7 0.20 -3.02 6 100 44 EAST(CD4) 88 8 62 6 75 7 0.28 -3.20 8 100 43 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STATE 88 7 62 4 76 7 0.28 -3.24 8 100 43 === Kentucky Climate Summary For the Period August 2019 Above Normal Temperatures and Precipitation: Even though the state saw slightly above normal rainfall for August, that does not tell the story. Some portions of the area were extremely dry over the first half of the month with drought conditions making a return. At one point, the state had gone three straight weeks seeing below average rainfall as coverage remained isolated to scattered for the most part. The worst felt areas were across North Central and Southeastern Kentucky. By August 20th, ‘Moderate drought’ was introduced to areas of North Central Kentucky with the update of the US Drought Monitor. Impacts were numerous on the ag side from the short term dryness and intense heat. Pastures burning up and turning brown was common, which led some producers to feed supplemental hay in the areas mentioned above. Luckily, rain activity did pick up over the last couple weeks of the month, where the state saw two straight weeks of above normal rainfall. The state averaged 1.26 inches the last week of August behind multiple rounds of rain on the 26th/27th. Temp Norm Dep Prcp Norm Dep %Norm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ WEST(CD1) 77.2 77.1 0.1 4.16 3.11 1.05 134 CENTRAL(CD2) 76.1 75.6 0.5 3.65 3.49 0.16 105 BLUEGRASS(CD3) 75.0 74.5 0.5 3.07 3.45 -0.38 89 EAST(CD4) 74.6 73.9 0.7 3.28 3.76 -0.48 87 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Statewide KY 75.6 75.2 0.4 3.53 3.48 0.05 102 === Kentucky Climate Summary For the Period July 2019 Above Normal Temperatures and Precipitation: The Bluegrass State averaged 5.04 inches for the month of July. Most fell over the first half of the month, led by the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry moving through the region. The state averaged 1.40 inches with this event, but several stations recorded 2 to 3+ inches. Just as the case with Barry, North Central Kentucky seemed to miss on most of the rainfall throughout July. In fact, most of this region saw under 3 inches for the month and by the end of July, were anywhere from 1 to 3+ inches below normal in spots. Temperatures ran slightly above normal for the month with highs consistently in the middle 80s to low 90s. Livestock heat stress hovered in the danger and emergency categories during the afternoon and evening hours. Some of the most intense heat of the year arrived following the departure of Barry. Excessive Heat Warnings were issued between the 19th and 21st with highs in the upper 80s to middle 90s. High humidity pushed heat indices into the 100 to 110 degree range. Looking back at the past year, the average state temperature has been above normal for 9 out of the past 12 months. Temp Norm Dep Prcp Norm Dep %Norm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ WEST(CD1) 78.7 78.3 0.4 5.54 4.09 1.45 135 CENTRAL(CD2) 77.8 76.6 1.2 3.74 4.45 -0.71 84 BLUEGRASS(CD3) 77.2 75.5 1.7 5.45 4.45 1.00 122 EAST(CD4) 75.9 74.8 1.1 5.31 4.67 0.64 114 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Statewide KY 77.3 76.2 1.1 5.04 4.43 0.61 114 === Kentucky Climate Summary For the Period June 2019 Below Normal Temperatures and Much Above Normal Precipitation: After a slightly dry May, June went in the other direction. In fact, it ended up being the third wettest June of all time for the Bluegrass State with an average of 7.78 inches, but still quite a ways from the all-time wettest. This was set in 1928 when Kentucky sat at 11.67 inches. Normal is only 4.25 for June! While this was a statewide event with just about everyone seeing significant rainfall, Central Kentucky was tops on the list. This area averaged 4.14 inches between the 3rd and the 9th and followed that up with 4.15 inches between the 17th and 23rd. The active pattern did not let up until the last week of June, in which farmers finally got a window to get in the fields. The Kentucky Crop Progress and Condition Report, released on June 30th, mentioned some of the impacts from the wet month: low lying fields flooded, soybeans rotting in the ground before emerging, and over- maturity of hay due to the prolonged wet spell. Saying that, crop condition percentages remained overwhelmingly in the fair/good/excellent categories. Looking back a little farther, this is the fourth wettest January-June stretch with a state average of 34.88 inches. As wet as it was in 2018, Kentucky is even wetter this year. The consistent rainfall kept temperatures slightly below normal for the month, but that turned over the last week of June. Heat really built into the state with highs consistently getting in the upper 80s to low 90s. Combined with higher humidity, the livestock heat stress index jumped into the danger category each afternoon and evening. Temp Norm Dep Prcp Norm Dep %Norm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ WEST(CD1) 73.7 74.7 -1.0 6.55 4.06 2.49 161 CENTRAL(CD2) 72.4 73.1 -0.7 8.82 4.21 4.61 210 BLUEGRASS(CD3) 70.9 71.8 -0.9 8.17 4.30 3.87 190 EAST(CD4) 70.4 71.2 -0.8 7.71 4.40 3.31 175 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Statewide KY 71.8 72.6 -0.8 7.78 4.25 3.53 183 === Kentucky Climate Summary For the Period May 2019 Above Normal Temperatures and Below Normal Precipitation: May is typically the wettest month of the year for the Bluegrass State, but that was not the case in 2019. Kentucky was roughly one inch below our 5.29 average. While the state did see some flooding leading up to Derby Day behind 1.62 inches of rainfall, weather conditions trended drier, running below normal for three straight weeks. The US Drought Monitor introduced ‘Abnormally Dry’ conditions to portions of Central and Eastern Kentucky with the May 30th update. Some areas around Bowling Green were 3 to 4 inches below normal for the month. The dry conditions did help to move along planting and allowed many producers to get the first cut of hay finished. While drier weather prevailed, elevated temperatures and humidity made parts of May feel like the middle of summer. Much of the area was pushing into the middle 80s to around 90 by the 17th and 18th. Periods of higher temperatures continued over the second half of May. By the end of the month, the state had gone nine straight weeks of seeing near to above normal temperatures. Temp Norm Dep Prcp Norm Dep %Norm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ WEST(CD1) 69.2 66.4 2.8 4.43 5.44 -1.01 81 CENTRAL(CD2) 69.0 64.8 4.2 3.78 5.55 -1.77 68 BLUEGRASS(CD3) 67.0 63.4 3.6 4.31 5.24 -0.93 82 EAST(CD4) 67.7 63.1 4.6 4.53 5.02 -0.49 90 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Statewide KY 68.2 64.3 3.9 4.29 5.29 -1.00 81 === Kentucky Climate Summary For the Period April 2019 Above Normal Temperatures and Precipitation: April did not bring the Commonwealth much in the way of surprises in 2019. Precipitation and temperatures both ran slightly above normal. The first freeze warnings of the spring season were issued on the first of the month as lows dipped into the low to middle 20s across the state. Saying that, other than a short-lived period of temperatures in the 30s on the 20th, impactful cold was absent in April of 2019. In fact, highs jumped into the 80s several times throughout. Precipitation wise, the brunt fell over the midsection of April as multiple rounds of rainfall pushed through the area. The state averaged over 1.5 inches for two straight weeks. Overall, the state average came in at 4.93 inches for the month. This slowed down planting operations temporarily, but by the end of April, Kentucky was only slightly behind the five-year average of 31% corn planted. Temp Norm Dep Prcp Norm Dep %Norm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ WEST(CD1) 58.2 57.5 0.7 5.50 4.53 0.97 122 CENTRAL(CD2) 58.3 56.2 2.1 5.66 4.22 1.44 134 BLUEGRASS(CD3) 56.9 54.6 2.3 5.09 3.84 1.25 132 EAST(CD4) 57.4 55.0 2.4 3.88 3.86 0.02 101 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Statewide KY 57.7 55.8 1.9 4.93 4.10 0.83 120 === Kentucky Climate Summary For the Period March 2019 Below Normal Temperatures and Precipitation: * After an exceptionally wet February and winter overall, Kentucky has gotten a break from the rainfall in March as the weather pattern has turned to dry one. The state only averaged 3.67 inches for the month, which is over an inch below normal. This marked the first month with below normal precipitation since October of last year. This was the case across the majority of the state as shown in the figure below. While it has been dry, the brunt of the 3.67-inch average came in three events. The first event featured a strong area of low pressure moving through the area on the 9th and 10th, producing several rounds of showers and storms. This was followed by an early-season severe weather event on the 14th in which multiple tornadoes were seen across Western Kentucky, including an EF2 near Paducah. Precipitation was very slow to move east from Western Kentucky and slowly diminished in strength and intensity. In doing so, while Western Kentucky averaged 1.73 inches for the week and caused some flooding, Eastern Kentucky came in at only 0.14 inches. In addition to the rainfall and tornadoes, winds were very breezy on the day with numerous gusts over 50 mph and even a 69 mph wind gust recorded in Fayette County. Lastly, a strong cold front pushed through Kentucky on the 30th, sparking accumulations around an inch across the state. Temperatures for the period averaged 44 degrees across the state which was 2 degrees cooler than normal. High temperatures averaged from 54 in the West to 54 in the East. Departure from normal high temperatures ranged from 6 degrees cooler than normal in the West to 5 degrees cooler than normal in the East. Low temperatures averaged from 35 degrees in the West to 34 degrees in the East. Departure from normal low temperature ranged from 2 degrees cooler than normal in the West to 1 degree warmer than normal in the East. The extreme high temperature for the period was 80 at LOUISA 1S and the extreme low was 0 at MONTICELLO AWOS. Precipitation (liq. equ.) for the period totaled 3.46 inches statewide which was 0.99 inches below normal and 78% of normal. Precipitation totals by climate division, West 4.41 inches, Central 3.01 inches, Bluegrass 3.70 inches and East 2.73 inches, which was 0.33, 1.68, 0.32 and 1.62 inches below normal. By station, precipitation totals ranged from a low of 1.24 inches at SOMERSET AWOS to a high of 7.27 inches at EVANSVILLE ASOS.Fetched URL: http://weather.uky.edu/public/annual19.txt
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