The showers of April?

April is a transition month. It is usually pleasant, but sometime this month, I will have to use the air-conditioning for the first time. The majority of Aprils do not reach 90, but I have a feeling we will this year!

Despite some decent rains in March, including the last day of the month, the year has continued very dry. Normal rainfall by April 1st is 10.57" (the 1971-2000 average was 11.71"). So far this year we have had 6.67". Last year we have had 7.11". In 2010, which turned out to be the driest year on record, we had 8.74" by April 1st. So the drought continues, and it is very scary.

March 2012 was the warmest March on record at St. Simons Island. The average temperature was 68.2 degrees and 7.9 degrees above normal. This March was warmer than the average April! We have had to use the air conditioning frequently since March 16. Encouragingly we were slightly wetter than average, with rainfall of 4.01", which is 0.13" above normal. I hope April also has decent rains.

Some highlights from March and the previous winter:

At St Simons Island, the warmest ever March was helped in part to the extended period of onshore flow and the warmer than normal Atlantic ocean water temperatures. In fact the minimum temperature for the month was only 46 degrees, which was also an all-time record. A daily record high of 85 degrees was set on March 29th, and a total of six daily record high minimum temperature records were broken as several nights only fell into the mid to upper 60s. A total of only 4 freeze events (days with minimum temperature less than or equal to 32 degrees) were recorded during the winter of 2011-12, this is below the average number of 11 freeze events for the winter season. This is the fewest amount since the winter of 1997-98.

Courtesy of Jason Hess of the Jacksonville National Weather Service Office, a list of the warmest first quarters of the year at St. Simons Island. Much thanks!

BRUNSWICK MALCOLM MCKINNON AP (KSSI)
Extremes
Highest Average Average Temperature degrees F
Days: 1/1 - 3/31
Length of period: 90 days
Years: 1948-2012

Rank Value Ending Date
1 62.1 3/31/1974
2 61.1 3/31/2012
3 60.4 3/31/1949
4 60.1 3/31/1950
5 59.3 3/31/1997
6 58.9 3/31/1990
7 58.6 3/31/1989
8 58.4 3/31/1975
9 58.2 3/31/1953
10 57.7 3/31/1957

Ending Date is the last day of the 90-day period.
Only periods with no missing data were evaluated.

On April 2nd St. Simons Island set a new record high temperature of 89, beating the old record of 87 set in 2006.

On April 2nd St. Simons Island tied its record high minimum temperature of 67, originally set in 1979.

On April 3rd ST. Simons Island tied its record high minimum temperature of 68, originally set in 1979.

Date..................actual..............normal................departure.............notes

April 1...............61.7 / 81.1.......55.1 / 71.7...........+8.0
April 2...............64.9 / 86.7.......55.4 / 71.9..........+12.1
April 3...............65.8 / 82.8.......55.5 / 72.1..........+10.5

Highs for 2012

40s..........2
50s..........7
60s..........31
70s..........43
80s..........11

Lows for 2012

20s..........3
30s..........7
40s..........21
50s..........34
60s..........29


8 day model forecast graphic:

March 2012

March is usually a mild and pleasant month. Seabreezes cool the afternoons and keep us considerably milder than inland, where temps reach the 70s with ease and 80s frequently. The past 2 Marches we have not had to use our air conditioning. We will see how that goes. March averages 3.88" of rain, up from 3.47" in February. Most of this increase comes from the longer month. The average temperature for March is 60.8 degrees, up 5.8 degrees from February.

February 2012 was very warm, with a temperature averaging 4.8 degrees above normal. All our winter months have averaged more than 4 degrees above normal, which may be a unique occurrence. February continued our dry streak as well, although some significant rains on February 19th, 22nd, and 27th helped. I hope that pattern continues in March!

During February 2012 3 new record daily highs were set and 1 daily record high was tied. List is below. One new record high low was also set, which tied the record for the warmest low in February. No record lows or precipitation records were set during February.

February 5, record high, 81, old record 80 set in 1997
February 19, 82, tying old record of 82, set in 1956
February 23, record high low of 65, breaking old record of 62 in 1975
February 23, record high, 82, old record 80 set in 1996
February 24, record high, 84, old record 82 in 1962

On March 21 St. Simons Island tied its record for the warmest daily low, 66 degrees. The original record was set in 1982

On March 22 St. Simons Island broke its record for the warmest daily low. 69, breaking the original record of 63 set in 1972. This also was the warmest low so early in the year.

On March 23 St. Simons Island broke its record for the warmest daily low. 69, breaking the original record of 66 set in 1952.

On March 24 St. Simons Island broke its record for the warmest daily low. 68, breaking the original record of 66 set in 1991.

On March 29 St. Simons Island broke its record for the warmest daily high. 85, breaking the record of 83 in 1974.


The technical weather discussion from the Jacksonville weather office can be read here.

St. Simons Island's official weather observations for the past 72 hours can be viewed here.

MARCH WEATHER DIARY

March 1...........62.4 / 75.4.......48.6 / 66.1............+11.5
March 2...........63.5 / 79.2.......48.9 / 66.2............+13.8
March 3...........58.3 / 77.0.......49.1 / 66.4..............+9.8..........3.29" rain
March 4...........41.5 / 61.0.......49.2 / 66.6...............-6.6..........0.96" rain........29.68" (1005.2 mb)
March 5...........40.6 / 72.9.......49.4 / 66.8...............-1.3..........record rise from morning low to afternoon high 32.3
March 6...........47.3 / 65.8.......49.5 / 67.0...............-1.7
March 7...........58.8 / 72.7.......49.6 / 67.2..............+7.3..........30.51" (1033.0 mb)
March 8...........59.4 / 75.4.......49.8 / 67.3..............+8.3
March 9...........60.1 / 79.0.......49.9 / 67.4............+10.9...........0.46" rain....last day of mid winter.
March 10.........55.2 / 64.2.......50.1 / 64.2..............+0.8...........first day of late winter
March 11.........58.3 / 70.7.......50.4 / 67.8..............+5.4
March 12.........59.2 / 73.0.......50.7 / 67.9..............+6.8
March 13.........58.3 / 75.9.......50.9 / 68.1..............+7.6
March 14.........59.9 / 78.8.......51.1 / 68.3..............+9.6
March 15.........58.6 / 78.6.......51.5 / 68.5..............+8.6
March 16.........60.3 / 79.5.......51.8 / 68.8..............+9.6
March 17.........60.8 / 80.2.......52.1 / 69.0..............+9.9
March 18.........60.4 / 79.3.......52.3 / 69.1..............+9.1
March 19.........59.7 / 79.0.......52.6 / 69.3..............+8.4
March 20.........62.2 / 80.2.......52.7 / 69.5.............+10.1
March 21.........63.0 / 80.6.......52.9 / 69.7.............+10.5...........0.02" rain
March 22.........64.9 / 80.6.......53.0 / 69.8.............+11.3...........last day of late winter
March 23.........65.7 / 80.6.......53.2 / 70.0.............+11.5...........first day of early spring....0.60" rain
March 24.........64.8 / 80.1.......53.3 / 70.2.............+10.7...........0.07" rain
March 25.........56.8 / 75.6.......53.6 / 70.4...............+2.7...........0.01" rain
March 26.........55.8 / 79.2.......53.9 / 70.6...............+5.2
March 27.........57.6 / 72.1.......54.1 / 70.8...............+2.4
March 28.........62.6 / 80.6.......54.2 / 70.9...............+9.0
March 29.........62.1 / 84.7.......54.4 / 71.1.............+10.6
March 30.........61.2 / 81.7.......54.6 / 71.2...............+8.5
March 31.........64.2 / 72.1.......54.9 / 71.4...............+5.0...........0.43" rain

Highs for 2012

40s..........2
50s..........7
60s..........31
70s..........43
80s..........8

Lows for 2012

20s..........3
30s..........7
40s..........21
50s..........34
60s..........26

8 day model forecast graphic:

February 2012

January was warmer than normal and very dry! We had a sharp freeze on January 3-4, but much of the month was warm. The average temperature at KSSI was 55.6 degrees, which is 4.1 degrees above normal.

Rainfall was very low, 0.45", which is 2.77" below normal. A very discouraging start to the year. Perhaps this will be the 7th lean year in a row for rain. We had been hoping not after the exceptionally dry years of 2010 and 2011. But we get what we get.

We tied one record during January. On January 24, we tied our record for the warmest low temperature, 59 degrees. The record was previously set in 2002.

February is a transition month here, but still wintry by our standards. Days are cooler than you might thing in south GA, being moderated by the cool ocean. Freezes are half as frequent as in January, however. And by late in the month, even afternoon temperatures start to rise enough to notice.

The average rainfall increases slightly in February, to 3.47", vs 3.22" in January. I really hope we exceed the normal! Average temperature in February is 54.3 degrees, up 2.9 degrees from January.

The technical weather discussion from the Jacksonville weather office can be read here.

St. Simons Island's official weather observations for the past 72 hours can be viewed here.


FEBRUARY WEATHER DIARY

Feb 1...........52.3 / 71.2.......43.2 / 60.7............+9.8
Feb 2...........56.7 / 72.5.......43.3 / 60.8..........+12.5
Feb 3...........55.4 / 66.4.......43.4 / 61.0............+8.7
Feb 4...........57.6 / 72.7.......43.6 / 61.1..........+12.8
Feb 5...........58.8 / 76.6.......43.8 / 61.3..........+15.1
Feb 6...........56.3 / 62.1.......44.1 / 61.5...........+6.4
Feb 7...........49.5 / 62.1.......44.3 / 61.6...........+2.8
Feb 8...........45.9 / 68.2.......44.5 / 61.7...........+3.9
Feb 9...........41.5 / 62.8.......44.6 / 61.9............-1.1
Feb 10.........53.6 / 63.0.......44.8 / 62.1...........+4.8.............0.03" rain
Feb 11.........32.7 / 59.2.......44.9 / 62.3............-7.6.............0.01" rain
Feb 12.........24.3 / 47.3.......45.0 / 62.4..........-17.9
Feb 13.........26.8 / 54.5.......45.2 / 62.5..........-13.2
Feb 14.........42.4 / 63.5.......45.4 / 62.6...........-1.0..............0.07" rain
Feb 15.........55.0 / 60.4.......45.4 / 62.8..........+3.5..............0.13" rain
Feb 16.........55.4 / 72.5.......45.6 / 63.0..........+9.6
Feb 21.........47.8 / 64.9.......46.5 / 64.0..........+1.1
Feb 22.........51.1 / 72.9.......46.7 / 64.3..........+6.5..............0.36" rain
Feb 23.........63.3 / 80.6.......47.0 / 64.5.........+16.2
Feb 24.........57.4 / 83.1.......47.3 / 64.7.........+14.2.............0.06" rain
Feb 25.........45.5 / 59.0.......47.5 / 65.0...........-4.0..............37.6° degree drop
Feb 26.........43.3 / 59.0.......47.7 / 65.1...........-5.2..............0.05" rain
Feb 27.........56.5 / 63.9.......47.9 / 65.3..........+3.6..............0.81" rain
Feb 28.........58.5 / 65.1.......48.2 / 65.6..........+4.9
Feb 29.........56.7 / 78.3.......48.5 / 65.9..........+10.3

Highs for 2012

40s..........2
50s..........7
60s..........28
70s..........19
80s..........4

Lows for 2012

20s..........3
30s..........7
40s..........18
50s..........30
60s..........2



RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE
0526 PM EST SUN FEB 05 2012

...RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE SET AT ST SIMONS ISLAND...

A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 81 DEGREES WAS SET AT ST SIMONS ISLAND
TODAY. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 80 SET IN 1997.

**************************************************************

RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE
0526 PM EST SUN FEB 19 2012

...RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE SET AT ST SIMONS ISLAND...

A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 82 DEGREES WAS SET AT ST SIMONS ISLAND TODAY.
THIS TIES THE OLD RECORD OF 82 SET IN 1956.


**************************************************************

RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE
715 PM EST THU FEB 23 2012

...RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE SET AT ST SIMONS ISLAND...

A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 82 DEGREES WAS SET AT ST SIMONS ISLAND
TODAY. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 80 SET IN 1996.

The Jax NWS office didn't issue a statement for this, but the record for the highest low temperature has also been broken for February 23. The low was 65, breaking the record of 62 in 1975. This ties the record for the warmest monthly low in February, which was also set on February 14, 1950.

****************************************************************

RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE
0527 PM EST FRI FEB 24 2012

...RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE SET AT ST SIMONS ISLAND...

A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 84 DEGREES WAS SET AT ST SIMONS ISLAND TODAY.
THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 82 SET IN 1962.

****************************************************************

0610 PM FUNNEL CLOUD 6 NNE BRUNSWICK 31.22N 81.42W
02/24/2012 GLYNN GA PUBLIC

THE PUBLIC REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD BETWEEN BRUNSWICK AND
ST SIMONS ISLAND.




8 day model forecast graphic:

January and a few 2011 highlights.

2011 continued to be very dry, with a rainfall of 29.25", the third lowest annual total since records began in 1948. It was better than the 24.27" of 2010, but not much better. This is the first time that we have had two consecutive years below 30". We also had a very hot summer, with a record total of 90+ days for the year. I hope this year will be wetter! Heck, 3 feet of rain this year would be nice.

August 2011 was our hottest August on record. We also set a record for the most days of 90 or higher (30), and had our second longest streak of consecutive 90+ days.


December 2011 was warm and dry. No freezes occurred during the month. That is a bit unusual, but not rare. A coming arctic cold wave assures we will have freezes during the first week of January. The lack of freezes has allowed a lot of gnats to survive, which is annoying.

December had an average temperature of 58.7, which is 4.6 degrees above normal. Rainfall was 1.32", exactly half of the average monthly total of 2.64". Warm and dry. Again. Almost all the rain fell on December 12th.

January is normally our coldest month, with an average temperature of 51.4 degrees according to the 1981-2010 normals. January also averages a little wetter than December, with a monthly total of 3.20". I hope we are above average this month. That may not mean much--both 2010 and 2011 saw rainfall near or above normal in January, before the rest of the year became crackingly dry.

The latest monthly normals for 1981-2010 vs 1971-2000 show January having 0.48" less rain and being 0.3 degrees colder.

The technical weather discussion from the Jacksonville weather office can be read here.

St. Simons Island's official weather observations for the past 72 hours can be viewed here.


Some records I keep for extremes in our area (since November 22, 2003)



Record high....... June 14, 2010...................................98.4
Highest low........July 9, 2005......................................80.4
Lowest high.......January 9, 2010.................................35.4
Lowest low.........December 14, 2010...........................21.7
Highest waves (buoy 41008).....February 27, 2005........13.8 feet
Lowest waves...(same buoy)....many dates..................0.7 feet
Highest pressure......January 3, 2008..........................30.75" / 1041.2 mb
Lowest pressure.......March 2, 2010............................29.43" / 996.8 mb
Highest wind..............May 21, 2008............................47 mph sustained, gust 66 mph
Heaviest rain..............October 4, 2005........................6.78"
................................October 5, 2005........................7.94" {Tropical storm Tammy}

Altamaha River
Highest stage / greatest flow.........April 11, 2009.....................14.58 feet / 96,500 cfs
Lowest state / lowest flow.............September 18, 2011............0.87 feet / 1,170 cfs

Tidal departure

April 15, 2007......................-3.50 feet

August 22, 2008..................+4.01 feet {Tropical storm Fay}

Date..............actual..............normal................departure.............notes

JANUARY WEATHER DIARY

Jan 1...........52.9 / 70.2.......43.6 / 60.4...........+9.5
Jan 2...........40.1 / 62.2.......43.6 / 60.4............-0.8
Jan 3...........28.4 / 41.7.......43.6 / 60.4...........-16.9
Jan 4...........25.2 / 51.3.......43.6 / 60.3...........-13.7
Jan 5...........36.9 / 62.8.......43.5 / 60.3...........-2.0
Jan 6...........41.7 / 65.8.......43.4 / 60.3..........+1.9
Jan 7...........46.8 / 68.9.......43.4 / 60.3..........+6.0
Jan 8...........50.0 / 71.1.......43.3 / 60.1..........+8.8
Jan 9...........52.3 / 70.2.......43.2 / 60.2..........+9.5
Jan 10.........50.5 / 68.0.......43.3 / 60.3..........+7.5
Jan 11.........53.4 / 64.9.......43.3 / 60.3..........+7.3.........0.46" rain.....29.67" (1004.7 mb)
Jan 12.........46.8 / 68.7.......43.2 / 60.3..........+6.0
Jan 13.........36.3 / 59.2.......43.0 / 60.2...........-3.8
Jan 14.........31.3 / 52.7.......42.9 / 60.2...........-9.5
Jan 15.........37.8 / 59.7.......42.7 / 60.2...........-2.7........30.50" / 1032.8 mb
Jan 16.........40.8 / 62.6.......42.6 / 60.1..........+0.3........30.55" / 1034.5 mb
Jan 17.........47.7 / 70.3.......42.6 / 60.1..........+7.6
Jan 18.........45.5 / 64.0.......42.5 / 60.1..........+3.4........0.03" rain....coldest daily average temp for year
Jan 19.........35.4 / 57.4.......42.5 / 60.1...........-4.9.......coldest daily average temp for year
Jan 20.........43.3 / 70.7.......42.6 / 60.3..........+5.5
Jan 21.........55.2 / 71.2.......42.7 / 60.2........+11.2
Jan 22.........55.0 / 63.5.......42.6 / 60.1..........+7.9
Jan 23.........54.9 / 68.7.......42.6 / 60.1........+10.4
Jan 24.........58.6 / 71.1.......42.7 / 60.2........+13.4
Jan 25.........57.7 / 70.0.......42.7 / 60.3........+12.3
Jan 26.........58.6 / 72.3.......42.7 / 60.2........+14.0
Jan 27.........49.5 / 69.3.......42.7 / 60.2.........+7.9........0.04" rain
Jan 28.........43.5 / 67.1.......42.7 / 60.3.........+3.8
Jan 29.........41.2 / 59.7.......42.8 / 60.4..........-1.1
Jan 30.........35.1 / 62.6.......42.9 / 60.5..........-2.8
Jan 31.........40.6 / 67.5.......43.0 / 60.6.........+2.2

Highs for 2012

40s..........1
50s..........4
60s..........13
70s..........13

Lows for 2012

20s..........1
30s..........6
40s..........12
50s..........11
60s..........1


Freezes: 2


On January 24 St. Simons Island tied their record warmest low temperature of 59 degrees. The record was originally set in 2002.

8 day model forecast graphic: