2013 Weather Summary

After dealing with three years of drought, 2013 was a much needed break from the brutal weather pattern we had been experiencing. From record snow and rainfall totals to below average temperatures, 2013 weather had something for everyone.

Late February of 2013 was our first break in the weather that had gripped our area.  The first storm hit Wichita on February 20th producing over 14" of snow.  A few days later we received another 7" of snow.  The two day total of 21" of snow broke the record for the most snow during the month of February.  Not only did we break the record for February, the snowfall total of 24.5" for 2012-2013 ended up being the 5th snowiest on record.

 

February 21, 2013 14.2" of snow.

The month of March was not only cool and wet, we also had another 4" of snow on March 24th.  The cooler temps, along with the late snow led to a delayed green up that we had not seen in several years.

Cooler temperatures continued through the month of April with record low temp set on April 19th.  Five days later Wichita set the record for latest measurable snowfall with .2" of snow, along with another record low temp of 25 degrees.

The story for July and August were the heavy rains.  During this time frame, Wichita received 18.32" of rain.  For the month of August we had 10.63" of rain, leading to the 2nd wettest August on record.  Not only was this the 2nd wettest August, this also was the 10th wettest month ever.  From July 20th through August 16th we had measurable rainfall on 22 out of 28 days.  The month of July had more days with precipitation (17) in Wichita than any other July on record.  The 7.69" of rain in July led to the 4th wettest July on record.

Late August, however, offered a sharp contrast to the previous months.  Beginning August 17th, we went 27 days without any precipitation.  The remaining four months of the year combined received less rain (7.25") compared to the month of July.  November and December were the two driest months of the year, with .76" and .63" of precipitation.

For the year, 2013 ended as Wichita's 9th wettest year on record.