THE WEATHER IN 2012

A couple of weeks ago the nice meteorologists at NOAA wrote down everything there was to know about Kansas City weather in 2012, and they put all that information on their website.  Maybe you will remember that I kept telling you all summer about how hot and dry it was, and about how we were having a terrible drought.  Well, I wasn't just making that stuff up -- NOAA has all the numbers to prove that I was right!

When I first heard of NOAA, it was on the weather radio, and I thought they were saying NOAH, which is a great name for a weather agency because Noah was that guy in the Bible who built an ark when the Great Flood was coming.  But then Mom said the name was really NOAA, which stands for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.  These are the people who keep all kinds of records about the weather, and they also make forecasts.  So they are very important people, just like the original Noah, except I don't think they've ever built an ark.

Anyway, now I'm going to tell you some things that NOAA said in their summary of Kansas City's weather in 2012.  First they said that the average temperature for the entire year was 58.8º.  This meant that 2012 was tied with 1946 for being the 3rd-warmest year on record since 1880.  There were 9 months with above-average temperatures.  The temperature was over 90º on 69 days.  Usually, the temperature is only above 90º on about 30 days.

Every year there are 108 days or so when the low temperature is below freezing, but last year there were only 86 days that cold.  And there was not a single day with below-zero temperatures.

On July 18, we had the highest temperature of the whole year, which was 106º.  And the lowest temperature was 5º on February 11 and 12.

All the precipitation we got during the entire year was only 22.28 inches.  The regular amount we are supposed to get is 38.83 inches, so we were a whole 16.55 inches below normal.  And this means that 2012 was the 3rd-driest year on record.

The longest period of time we went without any rain or snow at all was 27 days, and that was from November 12 to December 8.  The biggest bunch of rain we got in a 24-hour period was 1.6 inches on September 3-4.  We usually have about 53 days with thunderstorms, but we only had 42 last year, which made my scaredy-dog brothers happy.

Okay, now I will tell you about the snow.  During the 2011-12 winter season, we only got 3.9 inches total, which was the least-snowy season ever on record.  Usually we might get 18 or 19 inches during the winter, but that didn't happen last year.

Well, now you know the whole story of the 2012 weather in Kansas City.  Mostly, I guess you could say it has been dry and warm.  Except for a few days when it got to be really and truly cold.  We will have to wait and see how things turn out in 2013, but so far, we are starting off pretty much the same way.  Frankly, I don't mind not having a bunch of rain because I don't like to get my feet wet when I go out to potty.  But Mom is really, really wanting snow and rain to come and water the grass and trees and stuff.  Besides which, everybody is tired of The Drought, so it would be nice if it just went away!