A Look Back at the Record Warmth/Cold and Precipitation During 2015

Welcome to 2016!  It's not only starting to look like winter, but it's beginning to feel like it as well.  The big question is, though, just how long winter's chill will last?  While we'll see a return of seasonable temperatures by the middle of next week, we could be in for quite a chill towards the middle of the month.  More on that in a later post, but let's look back to the records that were set in 2015!

According to the National Weather Service, the average high temperature in Rockford for 2015 was 59.5 degrees.  This was 0.2 degrees above the 30 year average (1981-2010) which is 59.3 degrees.  A total of 40 inches of precipitation was recorded during the year, which is 3.76 inches above normal!

Here's a month-by-month look at what records were set during 2015:

January - No records set

February:
-Record daily lowest maximum temperature of 4 degrees on the 19th
-Record daily lowest maximum temperature of 9 degrees on the 23rd
-Record daily low minimum temperature of -8 degrees on the 26th
-Tied record daily low minimum temperature of -15 degrees on the 27th
-Record daily lowest maximum temperature of 12 degrees on the 27th
-Record daily low minimum temperature of -16 degrees on the 28th
-Second coldest February on record since 1906 at 12.1 degrees

March:
-Record daily lowest maximum temperature of 13 degrees on the 5th
-Record daily snowfall of 5.1 inches on the 23rd

April:
-Record daily precipitation of 2.24" on the 9th

May:
-Record daily snowfall of a trace on the 20th
-Record daily lowest maximum temperature of 47 degrees on the 20th

June - No records set

July - No records set

August:
-Record daily precipitation of 2.87 inches on the 18th
-Record daily precipitation of 1.42" on the 29th

September:
-Third warmest September on record since 1905 at 69.1 degrees

October - No records set

November:
-Record daily highest minimum temperature of 58 degrees on the 5th
-Maximum daily snowfall of 4.9 inches on the 20th
-Maximum daily snowfall of 3.9 inches on the 21st
-Maximum daily rainfall record of 1.51 inches on the 26th
-Record daily rainfall for the Thanksgiving Holiday of 1.51"

December:
-Tied daily maximum temperature of 57 degrees on the 10th
-Record daily highest minimum temperature of 46 degrees on the 12th
-Record daily maximum temperature of 62 degrees on the 13th
-Record daily maximum precipitation of 1.41 inches on the 13th
-Record daily maximum temperature of 61 degrees on the 14th
-Record daily minimum temperature of 41 degrees on the 14th
-Record daily precipitation of 0.63 inches on the 21st
-Record daily maximum temperature of 59 degrees on the 23rd
-Record daily precipitation of 0.70 inches on the 23rd
-Record daily precipitation of 1.25 inches on the 28h
WARMEST DECEMBER ON RECORD SINCE 1905 WITH 37.7 DEGREES
SECOND WETTEST DECEMBER ON RECORD SINCE 1905 WITH 4.65"