By Chuck Otte
Chuck Otte, who keeps Geary County weather records, said this week that the year 2022 weather can best be summarized as warmer and drier than normal. Ten our twelve months of the year had above normal temperatures and eight out of twelve had below normal precipitation.2022 started with a cold snap that brought us our first below zero temperature of the year on January 2nd and as the year drew to an end, we returned to subzero temperatures on the 22nd and 23rd. In between we had eight days with temperatures of 100 or above, which is just about what our long-term average indicates we should have.
The average daily high for 2022 was 66.8 degrees, one degree above normal. The average overnight low was 45.8, 1.8 degrees above normal. This resulted in a monthly mean temperature of 56.3, 1.4 degrees above the 30-year average and 1.6 degrees above the 70-year average. Since 1995, the 30-year average temperature has been steadily increasing, up 1.7 degrees in that 26-year span. The highest temperature for 2022 was 101 degrees, reached on 6 different days between mid-July and mid-August. The lowest temperature for the year was -9 on December 22nd. This gave us an annual temperature extreme of 110 degrees which is right on target with the 75-year average. Only November and December had monthly temperatures below normal. September had the greatest deviation from normal, coming in at 4.4 degrees above normal.
The hottest year on record was in 1954 with an annual temperature of 59.7 degrees. The coldest year on record was in 1979 with an annual temperature of 50.5 degrees. The first half of 2022 showed us promise with total precipitation coming in one half inch above normal. Unfortunately, August, September and October came in well below normal giving us the last half of the year with a precipitation deficit of over 6 inches. The August and September deficits seriously hurt crop yields in the region. Average annual liquid precipitation (rainfall plus snow water equivalent) is 33.57 inches. Milford Lake tallied 27.94 inches of precipitation and Junction City slightly more at 29.15 inches. With rainfall records dating back over 90 years (starting in 1931) 2022 wasn’t close to being record dry. In fact, it came in at only 24th driest. The driest year on record was in 1966 when 15.61 inches of rainfall was recorded. The wettest year was the flood year of 1951 when 56.30 inches of rain inundated the region.
Snowfall totals are always problematic as the snowfall season is October to May, thereby lapping over the calendar year. For the snowfall season that ended in May of 2022 it was once again a very lackluster season for those that enjoy snow. Our seasonal average snowfall total is 18.1 inches. The 2021-2022 snowfall season came in a little under that at 14.9 inches of snowfall. The current, 2022-2023, snowfall season has not started well with only 2.5 inches of an average 4.8 through the end of December. Fortunately, there’s a lot of the season yet to go with January and February being the snowiest months of the year, on average, accounting for just over half of our seasonal snowfall totals. Temperatures are recorded at the Milford Lake Corps of Engineers Office.
Rainfall totals are recorded at Corps office at Milford Lake and the Geary County Extension Office in Junction City. Snowfall totals are recorded at the Extension Office.