National Weather Service Raw Text Product

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NOUS42 KJAX 061631
PNSJAX
FLZ024-033-124-125-132-133-225-232-325-425-071645-

Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Jacksonville FL
1131 AM EST Thu Jan 6 2022

...FOURTH WARMEST DECEMBER ON RECORD AT JACKSONVILLE FLORIDA...

Jacksonville, Florida (JAX) records date back to 1871

The average temperature for December was 63.4 degrees, which is
6.7 degrees above normal. This is the fourth warmest on record, 
and the warmest since 66.5 degrees in 2015.

A daily record high maximum temperature of 83 degrees was set on 
12-31, along with a daily record warm minimum temperature of 67 
degrees. The peak heat index reached 87 degrees that afternoon.

A daily record high maximum temperature of 83 degrees was set on 
12-11, the peak heat index reached 86 degrees that afternoon.

There no sub-freezing days last month, the normal is 4 days with
temperatures of 32 degrees or less.

The average dew point temperature (Td) for December was 57.1
degrees, which is 8.4 degrees above normal. This is the third 
most humid on record. A daily record high dew point temperature of
72 degrees was set on 12-19.

The total rainfall for December was 1.61 inches, this is 1.17
inches below normal. The greatest 24 hour total was 1.28 inches on
12-20 and 12-21 when a low pressure system crossed the area.

There were no thunderstorms reported last month, which is 1 day
below normal. There were 9 days reported with dense fog, which is
3 days above normal, and the most reported since 10 days in 2016.

The average wind speed for December was 5.6 mph, which is 0.7 mph
below normal, and was the lowest average since 5.5 mph in 2008. 
The peak wind gust was 37 mph from the Northeast on 12-20 as the 
low pressure system crossed the area.

The lowest sea level pressure (SLP) was 29.71 inches of mercury 
on 12-21. The highest sea level pressure (SLP) was 30.41 inches 
of mercury on 12-14.

...LAST YEAR (2021) WAS SLIGHTLY COOLER AND WETTER THAN NORMAL...

...SECOND HIGHEST NUMBER OF THUNDERSTORM DAYS ON RECORD IN 2021...

Jacksonville, Florida (JAX) records date back to 1871

The average temperature for the year 2021 was 68.9 degrees, which
is 0.4 degrees below normal, and was the coolest year since 67.8
degrees in 2014.

The highest temperature was 95 degrees on 6-15 and 7-31. This was
the lowest yearly maximum temperature since 94 degrees in 2003, 
and was tied for the third lowest on record since the current 
International Airport location started in 1971. There were "only" 
65 days with maximum temperatures of 90 degrees or higher, this 
is 15 days below normal, the lowest total since 55 days in 2013.

The lowest temperature was 28 degrees on 1-17 and 2-4. There were
only 5 days with minimum temperatures of 32 degrees or below, this
was 9 days below normal. This was third lowest total on record
since the current International Airport location started in 1971,
behind only the 4 days that occurred in 2017 and 2019.

There were a total of 6 daily record HIGH maximum temperatures 
set last year, along with 5 daily record LOW maximum temperatures
set, 4 daily record LOW minimum temperatures set, and 2 daily 
record WARM minimum temperatures set.

The average dew point temperature (Td) for 2021 was 60.7 degrees,
which is 1 degree above normal, but was the least humid value 
since 60.2 degrees in 2016. The peak Heat Index last year was 112 
degrees which occurred on both 8-19 and 8-20.

The total rainfall for the year 2021 was 57.16 inches, which is
3.76 inches above normal. There were 5 daily maximum rainfall
records set last year. The greatest 24 hour rainfall total was
3.05 inches on 7-18 and 7-19. The greatest 1 hour rainfall total
was 2.77 inches on 6-18 during an intense thunderstorm.

There were a total of 95 days with thunderstorms reported last
year, this is tied for second highest on record with 1903 and
1924, behind only the 111 days in 2018. Ironically, there has not
been a thunderstorm reported at the Int'l Airport since 10-28.

No snowfall was reported in 2021, BUT hail did occur during a
heavy thunderstorm on 4-24 at the International Airport location.

There were a total of 23 days with dense fog in 2021, which is 13
days below normal, which continues a trend of less dense fog in
the Jacksonville metro area over the past 2 decades.

The average wind speed for the year 2021 was 6.3 mph, which is 0.3
mph below normal. The lowest average since 6.2 mph in 2014. The
peak wind gust for the year was 60 mph from the West set on 4-10,
which was also the second highest on record for the month of April.

The lowest sea level pressure (SLP) for 2021 was 29.57 inches of 
mercury or 1001.2 millibars which occurred on 10-28 and 10-29. The
highest sea level pressure (SLP) for 2021 was 30.57 inches of
mercury or 1035.4 millibars which occurred on 3-9, and also ranks
as the fourth highest on record for the month of March.

Other Weather Highlights...

Tropical Storm Elsa pushed through the Jacksonville metro area on
July 7, which produced an EF-1 tornado that caused damage just 
West of the I-95 corridor south of downtown Jacksonville, 
thankfully with no injuries being reported.

February was the "stormiest" on record with an all-time high 
total of 7 thunderstorm days and the tenth wettest on record with
6.63 inches of rainfall. 

The most impactful non-tropical storm surge event on record 
occurred in the Jacksonville metro area on November 6 and 7, when
a true "Nor'easter" low pressure system developed off the Florida
East Coast and produced widespread Minor to Moderate coastal 
flooding of up to 3 feet above normally dry ground along the
Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia beach locations for
several high tide cycles, which extended down the St Johns River
Basin as well.

$$