The Twentieth Century in Port City (Wilmington) Weather

CLIMATOLOGICAL REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
345 PM EST THU JAN 6 2000

...THE 20TH CENTURY IN PORT CITY WEATHER...

NOW THAT 1999 HAS COME TO A CLOSE AND THE YEAR 2000 HAS BEEN USHERED
IN... IT IS TIME TO TAKE A LOOK BACK AT THE 20TH CENTURY FROM A
CLIMATOLOGICAL STANDPOINT FOR WILMINGTON. INFORMATION WAS COMPILED
ON A YEAR-BY-YEAR BASIS FOR EACH YEAR IN THE 1900S AND AVERAGES...
MAXIMUMS AND MINIMUMS WERE TABULATED.

THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE IN WILMINGTON IN THE 20TH CENTURY WAS
63.5 DEGREES... WITH THE AVERAGE HIGH BEING 73.0 DEGREES AND THE
AVERAGE LOW BEING 54.1 DEGREES. THE WARMEST YEAR OF THE CENTURY WAS
1990 WITH AN AVERAGE TEMP OF 66.5 DEGREES. THE COOLEST YEAR WAS 1981
AT 60.9 DEGREES. 1990 ALSO HAD THE HIGHEST AVERAGE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE
(77.4 DEGREES) WHILE 1901 HAD THE LOWEST (70.0 DEGREES). LIKEWISE...
1981 HAD THE LOWEST AVERAGE MINIMUM TEMP (50.1 DEGREES) WHILE 1949 SAW
THE HIGHEST (57.3 DEGREES).

THE AVERAGE ANNUAL HIGHEST EXTREME TEMPERATURE WAS 97.5 DEGREES.
THE HOTTEST TEMP RECORDED DURING THE 1900S (AND EVER) WAS 104 DEGREES
ON JUNE 27TH 1952. THE COOLEST READING FOR A YEARLY EXTREME HIGH WAS
91 DEGREES ON A PAIR OF DAYS IN 1909. THE AVERAGE COOLEST HIGH FOR A
YEAR WAS 32.6 DEGREES. THE EXTREMES FOR COOLEST HIGHS WERE 16 DEGREES
ON DECEMBER 30TH 1917 AND 47 DEGREES ON 3 DAYS IN 1990.

THE AVERAGE ANNUAL LOWEST EXTREME TEMPERATURE WAS 17.3 DEGREES.
ON CHRISTMAS MORNING IN 1989 THE MERCURY DROPPED TO ZERO... WHICH
WAS THE COLDEST TEMP EVER RECORDED IN THE PORT CITY. THE WARMEST
READING FOR A YEARLY EXTREME LOW WAS 29 DEGREES ON 5 DAYS IN
1949. IN CONTRAST... THE AVERAGE WARMEST LOW FOR A YEAR WAS
78.2 DEGREES. THE WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE RECORDED WAS THIS PAST YEAR
ON AUGUST 1ST WHEN THE TEMP ONLY DROPPED TO 83 DEGREES. THE LOWEST
WARM LOW WAS 74 DEGREES ON 7 DAYS IN 1944.

DURING THE AVERAGE YEAR IN THE 1900S... THERE WERE 33.4 DAYS WHEN
HIGH TEMPERATURES OF 90 DEGREES OR WARMER WERE RECORDED. THE MOST IN
ONE YEAR WAS 71 IN 1980 WHILE THE LEAST WAS 5 IN 1938. THE LONGEST
STREAK OF DAYS WITH SUCH HEAT WAS 23 DAYS BETWEEN JULY 7TH AND 29TH
IN 1900. IN ADDITION... THERE WERE 16 DAYS DURING THE CENTURY WITH
HEAT IN EXCESS OF 100 DEGREES.

THE NUMBERS WERE FAIRLY SIMILAR FOR FREEZING DAYS. THE AVERAGE YEAR
SAW 33.9 DAYS WITH LOW TEMPS OF 32 DEGREES OR COOLER. THE MOST IN ONE
YEAR WAS 72 IN 1968 WHILE THE LEAST WAS 8 IN 1921. THE LONGEST STREAK
FOR FREEZING TEMPS WAS 19 DAYS BETWEEN JANUARY 26TH AND FEBRUARY 13TH
1978. THE PORT CITY SAW HIGH TEMPERATURES STAYING AT OR BELOW FREEZING
ABOUT THREE TIMES EVERY FOUR YEARS (77 TIMES DURING THE CENTURY). 1917
HAD THE MOST OF THESE DAYS WITH 5. THERE WERE 9 DAYS WHERE LOW TEMPS
REMAINED IN SINGLE DIGITS.

RELATED TO TEMPERATURES... THE AVERAGE GROWING SEASON WAS 246.8 DAYS
LONG. THE LONGEST SUCH SEASON OCCURRED IN 1946 WHEN THERE WERE
302 DAYS BETWEEN FREEZES. THE SHORTEST GROWING SEASON WAS 191 DAYS IN
1926.

DURING THE 20TH CENTURY... WILMINGTON RECEIVED 5137.58 INCHES OF RAIN
(IN EXCESS OF 428 FEET) FOR AN AVERAGE OF 51.38 INCHES PER YEAR. THE
MOST IN A SINGLE YEAR WAS 72.06 INCHES... THE TOTAL IN 1999. THE LEAST
WAS 27.68 INCHES IN 1909. THE AVERAGE YEAR SAW A 24-HOUR MAXIMUM
RAINFALL OF 4.43 INCHES. HURRICANE FLOYD BROUGHT A RECORD 24-HOUR MAX
OF 14.84 INCHES ON SEPTEMBER 15-16 1999. THE SMALLEST 24-HOUR MAXIMUM
IN ANY YEAR WAS 1.70 INCHES ON DECEMBER 4TH 1902.

THE AVERAGE YEAR HAD 117.8 DAYS WITH MEASURABLE PRECIP. 1989 WAS THE
YEAR WITH THE MOST (148) WHILE 1941 SAW THE FEWEST (92). ON AVERAGE
THERE WERE 14.7 DAYS A YEAR WITH AT LEAST AN INCH OF RAIN. 1992 HAD
THE MOST (25) WHILE 1931 WAS THE YEAR WITH THE LEAST (6). THUNDER
WAS REPORTED ON AN AVERAGE OF 51.2 DAYS PER YEAR. 1947 HAD THE MOST
THUNDER DAYS (81) WHILE 1968 HAD THE FEWEST (32).

FROM THUNDERSTORMS... HAIL WAS OFFICIALLY REPORTED 71 TIMES DURING THE
100 YEARS. THE YEARS OF 1925... 1949 AND 1998 EACH HAD 4 EVENTS - THE
MOST FOR ANY YEAR.

IN THE 100 YEARS THAT JUST PASSED... A TOTAL OF 177.2 INCHES (NEARLY
15 FEET) OF SNOW FELL ON WILMINGTON (1.8 INCHES PER YEAR). THE
GREATEST AMOUNT OF SNOW IN ONE YEAR WAS 19.4 INCHES IN 1912. THERE
WERE 106 DAYS WITH AT LEAST ONE-TENTH OF AN INCH OF SNOW (1.1 DAYS
PER YEAR) - 1912 AND 1973 TIED FOR MOST WITH 5 EACH. THE YEARLY
AVERAGE FOR MOST SNOW IN A 24-HOUR PERIOD WAS 1.3 INCHES. 11.7 INCHES
WAS THE MOST MEASURED IN A SINGLE 24-HOUR PERIOD DURING THE 20TH
CENTURY (FEBRUARY 9TH-10TH 1973).

THE PORT CITY AVERAGED 64.6 PERCENT OF POSSIBLE SUNSHINE DURING THE
1900S. THE SUNNIEST YEAR WAS 1941 WHEN 74 PERCENT OF POSSIBLE SUN WAS
RECORDED. THE LEAST SUNNY YEAR WAS 1951 WHEN ONLY 53 PERCENT WAS
RECEIVED. THERE WAS AN AVERAGE OF 20.2 DAYS PER YEAR WHEN DENSE FOG
/VISIBILITY OF ONE-QUARTER MILE OR LESS/ WAS REPORTED. 1998 HAD THE
MOST DENSE FOG DAYS (42) WHILE 1902 HAD THE FEWEST (5).

THE WIND SPEED WAS 8.4 MPH. 1958 WAS THE BREEZIEST YEAR WITH AN
AVERAGE OF 12.1 MPH. 1981 WAS THE CALMEST YEAR WITH AN AVERAGE OF
5.8 MPH. THE AVERAGE ANNUAL HIGHEST SUSTAINED WIND WAS 43.9 MPH.
HURRICANE HELENE BROUGHT THE FASTEST SUSTAINED WIND... 88 MPH ON
SEPTEMBER 27TH 1958. 1931 AND 1992 EACH THE SLOWEST WIND FOR A YEARLY
MAXIMUM... 28 MPH.

FINALLY... THE AVERAGE HIGH SEA-LEVEL PRESSURE FOR ANY SINGLE YEAR WAS
30.66 INCHES WHILE THE AVERAGE LOW PRESSURE WAS 29.27 INCHES. THE
HIGHEST SEA-LEVEL PRESSURE OF THE CENTURY WAS 30.85 INCHES IN 1934 AND
1991. THE LOWEST PRESSURE WHICH QUALIFIED AS THE HIGHEST OF ITS YEAR
WAS 30.46 INCHES IN 1985. WHEN HURRICANE FLOYD STRUCK IN SEPTEMBER
1999... THE PRESSURE PLUMMETED TO 28.33 INCHES TO SET A NEW RECORD
LOW. THE HIGHEST YEARLY LOWEST PRESSURE WAS 29.53 INCHES IN 1939.

LGE