It was a chilly start to 2018 with single digit high temperatures on 4 of the first 6 days, with lows mostly in the teens below zero. In fact, 2018 wouldn’t even climb above zero until well into the day on the 2nd.  That would quickly change as we entered the second week of January as much milder air spread into the region and then settled in for much of the rest of the month. Highs reached 35 or warmer 10 times in January (average is 5), climbing into the 40s 3 times. Despite the warmth, there were still enough colder days to keep the month on a whole around 1 degree below its normal. Precipitation for the month finished a bit above normal, mostly thanks to the 22^nd when 0.91 inches of rain fell (64% of the monthly total). Snowfall was a few inches above normal for January, highlighted by the 8.1 inches that dropped on the 22^nd. Outside of that day, measurable snowfall occurred on 7 days, but only amounted to an inch or more on 2 of them.

 

April in Rochester felt more like March, Part 2 as temperatures averaged under 35 degrees for the entire month.  The 34.5 degree average made it the coldest April on record, easily beating the previous record by 3 degrees.  High temperatures were held under 40 degrees 15 times with lows below 20 on 9 days. Both are records for April. The first 20 days were so cold that average temperatures were held well below freezing (27.0), crushing the previous coldest start to an April by over 7 degrees.  There was a taste of summer for the last day of April though as highs climbed to 80 degrees. It was not only winter temperatures for the start of April, but a lot of snow too. Measurable snow fell 7 times in April, all during the first 18 days. The 17 inch total set the all-time record for an April, blowing past the normal of just over 3 inches, and also made it the 47^th snowiest month on record in Rochester. A sizable feat for an April.  The month did end dry though with no rain or snow falling from the 22^nd onward.

As the calendar flipped to May, so did the seasons – from winter to summer. Spring seemed to get left out this year. The average temperature for May was 64.1 degrees, 6 degrees above normal and also the 3^rd warmest on record. In fact, the average was so mild it was only a few+ degrees below what can be expected for a normal June! Highs reached or topped 80 degrees 12 times (tied for 4^th most in a May), reaching or exceeding 90 degrees 6 times (2^nd highest total for a May).  The summer temperatures also brought a lot of summer-like rain with measurable rains on 16 days. The 5.19 inch total marked it as the 20^th wettest May on record for Rochester. The rainfall was fairly spread out with the longest stretch between measurable rains of only 6 days.

The warmth would continue for the start of the summer months with just over a week’s worth of below normal days in June. The 70.1 degree monthly average tied it for the 13^th warmest on record. It was another wet month with 16 more days of measurable rainfall (tied for 5^th most in a June) with 6 of those days recording over 1/2” (tied for 4^th most). The 6.38 inch total snuck it into the top 20 wettest Junes (19^th). A thunderstorm did bring the highest wind gust for 2018 – 69 mph from the southwest on the 30^th.

July was fairly seasonable when it came to temperatures, rounding out just 1 degree below normal. 20 of those days were within plus or minus 3 degrees of normal with no notable warm or cold streaks of note for the entire month. It was a relatively dry with the 2.88 inch total over 1 1/2 inches below normal. 

It stayed wet in October, and also turned cold. Highs were held under 60 on 25 days, 3^rd most on record for an October (16 is average). There were freezing temperatures on 13 days. Temperatures did manage to crack 80 degrees for the last time in 2018 on the 3^rd, just a few days later than the average. Overall, the 44.6 average for the month was nearly 4 degrees below normal and was the 14^th coldest October on record. It was a soggy start to the month with at least a trace of rain falling through the first 11 days. 80% of the 3.63 inch monthly total fell during this period. The latter half of the month was relatively dry with only 4 days of measureable precipitation after the 14^th, accounting for only 1/3^rd of an inch. The first flakes of the new snowfall season came on the 11^th, quickly followed by the first measureable snow on the 14^th (1.6”). This was the 7^th quickest first snow for Rochester, and about a month earlier than average.