Western and Central Wyoming

Weather Forecast Office

Rock Springs 2016 Annual Climate Summary

Rock Springs Climate Summary Banner

...Highlights of 2016...

Annual: 10th warmest year on 69 years of record (1948-2016), 87 percent of normal precipitation, Highest wind gust was 62 mph on February 18th and May 24th.
Seasonal: 9th wettest Spring (March, April, May) on record with 4.24" of precipitation.
Monthly Temperatures: 9th warmest February, 3rd warmest June, 8th warmest November on record.
Monthly Precipitation: 3rd driest January (tie), 5th driest December on record. 7th wettest September on record.

Temperature

Precipitation

Wind

Snow

Temperature Banner

Element	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average High	26.5	38.2	45.0	53.3	60.7	81.5	85.6	81.5	70.4	59.4	46.9	28.8	56.5
Mean High (1981-2010 Normals)	30.3	33.2	43.9	53.7	63.8	74.8	83.8	81.5	70.3	56.5	40.4	29.8	55.3
Average Low	10.1	21.5	26.1	32.9	36.0	50.7	54.3	50.5	44.1	34.9	24.3	10.2	33.0
Mean Low (1981-2010 Normals)	12.5	14.8	23.1	29.4	37.7	46.4	54.0	52.2	42.7	32.3	21.2	12.5	31.7
Average Temperature	18.3	29.8	35.5	43.1	48.3	66.1	70.0	66.0	57.2	47.1	35.6	19.5	44.7
Mean Average Temperature (1981-2010 Normals)	21.4	24.0	33.5	41.6	50.8	60.6	68.9	66.9	56.5	44.4	30.8	21.1	43.5
Departure from Normal	-3.1	5.8	2.0	1.5	-2.5	5.5	1.1	-0.9	0.7	2.7	4.8	-1.6	1.2
Rank: Coldest to Warmest 69 years of record (P.O.R 12/1948-2016)	26	60	55	49	15	65	49	30	38	50	61	20	59
Highest Daily Maximum	38	54	61	70	74	93	92	92	83	70	62	42	93
Date of Occurrence	28	27	21	22	5	28	27	2	1,2	10,14	15	16	6/28
Lowest Daily Minimum	-20	-3	13	20	25	39	43	36	34	25	10	-9	-20
Date of Occurrence	1	3	19	1	2	1	12	20	25	12,20	25,30	8	1/1
Number of Days with:
Maximum >= 90°	0	0	0	0	0	3	7	1	0	0	0	0	11
Maximum <= 32°	27	6	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	19	59
Minimum <= 32°	31	28	26	17	9	0	0	0	0	13	25	31	180
Minimum <= 0°	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	9
Record Highs Set or Tied	0	1	1	0	0	2	1	0	0	1	2	0	8
Record Lows Set or Tied	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
* Multiple day occurrence

Temperature Ranks and Records:

Daily Records:

Max:

February: 54 on the 27th.

March: 59 on the 5th.

June: 91 on the 20th, 91 on the 21st (tie).

July: 92 on the 27th.

October: 68 on the 27th.
November: ^{61 on the 14th (tie), 63 on the 15th.}

Min:

August: 36 on the 20th (tie).

Warmest Months of June on Record
Rank	Year	Average Temperature °F
1	1988	67.5
2	1977	67.1
3	2016	66.1
4	2015	65.9
5	2013 ,2012	65.8
7	2006	65.1
8	1956	64.9
9	2007, 1986	64.6

Warmest Years on Record (69 Years)
Rank	Year	Average Temperature °F
1	2012	47.3
2	2015	45.9
3	2003	45.5
4	2014, 1954	45.4
6	2007	45.1
7	1981	45.0
8	1977, 1953	44.9
10	2016	45.7

Top Ten Coldest Years on Record
Rank	Year	Average Temperature °F
1	1993	39.6
2	1964	40.2
3	1984	40.8
4	1965	41.1
5	1951	41.2
6	1973, 1961	41.4
8	1968	41.8
9	1979, 1975	41.9
59	2016	44.7

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Precipitation Banner

Element	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Total (inches)	0.03	0.19	0.56	1.48	2.20	0.21	0.30	0.20	1.59	0.46	0.14	0.08	7.44
Mean Precipitation (1981-2010 Normals)	0.45	0.48	0.68	0.91	1.21	0.79	0.64	0.62	0.92	0.87	0.49	0.50	8.56
Departure from Normal	-0.42	-0.29	-0.12	0.57	0.99	-0.58	-0.34	-0.42	0.67	-0.41	-0.35	-0.42	-1.12
Percent of Normal	7	40	82	163	182	27	47	32	173	53	29	16	87
Rank - Driest to Wettest 69 years (P.O.R 1948-2016)	3	19	32	53	56	12	19	17	61	25	14	5	32
Greatest 24-HR Total	0.02	0.11	0.24	0.69	1.30	0.17	0.14	0.12	1.19	0.23	0.06	0.06	1.30
Dates of Occurrence	30	18	22-23	25	6-7	12-13	19	18	22-23	3	22-23	10	5/6-7
Number of Days with:
Precipitation >= 0.01	2	4	8	9	9	4	5	4	6	5	3	2	61
Precipitation >= 0.10	0	1	2	3	4	1	1	1	3	2	0	0	18
Precipitation >= 1.00	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
Days with Thunderstorms	0	1	0	6	6	6	8	5	6	2	0	0	40
Daily Precipitation Records Set or Tied	0	1	1	2	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	9

Precipitation Ranks and Records:

One Day Precipitation Records:

February: 0.11" on the 18th.
March: 0.29" on the 29th.
April: 0.38" on the 10th, 0.69" on the 25th.
May: 0.61" on the 6th, 0.78" on the 7th, 0.54" on the 8th.
September: 0.27" on the 14th, 1.09" on the 22nd.

Driest Months of January on Record
Rank	Year	Precipitation (inches)
1	2015	0.01
2	2004	0.02
3	2016, 2011	0.03
5	2010, 1986	0.04
7	2013	0.05
8	2003, 2002	0.06
10	2014	0.07

Driest Months of December on Record
Rank	Year	Precipitation (inches)
1	1962	Trace
2	2008	0.01
3	2015	0.04
4	2004	0.07
5	2016, 1953	0.08
7	2001	0.10
8	2014, 2011	0.11
10	1974	0.12

Top Ten Driest Years on Record
Rank	Year	Precipitation (inches)
1	2012	3.14
2	2014	4.24
3	1988	4.53
4	1974	4.54
5	2013	4.64
6	2002	4.97
7	1953	5.13
8	1951	5.39
9	1954	5.42
10	2001	5.56
30	2016	7.44

Top Ten Wettest Years on Record
Rank	Year	Precipitation (inches)
1	1965	14.54
2	1973	14.41
3	1978	13.40
4	1971	12.89
5	1957	12.65
6	1991	12.08
7	1993	11.85
8	1995	11.84
9	1963	11.74
10	1996	11.10
37	2016	7.44

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Wind Banner

Element	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average Speed (MPH)	11.1	16.7	12.3	12.6	11.3	9.0	10.3	8.9	10.9	9.6	8.0	12.4	11.1
Maximum 3-sec Gust	48	62	53	48	62	54	54	51	59	49	49	59	62
Direction	250	250	260	180	250	290	200	190	200	260	180	260	250
Date of Occurrence	14	18	15	14	24	12	15	11	4	11	26	25	2/18, 5/24

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Snow Banner

Element

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Year

Snowfall (inches)

5.4

4.1

13.5

3.0

0.0

11.9

1.1

39.0

Snowfall is from the Rock Springs Fire Department COOP - RFSW4;
Period of Record 2002-2016. 1981-2010 Normals are not available for this location.

Thunderstorms Over the Southeast U.S. and Northern Rockies; Critical Fire Weather Conditions in the Plains

Rock Springs 2016 Annual Climate Summary