By Louie Graves
News-Leader staff
Only three months of 2018 were under normal rainfall, but we won’t know total rainfall until the federal government shutdown is over.
That’s because the national Weather Service Forecast Organization is not recording daily temperature and precipitation figures. The data goes only up to Dec. 27.
By all appearances, 2018 will likely be one of the wettest on record. A total of 70.03 inches of rainfall was recorded by 7 a.m. Dec. 27, including 3.65 inches on Dec. 26, the wettest day of the year.
The coldest temperature of the year was 9 degrees, measured twice in January. In 2018 there were 28 days with temperatures below freezing.
The hottest temperature recorded was 105 degrees on July 21. In that month there were six days that were 100 or higher, but no other month had a 100 degree day.
Temperature and precipitation measurements are taken here at the Southwest Arkansas Radio studio on South Fourth Street, Nashville, and are forwarded to the federal agency.
Weather for 2018 included:
January
The high temp was 68 on the 22nd day, and the low was 9 degrees, measured on the 17th and 18th. Actual precipitation was 2.59 inches. There were eight days with measurable rainfall. Normal precipitation for the month is 3.66 inches.
February
High temp was 75 measured on three days, and the low was 25 recorded two days — the 8th and 9th. There was no snow, and there was measurable rainfall on 17 days. Official rainfall was 13.06 inches, and normal is 4.01. This was the overall wettest month of the year.
March
The high temp of 82 was recorded three times, and the low was 30 recorded three times. There were five days with temps below freezing. There were 10 days with measurable rainfall totaling 5.81 inches. Normal is 5.05.
April
High temp was 83 on the 25th, and low was 30 on the 8th. There
were two days with low temps below freezing. Actual rainfall of 5.05 inches exceeded the normal of 4.74, and there were eight days with measurable rainfall.
May
Temperatures got above 90 for the first time as summer approached. The month’s high of 95 was recorded on the 31st. The low was 51 degrees on May 1. For the first time of the year, actual rainfall was below normal. Actual was 2.51 inches, and normal is 5.89. even with the low rainfall there were five days with measurable precipitation.
June
The first month of summer warmed up considerably, and the high of 96 was recorded three times. The overnight low was 59 on June 4. Actual rainfall was 3.14 which was below the normal of 4.49 inches. Even though rainfall was lower than normal, there were 11 days with small, measurable amounts of rainfall.
July
Temperatures finally broached the 100-degree mark on six days. The year’s highest temp was 105 recorded July 21. July was the only month to have a daytime high of 100 or hotter. Rainfall totals surpassed normal after two months of below normal records. The actual total was 4.56 and the normal is 4.02. There were 12 days with small rainfalls recorded.
August
The high temp of 96 was reached on Aug. 7 and 8, and low temperatures in the night or early morning hours fell to 63 on the first two days of the month. August rainfall reached 5.4 inches, surpassing the normal of 2.8 inches.
September
The high temp of 97 was reached on the 19th, and the low was 57 on the 28th. The actual rainfall of 6.26 inches exceeded normal of 3.66. Rainfall was measurable on nearly half of the days of the month.
October
Temperatures began to cool as the season turned to autumn. The daytime high of 90 was reached on the 5th and 6th, and cool temps for the first time dipped into the 30s with the low being 37 degrees on the 22nd. Actual rainfall of 5.63 barely surpassed normal of 5.58.
November
The month got cooler and wetter. Daytime high never got above 78, on the 1st, and the season had its first sub-freezing temperatures. The low of 25 degrees was recorded on the 15th and 16th. There was measurable precipitation on 10 days, and the total was 6.58 inches. Normal for the month is 4.81.
December
No measurements were recorded after the 27th. High temp was a springlike 73 on Dec. 1st, and low was 25, recorded on three days in early and mid-month. There were 11 days with measurable rainfall and the actual rainfall reached 9.44 inches, compared to a normal of 4.73. The year’s heaviest single day of rainfall fell on the 26th when 3.65 inches flooded ditches and creeks.