The 2020 - 2021 winter brought cold weather back to the First Coast- a change from some of the previous years. The mercury hit freezing seven times during the month of December and reached hard freeze status 3 times. And when the mercury wasn't cold, we were likely experiencing rain from several storm systems.
Despite the cold weather, the winter wasn't extreme enough to produce more freezes than average. An average winter produces around 15 freezes and 5 hard freezes. This winter produced 12 freezes and 3 hard freezes. The less than average amount of freezes has been a trend seen since the 1970s, with some exceptions.
It is classic for La Nina winters in the Southeast to be drier and warmer than average; however, most of Florida's recent winter resembled an El Nino weather pattern, with abundant precipitation and cooler temperatures.
The 2020-2021 La Nina value averaged around 1.2, which is considered moderate. So why didn't the atmosphere get the message? It appears the jet stream was altered by a couple of different influences. A massive ridge was dominant over eastern Canada and Greenland while the northern Pacific saw heights below normal. This allowed several cold fronts to push into Northeast Florida, with cold air following.
2020-2021 Winter Summary:
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
HIGH 89 02/13/2020
LOW 7 01/21/1985
HIGHEST 86 02/18 84 2 89 02/13
LOWEST 26 12/26 24 2 32 01/21
01/22
AVG. MAXIMUM 66.9 67.2 -0.3 71.5
AVG. MINIMUM 43.3 44.3 -1.0 51.5
MEAN 55.1 55.8 -0.7 61.5
DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 0
DAYS MIN <= 32 12 12.0 0.0 2
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
MAXIMUM 24.38 1998
MINIMUM 1.14 1890
TOTALS 10.94 9.29 1.65 5.11
DAILY AVG. 0.13 0.10 0.03 0.11
DAYS >= .01 26 23.0 3.0 MM
DAYS >= .10 19 14.0 5.0 MM
DAYS >= .50 9 6.0 3.0 MM
DAYS >= 1.00 3 3.0 0.0 MM
GREATEST
24 HR. TOTAL 1.44
SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
TOTAL 1.9 MM
TOTALS 0.0 T 0.0 0.0
DEGREE DAYS
HEATING TOTAL 938 960 -22 442
SINCE 7/1 1001 1132 -131 MM
COOLING TOTAL 56 50 6 142
SINCE 1/1 48 34 14 MM
................................................................
WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED 6.6
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 37/280 DATE 01/31
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 46/310 DATE 12/24
46/MM 01/31
SKY COVER
AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.57
AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 75
WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM 11 MIXED PRECIP 0
HEAVY RAIN 15 RAIN 23
LIGHT RAIN 34 FREEZING RAIN 0
LT FREEZING RAIN 0 HAIL 0
HEAVY SNOW 0 SNOW 0
LIGHT SNOW 0 SLEET 0
FOG 49 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 10
HAZE 0
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