Sheldon, Iowa — According to weather facts ascertained daily at the KIWA studios in downtown Sheldon, 2022 saw substantial temperature swings, and an ending moisture below normal.
The warmest day of the year came during an unseasonably warm September. The highest the mercury rose didn’t quite touch the triple digits in 2022, reaching only 99 degrees on September 21st, setting a new record for that day. Only a mere 3 months later, Sheldon recorded the lowest temperature for the season, dropping to 18 degrees below zero, a 117 degree swing on December 23rd. Not to be outdone, the 23rd also recorded high winds of 44 miles-per-hour, making for a wind chill of 55 degrees below zero. These high winds combined with the freshly fallen 2 inches of snow caused deep drifts, local officials to pull the plows off the road, and the Iowa State Patrol to make a statement for people to stay where they were and that law enforcement may not be able to reach them in the first blizzard of the 22-23 winter season.
Neither of these extremes triggered the highest or lowest average highs and lows for the months of the year. Those were claimed by July average high bringing the temperature all the way up to 84 degrees, following January’s average low dropping down to one degree. There were two days during the year that 2022 tied the previous record high, and four days where new high records were set, and three days set new lows, all of which in a three-day chill in the middle of October.
2022 also saw the third derecho to strike Iowa in three years when it came shortly after July 4th, on the evening of July 5th, causing damage to trees, structures, and widespread power outages.
2022 was a dry year for Sheldon, with the most liquid precipitation coming in the month of May, where 3.05 inches fell. This contributed to the year end precipitation amount of just 19.42 inches, which is 8.21 inches below the normal precipitation amount of 27.63 inches. The driest month of the year landed in September, where not even a half an inch of rain fell, only .41 inches fell the entire month. January was close, having only one day of precipitation, where 4.5 inches of snow fell, melting down to .49 inches on the 15th of the month.
The 2021 – 2022 snow season, which was in progress as 2022 started, was a very dry snow season, logging only 16.55 inches, bringing in 20.25 inches below the normal season snowfall of 36.8 inches.
The 2022-2023 snow season is showing itself to have substantially more snow, as December 2022 was the month with the most snow, measuring a total 12.75 inches, bringing the total season snowfall to wrap the year, at 18.2 inches, which is a full six inches above the normal snowfall of 12.2 inches.
