“If you don’t like the weather, just wait. It will change.” That may be one of the most repeated cliches ever, and in 2022, it proved to be true for the Twin Lakes Area. The year included the fifth wettest May in recorded history, the third driest June and the annual average for snowfall literally being doubled. In addition, a total of 10 daily records were either broken or tied last year at KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot, the official reporting station for the National Weather Service in Mountain Home.
Measurable snow was recorded on 10 days of 2022 for a total of 15.6 inches. The annual average in Mountain Home is 7.8 inches. Over half of last year’s snowfall came in February with a total of 8.1 inches. The snowfall record for Feb. 4 was broken when 4 1/2 inches were measured. That was the second of a two-day event which saw a total of 7.3 inches.
The total rainfall for 2022 was 55.19 inches. That number is 6.99 inches higher than the total of 48.2 inches in 2021. Mountain Home ended up 4.33 inches above the annual average of 50.86.
May of 2022 had 14 days of measurable precipitation for a total of 10.92 inches. That ended up 4.03 inches shy of the wettest May on record, when 14.95 inches of rain fell two years earlier in 2020.
The tide turned the very next month. June’s total rainfall was 38 hundredths of an inch. The driest June occurred in 1933 and 1952 when no rain was recorded both times. Mountain Home had no measurable precipitation during a run of 23 consecutive days starting June 12 and continuing through July 4.
There were three days of record rainfall in 2022. Jan. 16 had 1.87 inches, May 3 ended up with 2.78 inches, and Dec. 8 had 1.03 inches.
The Twin Lakes Area also saw its share of dangerous heat last year. On July 8, a high of 100 degrees was recorded for the first triple digit temperature in Mountain Home since Aug. 5, 2012. A total of 10 days during the month had temperatures reach at least 100, and that combined with the scarce rainfall led to drought conditions. Much of the area was under a severe drought during the period, and portions of Fulton and Howell counties were under an extreme drought.
Three record highs were broken on New Year’s Day at 74 degrees and May 12 and 13 at 91 degrees both days. Two other record highs were tied last year. The 90-degree high on May 11 tied the previous daily record in 1902, and the 96-degree temperature on Sept. 21 knotted up the record set in 1970. The lone record low in 2022 was set on Oct. 19 at 26 degrees.
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