Wrapping Up 2012

2012 is over. Some would argue that the Christmas night Blizzard was the biggest weather story of 2012 in Region 8. While that was big, I think the weather event that impacted us more was the drought. After looking through the record books, it appears Jonesboro had the 7th driest year on record! Here's the Top 10 driest years on record now:

1. 27.86" 1943
2. 29.09" 1963
3. 31.99" 1941
4. 32.22"  2010
5. 32.30" 1901
6. 32.82" 1971
7. 33.57" 2012
8. 35.33" 2005
9. 37.07" 1977
10. 37.47" 1986

In Jonesboro, we were 14.53" BELOW average for rainfall. In case you were wondering, we finished 2012 with only the snow we had on Christmas night. If you recall, there was not any snow in January or February. Also, the state ended the year with 18 tornadoes and ZERO deaths from tornadoes in the state of Arkansas! That's some great news. The average number of tornadoes in Arkansas is 33. 

We're still bouncing back from the drought. Barge traffic is starting to pick back up on the Mississippi River and the water levels are heading up. Hopefully our local farmers will have a better year on 2013!

Have a Happy New Year!

Ryan