The weather in Austin in 2022 was colder than the inside of your fridge, drier than dad jokes, and hotter than Taylor Swift tickets on various days. Here are five things to keep in mind:

1. 2022 was one of the warmest years in Austin.

The average annual temperature at Austin’s main weather station at Camp Mabry was 71.1 degrees, making 2022 the city’s seventh warmest year on record and just 1 degree below the all-time record set in 2017.

The most notable symptoms of this year’s heat wave were 68 days of triple-digit temperatures recorded at Austin’s main weather station at Camp Mabry. According to the National Weather Service, 2022 was the third most 100-degree days compared to 2009. 2011 holds the record with 90 days, followed by 1925 with 69 days.

However, this year’s weather has resulted in some of the warmest months in Austin:

• April’s average temperature was 73.7 degrees, 4.1 degrees above normal, making this April the city’s sixth hottest on record.
• May’s average temperature was 82.3 degrees, or about 5.5 degrees above normal, making it the city’s hottest May on record. The 2022 average surpassed the previous May record set in 2018 by 1.7 degrees.
• June’s average temperature was 87.7 degrees, or 4.7 degrees above normal, making June the hottest on record for the city. The 2022 average surpassed the previous June record set in 2008 by 0.3 degrees.
• The average temperature in July was 90.6 degrees, 4.8 degrees above normal, making this July the hottest in the history of the city. The 2022 average surpassed the previous July record set in 2011 by 0.9 degrees.

The historical heat levels of the summer of 2022 – the calendar months of June, July and August – averaged 88.8 degrees, about 3.7 degrees above normal, making the season the second hottest summer on record. The 2022 average fell just 0.7 degrees below the hottest summer of 2011.

2. We haven’t had such a dry year since 2011.

Austin’s 2022 cumulative rainfall was 26.59 inches, 9.66 inches below Austin’s normal annual rainfall, according to the National Weather Service.

The total rainfall is not surprising given the year we’ve had, including 51 consecutive days without measurable precipitation, from June 28 to August 17, a period that spanned the second driest July on record.

Trace rainfall in July is tied to 2015 and 1993, the city’s second driest total rainfall in over 120 years of record keeping. The driest July was in 1962 and 1895, when zero rainfall was recorded.

The city’s cumulative annual rainfall for 2022 is the lowest since 2011, when only 19.68 inches of rain fell.

More:2022 will be the driest year in Austin since the dry and hot 2011.

3. Many milestones were achieved in 2022.

After December 2021 was Austin’s warmest December ever, it’s no surprise that the first freezing temperatures of the 2021-2022 winter didn’t hit until January 2nd.

The year set daily high temperature records on March 26 when it reached 91 degrees and on April 5 when it rose to 96.

May was so hot that it set daily records on May 14 (97 degrees), May 16-17 (99), May 18-19 (98) and May 21 when Austin hit 100 degrees for the first time in 2022.

Daily heat records continued on June 6-7 (103 degrees), June 9 (101), June 10 (103), June 11 (104), June 12 (105), June 13 (102), June 16 (103). and 23 (104) June.

July had some of the highest temperatures of the year with daily records set on July 9 (106 degrees), July 10 (110), July 11-12 (109), July 13 (108), July 19-20 (106) . , 21 (105) July and 24 (105) July.

Around this time, Austin weather in 2022 coincided with 2001, resulting in the second longest continuous streak of 100 degree days: 21 from July 16 to August 5. The record is 27 days, set in, you guessed it, in 2011.

There were not many rains, but when they came, records were set these days:

• January 31, when Camp Mabry set a daily rainfall record of 1.94 inches.
• June 27, when the daily rainfall record of 1.68 inches was set.
• On August 22, which was the rainiest day of the year, a daily record of 3.73 inches was set.

More:Tornado damage reported in Elgin, Round Rock amid severe weather in the Austin area.

4. We survived half a dozen tornadoes.

Austin already has a reputation for being in “flash flood lane,” but the worst contributors to weather-related devastation this year were five tornadoes that swept through central Texas in March and a sixth in October. According to the Extended Fujita Scale used by meteorologists, the eddies were at the weaker end of the scale. But they still managed to smash houses and buildings and uproot several trees.

Five tornadoes swept through the Austin area on March 21, leveling homes and damaging property in seven counties, according to the National Weather Service:

Jarrell was hit a second time when a flurry of thunderstorms on the night of October 24 unleashed an EF-1 tornado that overturned cars, ripped roofs from houses, and broke tree branches in northern Williamson County.

Based on surveys of damaged areas at Jarrell, meteorologists estimated that the tornado reached 100 miles per hour and traveled about 4 miles over a path about 150 yards wide. According to the meteorological service, only one person was injured.

More:Tornado confirmed in Jarrell, where the fire station is, houses damaged by the wind

5. La Niña continued to affect our weather.

La Niña – a phenomenon in which the tropical waters of the eastern Pacific become colder than usual – will continue into winter. The influence of the La Niña on the jet stream typically leads to unseasonable periods of heat and drought, which only exacerbated dry conditions in 2022.

“Climate Prediction Center forecasts indicate a 75 percent chance that La Niña … will persist in the tropical Pacific for the third consecutive winter.”