MOLINE, Ill. — Happy New Year! Time to take a look back at the weather for 2023 for the Quad Cities. Two words that immediately come to mind to describe the year are warm and dry, which can best describe the entire Midwest for 2023.
ABOVE-NORMAL TEMPERATURES
Here in the Quad Cities, almost every month for the year saw above-normal temperatures. The only outlier was August, which was only about a half degree below normal. Moline's total average temperature ended at 54.2 degrees making it the warmest year we have seen since 2016 and the third warmest year on record!
Yearly averages take into account both high and low temperatures for each day, but what if we only talk about the average high temperature for the year? Moline tapped out at the highest average maximum temperature that we have seen so far. This puts into perspective how mild this year has been!
PRECIPITATION AND SNOWFALL
We tracked and talked a lot about growing drought conditions throughout the year. We saw our third year in a row with below-normal precipitation, ending the year with around nine inches in deficit. The issue with seeing persistently dry years is we can find ourselves in a long-term drought situation. Systems that pass over dry land lose energy, making it even more difficult to bounce back. This is something we will continue to watch closely into 2024.
The total snowfall for the year was 25.1 inches. This puts us about 11 inches below the average for the year.
WEATHER EXTREMES
Here's a look at the rainiest, snowiest and hottest days in Moline during 2023.
For a more in-depth look at the year and other locations including Burlington, Dubuque and Cedar Rapids, you can visit the National Weather Service Climate Records page here.
