NEWS: 2013

As 2013 begins, it's cloudy and 37 degrees F at Baltimore's National Weather Service station at BWI Airport. The wind is calm.

It's the start of the International Year of Water Cooperation and the International Year of Quinoa, as declared by the United Nations.

Baltimore weather at BWI Airport: Cloudy, then mostly cloudy then cloudy; breezy at midday (18-mph gust at 11:54 am); High temp. 44° F; Low temp. 34° F; Precipitation: None.  No snow on the ground.

The 113th U.S. Congress opens for business. Republican John Boehner of Ohio is re-elected Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Students from Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, start school again three weeks after a gunman killed 20 students and six educators there. The students resume school in a different building in another town nine miles away: Monroe, Connecticut.

Baltimore weather at BWI Airport: Mostly cloudy, then cloudy, then becoming clear; High temp. 38° F; Low temp. 22° F; Precipitation: None.

Baltimore weather at BWI Airport: Rain in the morning (heavy at times), then cloudy, then becoming clear; breezy/windy much of the day (41 mph gusts); High temp. 63° F; Low temp. 28° F; Precip.: 0.73 inch.

The total precipitation for Baltimore during January 2013 is 3.64 inches, including melted snow and ice, above the normal amount of 3.08 inches.  The average daily high temperature for Baltimore during January 2013 is 45.2 degrees F, above the normal of 43.2 degrees.  The average daily low temperature for Baltimore during January 2013 is 28.6 degrees F, above the normal of 25.4 degrees.  A total of 2.9 inches of snow falls at Baltimore's official weather station at BWI Airport during January 2013, below the normal amount of 6.4 inches.

Pope Benedict XVI becomes the first pope since Gregory XII in 1415 to resign. He was succeeded by Pope Francis on March 13, 2013.

The total precipitation for Baltimore during February 2013 is 1.95 inches, including melted snow and ice.

The low temperature in Baltimore reaches 34 degrees F, the lowest temperature ever recorded for Baltimore on any May 14th (up to this point) since recordkeeping began in 1871.

Baltimore weather: Clear, then mostly cloudy, then cloudy; High temp, 63 degrees F; Low temp. 34 degrees F; Precipitation: None.

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Francisco Rodriguez earns his 300th career save, finishing off a second consecutive 2-0 Milwaukee victory over the Atlanta Braves.

The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter first appears. It's originally on Facebook and soon thereafter on Twitter. Patrice Cullors, a community organizer in Los Angeles, CA, is the person who creates and first uses this hashtag, in response to a Facebook post by her friend Alicia Garza of Oakland, CA, in which Alicia used the phrase "Black lives matter."

Pitcher Tim Lincecum throws the second major-league no-hitter in 11 days, helped by a spectacular diving catch by right fielder Hunter Pence as the San Francisco Giants defeat the San Diego Padres, 9-0. Tim Lincecum had been the losing pitcher in a no-hitter pitched by the Cincinnati Reds' Homer Bailey on July 2, 2013.

The Baltimore Ravens lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers at Pittsburgh, 19-16, on a 42-yard field goal by Shaun Suisham at the very end of the game. The Ravens are 3-4 this season.

Toyota recalls 885,000 vehicles due to electrical problems that could prevent airbags from deploying.

A state of emergency is declared in New South Wales, Australia, because of bushfires that have already claimed one life and destroyed hundreds of homes.

Gunmen open fire on a Christian wedding in a Cairo suburb in Egypt, with at least three people killed and nine others injured.

In Iraq, suicide bombers targeting police and local officials in Rawa, northwest of Baghdad, kill 15 people.

At least nineteen people are killed at checkpoints in Nigeria's Borno state. Gunmen dressed as military are identified as Boko Haram, but the group does not confirm that. They reportedly stopped motorists and then shot and killed them.

78 people are killed by cattle raiders in Jonglei state, Sudan.

30 people are killed by a suicide truck bomber in Hama, Syria.

37 people are killed in a suicide bombing in Baghdad, Iraq.

Baltimore weather: Clear, High temperature 63 degrees F, Low temperature 44 degrees F, Precipitation: None.

The total precipitation for Baltimore during December 2013 is 5.27 inches, including melted snow and ice.

Total precipitation for Baltimore in 2013 is 42.93 inches, about one inch above normal.