By Chuck Otte
County Extension Agent, Retired
In a nutshell, December was warm and dry. Well above normal temperatures and well below normal precipitation.
December continued a temperature pattern that had been seen for nine of the previous eleven months, and 20 of the previous 23 months. The average daily high for December was 46.9, 4.4 degrees above normal. The average overnight low was 28.5, 5.6 degrees above normal. This resulted in a monthly mean temperature of 37.7, 5.0 degrees above normal.
December 2024 was the 7th warmest December on record, tied with 1956 in that regard. The warmest December on record was in 2021 with a monthly mean temperature of 42.6. The coldest December on record was that miserably cold December of 1983 with a monthly mean temperature of only 13.6 degrees. The warmest temperature for the month was 65 on the afternoon of the 15th. The coldest temperature for the month was the morning reading of 14 on the 21st. There were two temperature records set in December, both record high low temperatures. The overnight low of 40 on the 16th broke the old record of 35 set in 1977. The low of 41 on the 23rd broke the old record of 38 set in 1965.
Precipitation was minimal for December. Average precipitation for the month is 1.17 inches and the area could only muster 0.25 inches. That did bring the annual rainfall tantalizingly close to normal. Our driest December is a tie held by 1976 and 2021 when no precipitation was recorded. Our wettest December was in 2007 when a massive ice storm hit us with 3.88 inches of liquid precipitation. We received 33.43 inches during the year and average annual precipitation is 33.57 inches.
Average December snowfall is 3.7 inches but all we could manage to accumulate was two minor snowfalls for a total of 1.5 inches. Snowfall season to date all we had through the end of December was the 1.5 inches. Normal season to date snowfall through the end of December is 4.7 inches.
January is normally our coldest and driest month of the year. Temperatures are reluctant to warm up very quickly in January. On New Years day we expect a high of 38 and by the end of the month we are only up to 42 degrees. Overnight low temperatures start the month at 18 and slowly rise to 20 by the end of January. January, along with February, is our snowiest month of the year with an average monthly snowfall of 4.7 inches. Average liquid precipitation, however, is only 0.73 inches.
Even though the days are slowly starting to get longer in January, long term averages show that the coldest day of the year, depending on how it is defined, is somewhere between January 4th and 9th.