By Chuck Otte
Geary County Extension Agent, Retired
While the last week of November may not have reflected it, November was warmer than normal and much wetter than normal. While snow was seen on November 30, it arrived after the official recording time of 7:00 a.m. which means it will show up on the December precipitation totals.
The average daily high during November was 57.2, 2.9 degrees above normal. The average overnight low was 39.1, 6.6 degrees above normal. This gave us a monthly mean temperature of 48.1, 4.7 degrees above normal. During November there were only six nights where the overnight low was at or below expected daily low temperatures. There were 21 days, however, when the average daily high was at or above the expected high for that date! The highest temperature in November was 68 on the 3rd. The lowest temperature in November was the morning low of 19 on the 30th. There was one temperature record set. The overnight low of 62 on the 4th broke the record high low temperature for that date. The old record high low temperature was 61 set in 2015. While the temperatures were well above average we were a few tenths of a degree out of the top 5. The hottest November was in 1999 with a monthly mean temperature of 51.8 degrees. The coldest November came in 1985 when we had a monthly mean temperature of 35.2.
A rainy pattern that arrived at the very end of October continued into the first three weeks of November and drenched the area with 4.12 inches of rainfall, well above the long-term average November precipitation of 1.42 inches. This made November 2024 the 6th wettest November on record, dating back to 1931. The wettest November was in 1931 when 5.88 inches deluged the area. The driest November is an honor held by three different years. The Novembers of 1954, 1966, and 1989 saw no precipitation land in the rain gauges! Year to date, January through November, we have received 33.18 inches, above the long-term average for those 11 months of 32.40 inches. As stated earlier, officially there was no snow recorded in November.
December brings us the start of meteorological winter on the 1st and astronomical winter on the 21st. It also brings us our shortest daylength of the year (on the 21st) and often some of our coldest temperatures. While January is the coldest month of the year December can be brutal at times as well. Daily high temperatures in December start the month at 46 and by New Year’s Eve day they have slid to 39. Overnight lows for the month range from 26 on the 1st down to 20 on the 31st. December is one of our driest months of the year (only January and February are drier) with average liquid precipitation of 1.17 inches. While a White Christmas is unlikely in any given year, long term average December snowfall is 3.7 inches.