For the second consecutive month, and only the second time in 2022, the area recorded below normal temperatures. Unfortunately we also returned to the below average precipitation that has plagued the region for most of 2022.The average daily high in December was 40.9, 1.6 degrees below normal. The average overnight low was 22.8, one tenth of a degree below normal. This gave us a monthly mean temperature of 31.9, 0.8 of a degree below normal.
The region experienced a rather dramatic, but fortunately short-lived cold spell just before Christmas with a few evenings of below zero readings. The highest temperature for the month was 58 degrees reached, on the 13th and again on the 29th. The lowest temperature for the month was the -9 reading on the morning of the 22nd. There were two temperature records set for the month, both record high, overnight low temperatures. The low of 43 on the 12th broke the old record of 41 set in 1993. The low of 49 on the 13th broke the old record of 47 set in 2015.
Fortunately the month was far from being record setting. The coldest December on record was in 1983 when we had a long frigid cold snap which resulted in a monthly mean temperature of only 13.6 degrees. That was the second all time coldest month on record. The all time coldest month was January 1979 with a monthly mean temperature of 12.1. The warmest December on record was just a year ago, December 2021, with a monthly mean temperature of 42.6.
While well below normal, the area did see some precipitation in December as well as enough snow that we were able to have a, barely, white Christmas. Average precipitation for December is 1.17 inches. Junction City recorded 0.57 inches and Milford Lake received 0.65 inches. This brought the year to a close with well below normal precipitation. Average annual precipitation is 33.57 inches. Junction City received 29.72 inches and Milford Lake 27.94 inches. The wettest December on record was in 2007 when an ice storm deposited 3.88 inches of precipitation on the area causing a great deal of ice damage to trees and power lines! The driest December on record was in 1976 and again in 2021 when no measurable precipitation was recorded.
Just prior to the frigid weather’s arrival the area received 1.5 inches of snow which the cold temperatures allowed to stick around until after Christmas. This was less than one half of the normal December snowfall of 3.7 inches. It was also only the second snowfall recorded for the season. Season to date we have received 2.5 inches of snow, only half of our normal 4.8 inches through the end of December.
January is typically our coldest and driest month of the year. Average daily highs during January start the month around 38 and by the end of the month have risen to 42. Overnight lows on New Year’s Day are expected to be around 18 and by the end of the month have clawed their way up to about 20 degrees. Long term average January precipitation is 0.73 inches. Average snowfall is 4.7 inches.