December is done, and so is 2022

December was a bit of a wild one! I had ten, count them, ten daily records at my house this past month. My records date back 22 years. This was a mix of daily record highs, daily record lows for both maximum and minimum temps. The month had some snow, ice, and plenty of rain.

Temperatures started out pretty normal with lows right around freezing and highs in the upper 30s and low 40s. But starting mid-month we saw some chilly morning lows in the teens. Four daily record morning lows were recorded on the 17th and the 21st-23rd. They were 18.5º, 19.8º, 17.4º, and 21.9º respectively. None of these were the coldest of the year however that came back in February with a mark of 14.8º. I also recorded to daily record minimum high temperatures on the 22nd and 23rd with 27.5º and 27.1º respectively, the latter being the chilliest afternoon high of the year. What followed those chilly days was a warm and wet front that rolled through bringing some unseasonably warm air in to the region. On the 27th and 30th I recorded both daily record highs and daily record high minimum temperatures of 44.1º L and 56º H on the 27th and 40.7º L and 54.1º H on the 30th. The 27th had the warmest overnight low and the warmest daytime high of the month. 

December yielded 11 sub freezing mornings and 2 days that failed to get above freezing at all. There were 5 days that did not drop below 40º overnight and 9 days that failed to reach 40º at all.  

About an inch of ice
accumulated on 12/23/22

Precipitation was well above average for rain and about average for snow. I got 9.38 inches of rain in the bucket along with 1.5 inches of snow and 1.1 inches of ice. Average rainfall for December at my house is 8.02 inches and typical snowfall is 2.49 inches. The ice event just before Christmas was the most ice accumulation since 2004. The wettest day was the 27th no surprise it was the warmest day as well, 2.60 inches of sloppy wet rain fell and that was also the wettest day of the year. December managed to produce 11 days with at least 1/4 inch of rain. Just 2 days were sunny. All of the snowfall fell on the 4th and the ice came in a three day stretch from the 22nd-24th. Christmas was an icy mess. 

The year in review:

2022 was marked with a mild first quarter followed by a surprise April snowstorm that dropped 4 inches of snow over two days. A fairly typical coolish spring followed by a pretty darn average summer. The Autumn was very atypical with October producing California like warmth and breaking several records. December brought the potpourri of weather wet and wild with some snow and the second worst ice storm I have recorded, the biggest ice event came in Jan of 2004. Below are some statistics for the year.

• Wettest day, 12/27: 2.60 inches
• Snowiest day, 4/11: 3.5 inches
• Hottest day, 7/26: 100.1º
• Coldest high, 12/23: 27.1º
• Warmest night, 8/18: 72.9º
• Coldest low, 2/23: 14.8º
• Total rainfall 2022: 48.77 inches (average 53.36)
• Total snowfall 2022: 7.05 inches (average 8.57)
• Days over 100º 2022: 1 (average 0.6)
• Days over 90º 2022: 23 (average 12.8)
• Morning lows < 32º: 37
• Sub freezing highs: 2
• Sunny days: 93
• Rainy days: 135
• Days with .25 inch rain: 54 
• Average low 2022: 46.23º
• Average high 2022: 62.76º

Happy New Year!

Chilly and Wet November in the Books

After last month's record heat one might expect a warmer than average followup yet this past month was much cooler than my 21 year rolling average and it was nearly as cold as October was hot relative to "normal." November delivered near normal precipitation and temps that were on average 3.5º cooler overnight and about 3.5º cooler by day as well than my 21 year normal. Five daily records were broken all cold records four overnight lows and one daily cold high. The all time monthly record for cold either overnight or daytime was not challenged, not even close in fact.

The warmest day last month was 57.2º on the 5th with very heavy rain coming down. The warmest overnight low of 47º came on the 4th with a wet system on approach. The coldest overnight low arrived the morning of the 19th when my thermometer reported 19.8º under clear skies. The coldest daytime high was 37.8º on the 29th under mixed precipitation. That was not a daily record cold high. Records broken for the month were all local daily records from my 21 years here. They were morning lows of 31º, 24.5º, 21º, and 19.8º on the 13th, 14th, 17th, and 19th of the month. None of these cold temps was close to challenging my all time November low of 13.8º back in 2010. The daily record cold high was not that chilly but it came early in the month on the 7th with a 42.9º mark. Overall November delivered seven days with subfreezing temps, one day under 20º, and five others in the 20s. Every day but one managed to get above 40º in the afternoon, and eight days made it to the 50s. 

Precipitation ran close to normal with my number shy by less than an inch of my 21 year normal. 7.06 inches fell almost all of it as rain but a little wintry mix as well. There was no sticking snow at my house. Sticking snow was found as low as 500 feet above sea level. The wettest day came on the 5th with an all day deluge of 2.06 inches. That was one of two days exceeding an inch and seven days that exceeded 0.25 inch. All told 14 days with precipitation against nine sunny days. Nine sunny days in November is actually pretty damn good :)

It seems like we are headed towards another cooler than average month but one never knows what the weather will decide to do. I would expect some sticking snow down to sea level at some point in the next few weeks.