December 2024

[donsutherland1]

13 minutes ago, bluewave said:

My guess is that there is an issue with the long range POU data since there may have been location moves over the years. BGM has also seen a similar temperature rise in December as White Plains and NYC. Other stations like ISP and New Brunswick have seen a steady warming also.

 

 

That's a good point. @bluewave. I just looked it up now.

[donsutherland1]

1 hour ago, LibertyBell said:

Don, is December our most quickly warming month?

[LibertyBell]

9 minutes ago, donsutherland1 said:

Thanks Don, and by a pretty wide margin!

[SACRUS]

 

28 / 17 off a low of 16.  Clear.    Dry next two days before about 4 of 5 or 5 wetter and warmer days to close the month. Looking like a solid 1 to 2 inches of liquid in the next week.  Warmest of the warm up Sunday and Monday mid/upper 50s, perhaps a 60 degree reading in places.

 

 

 

[SACRUS]

 

Records:

Highs:

EWR: 66 (1982)
NYC: 63 (1982)
LGA: 62 (1982)
JFK: 65 (1982)


Lows:

EWR: -1 (1980)
NYC: 3 (1914)
LGA: 5 (1980)
JFK: 5 (1983)


Historical:

 

1776 - George Washington crossed the ice clogged Delaware River. He marched on Trenton in the midst of snow and sleet thus surprising and capturing many of the British garrison. (David Ludlum)

1947 - New York City received a record 26.4 inches of snow in 24 hours, with as much as 32 inches reported in the suburbs. The heavy snow brought traffic to a standstill, and snow removal cost eight million dollars. Thirty thousand persons were called upon to remove the 100 million tons of snow. The storm claimed 27 lives. (26th-27th) (David Ludlum)

1983 - Miami, FL, established a December record with a morning low of 33 degrees. Just three days earlier, and again three days later, record warm temperatures were reported in Florida, with daytime highs in the 80s. (The National Weather Summary)

1987 - Freezing rain plagued parts of the south central U.S., from northwest Texas to southwestern Missouri. Southwestern Missouri was turned into a huge skating rink as roads became sheets of ice. Damage to tree limbs and power lines compared to a hundred tornadoes, and half of the city of Springfield was left without electricity for 24 hours. Snow, sleet and ice covered the northwest two thirds of Oklahoma. 75,000 homes were left without electricity as ice accumulated one to two inches in a 40-mile band from Duncan to Norman to Tulsa to Miami. 25,000 of those homes were still without power a week later. The storm claimed the lives of seven persons. (24th-27th) (The Weather Channel) (Storm Data) (The National Weather Summary)

1988 - Low pressure produced heavy snow from North Dakota to western sections of the Great Lakes Region, with up to fourteen inches reported in the Chicago area. Cold arctic air hovered over the Plateau Region. Temperatures in the Big Smokey Valley of Nevada plunged to 31 degrees below zero. (The National Weather Summary)

1989 - Strong northerly winds behind an arctic cold front produced snow squalls in the Great Lakes Region and dangerous wind chill temperatures in the northeastern U.S. Wind chill readings as cold as 40 degrees below zero were reported in New York State. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

2003 - A major snow storm in Utah caused several fatalities due to avalanches. As much as 2 ft of snow fell in parts of the state, particularly south of Salt Lake City. Three people that were seen snowboarding in the Aspen Grove recreational area have been presumed dead, all others managed to escape or be rescued (Reuters).

[SACRUS]

 

NYC
 

Dec 26-27 1947: 26.4 inches of snow.

Dec 26 - 27 2010: The Boxing day blizzard of 2010 dumped 20 inches on Central park

 

[SACRUS]

 

1947 : https://www.life.com/nature/snow-blizzard-of-1947-photos-of-new-york/   /  https://glenallenweather.com/historylinks/1947/NY-Dec26.pdf

 

2010:

 

[the_other_guy]

19 this morning. 25 now

[the_other_guy]

2 hours ago, IrishRob17 said:

Definitely dropped lower than thought, I was surprised to see 6 degrees on the Davis. 

Made up fro xmas eve night when we couldnt drop at all

[MANDA]

36 minutes ago, SACRUS said:

 

1947 : https://www.life.com/nature/snow-blizzard-of-1947-photos-of-new-york/   /  https://glenallenweather.com/historylinks/1947/NY-Dec26.pdf

 

2010:

 

Great pictures of 1947 event!  Vintage!

Was a solid white Christmas here yesterday with 100% coverage and average depth of 3" at 8am.

Lost coverage mid and late afternoon and by end of the day (7pm) was about 85-90% coverage with average depth of 2".

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to everyone.

 

[bluewave]

Looks like the coming warm up will be a rainy one to close out the year.

[IrishRob17]

18 minutes ago, the_other_guy said:

Made up fro xmas eve night when we couldnt drop at all

Maybe down there. I was above freezing for less than 6 hours, back below freezing here at 6:30pm Christmas Eve. 

[the_other_guy]

29 minutes ago, IrishRob17 said:

Maybe down there. I was above freezing for less than 6 hours, back below freezing here at 6:30pm Christmas Eve. 

I’m not in the city. So there is no down there. 

 

Christmas Eve night was warm throughout the region. I woke up, It was like 28°. It was supposed to be 5 degrees colder.

 

Driving back at midnight through the Bronx and stuff it was 36-37 degrees.

 

Much warmer regionwide than it was supposed to be, Im assuming because of the high clouds that were scattered. But frankly, I was surprised.

I’m also gonna blow your socks off, but we had more snow on the ground than many to the north when I drove up to Belleayre on the 23rd. 

There was a great zone from Rtr 6-I 84.

Above that, it tapered off

[psv88]

17 overnight. Decent cold stretch 

[qg_omega]

18 minutes ago, the_other_guy said:

I’m not in the city. So there is no down there. 

 

Christmas Eve night was warm throughout the region. I woke up, It was like 28°. It was supposed to be 5 degrees colder.

 

Driving back at midnight through the Bronx and stuff it was 36-37 degrees.

 

Much warmer regionwide than it was supposed to be, Im assuming because of the high clouds that were scattered. But frankly, I was surprised.

I’m also gonna blow your socks off, but we had more snow on the ground than many to the north when I drove up to Belleayre on the 23rd. 

There was a great zone from Rtr 6-I 84.

Above that, it tapered off

It was cloudy Xmas Eve and clear last night

[winterwx21]

A lot of focus on the cold pattern setting up for January, but I'm glad that before then we're going to be getting quite a bit of rain. We still need it to help with the drought, so the potential of getting 2 inches by the middle of next week is good news. 

[Stormlover74]

2 minutes ago, winterwx21 said:

A lot of focus on the cold pattern setting up for January, but I'm glad that before then we're going to be getting quite a bit of rain. We still need it to help with the drought, so the potential of getting 2 inches by the middle of next week is good news. 

Unfortunately it's coming at the worst time. This weekend and new years eve. Taking a cousin into the city Saturday so hopefully won't be too bad during the day

[psv88]

3 minutes ago, Stormlover74 said:

Unfortunately it's coming at the worst time. This weekend and new years eve. Taking a cousin into the city Saturday so hopefully won't be too bad during the day

Terrible. Another wet end of December. Seeing phish on Monday at the garden and it will be wet!

[winterwx21]

2 hours ago, Stormlover74 said:

Unfortunately it's coming at the worst time. This weekend and new years eve. Taking a cousin into the city Saturday so hopefully won't be too bad during the day

Yeah that's true. It is bad timing during the big holiday week. It does look as if it's just gonna be mostly light rain on Saturday. I hope you guys are still able to have a good time. Then some heavier rain late Sunday and New Year's Eve. 

[SACRUS]

 

A wet week (7 days) starting Saturday to at least Tue with Sunday looking like the wettest day.  Thats >1 inch to 2 for most.

 

[hooralph]

Really impressive how tough this little snowpack has been. White Boxing Day too. In the shade the pack is only interrupted by leaves that weren’t cleaned up.

[bluewave]

Many spots will be approaching 10.00 or rain since November 20th which is a nice change from the drought last fall.

 

Data for November 20, 2024 through December 26, 2024
Click column heading to sort ascending, click again to sort descending.

CT	PAWCATUCK 0.8 SE	CoCoRaHS	9.39
CT	COLCHESTER 0.6 ENE	CoCoRaHS	9.16
NY	MOUNT SINAI	COOP	9.06
CT	STONINGTON 1.4 NNW	CoCoRaHS	9.02
NY	NESCONSET 1.4 SSW	CoCoRaHS	9.01
CT	SALEM 3.6 SE	CoCoRaHS	9.01
CT	PAWCATUCK 1.8 SSE	CoCoRaHS	8.94
CT	OAKDALE 2.6 WNW	CoCoRaHS	8.93
CT	MYSTIC 1.6 W	CoCoRaHS	8.76
NY	ST. JAMES	COOP	8.71
NY	CENTER MORICHES 0.5 N	CoCoRaHS	8.64
NY	MANORVILLE 1.8 SSE	CoCoRaHS	8.63
NY	BAITING HOLLOW	COOP	8.57
NY	CENTERPORT 1.1 SE	CoCoRaHS	8.54
CT	EAST LYME 0.6 N	CoCoRaHS	8.53
NY	RIDGE 1.8 SE	CoCoRaHS	8.51
CT	NEW CANAAN 1.9 ENE	CoCoRaHS	8.44
NY	SELDEN 1.6 ESE	CoCoRaHS	8.42
NY	PORT JEFFERSON STATION 0.3 SSW	CoCoRaHS	8.39
NY	CENTERPORT	COOP	8.37
CT	CHESTER CENTER 2.7 WNW	CoCoRaHS	8.37
CT	NORWICH 5.4 SE	CoCoRaHS	8.35
CT	HIGGANUM 0.8 NE	CoCoRaHS	8.31
CT	HIGGANUM 0.7 N	CoCoRaHS	8.29
CT	STONINGTON 0.5 NNE	CoCoRaHS	8.27
CT	GUILFORD	COOP	8.24
NY	UPTON COOP - NWSFO NEW YORK	COOP	8.23
NY	FISHERS ISLAND 0.5 NE	CoCoRaHS	8.23
NY	CENTEREACH 1.3 NE	CoCoRaHS	8.21
CT	EAST LYME 0.5 SW	CoCoRaHS	8.17
NY	RIVERHEAD RESEARCH FARM	COOP	8.13
NY	ISLIP TERRACE 1.1 NNE	CoCoRaHS	8.09
CT	MOODUS 0.7 SSW	CoCoRaHS	8.07
CT	NORWICH 5.2 SE	CoCoRaHS	8.03
CT	NEW LONDON 1.0 NNW	CoCoRaHS	8.01

[steve392]

1 minute ago, bluewave said:

Many spots will be approaching 10.00 or rain since November 20th which is a nice change from the drought last fall.

 

Data for November 20, 2024 through December 26, 2024
Click column heading to sort ascending, click again to sort descending.

CT	PAWCATUCK 0.8 SE	CoCoRaHS	9.39
CT	COLCHESTER 0.6 ENE	CoCoRaHS	9.16
NY	MOUNT SINAI	COOP	9.06
CT	STONINGTON 1.4 NNW	CoCoRaHS	9.02
NY	NESCONSET 1.4 SSW	CoCoRaHS	9.01
CT	SALEM 3.6 SE	CoCoRaHS	9.01
CT	PAWCATUCK 1.8 SSE	CoCoRaHS	8.94
CT	OAKDALE 2.6 WNW	CoCoRaHS	8.93
CT	MYSTIC 1.6 W	CoCoRaHS	8.76
NY	ST. JAMES	COOP	8.71
NY	CENTER MORICHES 0.5 N	CoCoRaHS	8.64
NY	MANORVILLE 1.8 SSE	CoCoRaHS	8.63
NY	BAITING HOLLOW	COOP	8.57
NY	CENTERPORT 1.1 SE	CoCoRaHS	8.54
CT	EAST LYME 0.6 N	CoCoRaHS	8.53
NY	RIDGE 1.8 SE	CoCoRaHS	8.51
CT	NEW CANAAN 1.9 ENE	CoCoRaHS	8.44
NY	SELDEN 1.6 ESE	CoCoRaHS	8.42
NY	PORT JEFFERSON STATION 0.3 SSW	CoCoRaHS	8.39
NY	CENTERPORT	COOP	8.37
CT	CHESTER CENTER 2.7 WNW	CoCoRaHS	8.37
CT	NORWICH 5.4 SE	CoCoRaHS	8.35
CT	HIGGANUM 0.8 NE	CoCoRaHS	8.31
CT	HIGGANUM 0.7 N	CoCoRaHS	8.29
CT	STONINGTON 0.5 NNE	CoCoRaHS	8.27
CT	GUILFORD	COOP	8.24
NY	UPTON COOP - NWSFO NEW YORK	COOP	8.23
NY	FISHERS ISLAND 0.5 NE	CoCoRaHS	8.23
NY	CENTEREACH 1.3 NE	CoCoRaHS	8.21
CT	EAST LYME 0.5 SW	CoCoRaHS	8.17
NY	RIVERHEAD RESEARCH FARM	COOP	8.13
NY	ISLIP TERRACE 1.1 NNE	CoCoRaHS	8.09
CT	MOODUS 0.7 SSW	CoCoRaHS	8.07
CT	NORWICH 5.2 SE	CoCoRaHS	8.03
CT	NEW LONDON 1.0 NNW	CoCoRaHS	8.01

How much do most places remain below normal? 

[snowman19]

It may get real ugly with icing/freezing rain/glazing very early Saturday morning north and west of the city. Light rain starting with a frozen solid ground and temps below freezing….. 

Wouldn’t surprise me to see special weather statements go out from Upton tomorrow

[WIN]

2 hours ago, psv88 said:

Terrible. Another wet end of December. Seeing phish on Monday at the garden and it will be wet!

Going to see Phish on Monday also. An annual event with my son.

[bluewave]

58 minutes ago, steve392 said:

How much do most places remain below normal? 

A place like ISP made up enough rain to finish the year over +2.00” since they were so wet up until the end of August. But Philly is still down around -5.00 due to the drier year there before the fall and less rain since then . So some of the NJ reservoirs are still low. 

 

THE ISLIP NY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 25 2024...

CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1991 TO 2020
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1963 TO 2024


WEATHER ITEM   OBSERVED TIME   RECORD YEAR NORMAL DEPARTURE LAST      
                VALUE   (LST)  VALUE       VALUE  FROM      YEAR     
                                                  NORMAL           
...................................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)                                                          
 YESTERDAY                                                           
  MAXIMUM         37    213 PM  65    2015  42     -5       53       
  MINIMUM         24    623 AM   3    1983  28     -4       37       
  AVERAGE         31                        35     -4       45     

PRECIPITATION (IN)                                                    
  YESTERDAY        0.00          1.29 2002   0.15  -0.15     0.00     
  MONTH TO DATE    4.62                      3.87   0.75     5.47     
  SINCE DEC 1      4.62                      3.87   0.75     5.47     
  SINCE JAN 1     47.19                     45.15   2.04    47.10     

 

PHILADELPHIA PA CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 25 2024...

CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD: 1991 TO 2020
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD: 1872 TO 2024


WEATHER ITEM   OBSERVED TIME   RECORD YEAR NORMAL DEPARTURE LAST      
                VALUE   (LST)  VALUE       VALUE  FROM      YEAR     
                                                  NORMAL           
...................................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)                                                          
 YESTERDAY                                                           
  MAXIMUM         40   3:16 PM  68    1964  44     -4       53        
                                      2015                           
  MINIMUM         31  11:06 PM   1    1980  29      2       39        
                                      1983                           
  AVERAGE         36                        36      0       46     

PRECIPITATION (IN)                                                    
  YESTERDAY        0.00          1.11 1945   0.12  -0.12     0.00     
  MONTH TO DATE    2.28                      3.30  -1.02     6.23     
  SINCE DEC 1      2.28                      3.30  -1.02     6.23     
  SINCE JAN 1     38.23                     43.44  -5.21    40.50     

[psv88]

1 hour ago, WIN said:

Going to see Phish on Monday also. An annual event with my son.

That’s amazing. I’d love to go with my kids but they are too young still 

[MANDA]

1 hour ago, snowman19 said:

It may get real ugly with icing/freezing rain/glazing very early Saturday morning north and west of the city. Light rain starting with a frozen solid ground and temps below freezing….. 

Wouldn’t surprise me to see special weather statements go out from Upton tomorrow

Mt. Holly has just posted Advisory.

Not much but it doesn't take much light freezing rain or drizzle you send you sliding.

[donsutherland1]

The cold will begin to recede toward the end of the week as wetter weather moves in. New York City's northern and western suburbs could see some freezing rain late tomorrow night or early Saturday morning.  

December will close with above normal temperatures and periods of rain. The temperature will likely peak in the 60s in Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelpia and the 50s in New York City and Boston. The opening days of January will likely also begin with above normal temperatures, but it will start to turn colder.

Snowfall prospects will remain limited through the end of December. However, the pattern could become more favorable for moderate or perhaps larger snowfalls as the cold returns during the first week of January. There is growing potential for the second week of January to feature widespread cold anomalies in much of the eastern half of the CONUS and Canada south of the Hudson and James Bays.

On account of a lack of snowfall, 2023-2024 will likely set a new records for the lowest snowfall over a two-year period for Boston and New York City.

Boston: 2023-2024 Total to Date: 26.7"; Record: 38.2", 1979-1980
New York City: 2023-2024 Total to Date: 12.6"; Record: 17.4", 1997-1998

The NAO fell to a preliminary -2.751 on September 24th (all-time September record: -2.371, September 12, 1971). That was the 9th lowest value on record. La Niña winters following September cases where the NAO fell to -1.900 or below featured a predominantly positive NAO. The most recent such winters were 2016-2017 and 2022-2023. The mean temperatures for those winters in New York City were 39.3° and 41.0° respectively. The 1991-2020 normal value is 36.2°. A warmer to much warmer than normal outcome is favored by the November run of the ECMWF for Winter 2024-2025.

The ENSO Region 1+2 anomaly was -0.2°C and the Region 3.4 anomaly was -0.8°C for the week centered around December 18. For the past six weeks, the ENSO Region 1+2 anomaly has averaged +0.17°C and the ENSO Region 3.4 anomaly has averaged -0.35°C. Neutral ENSO conditions may still evolve into a La Niña event during the winter. Uncertainty as to whether a La Niña will actually develop persists. On the December 19 outlook, 56% of dynamical models but 0% of the statistical models forecast the development of a La Niña.

The SOI was +5.66 today.

The preliminary Arctic Oscillation (AO) was +0.684 today.

Based on sensitivity analysis applied to the latest guidance, there is an implied 97% probability that New York City will have a colder than normal December (1991-2020 normal). December will likely finish with a mean temperature near 37.2° (1.9° below normal).

 

[Roger Smith]

7 hours ago, SACRUS said:

 

NYC
 

Dec 26-27 1947: 26.4 inches of snow.

Dec 26 - 27 2010: The Boxing day blizzard of 2010 dumped 20 inches on Central park

 

I wonder how well the 1947 storm was predicted? 

I was active in forecasting in 1970s and generally I recall standards were almost equal to present day (if that's a good thing), but in 1947 they were going by hand-drawn prog maps and no NWP, satellite or radar. 

If somebody can get hold of a newspaper forecast for that storm it would be interesting. (the blizzard of 1888 had a reasonably good forecast for NYC issued from DC, problem being, it never arrived, as the storm destroyed telegraph lines that would have placed a snowstorm warning in the newspaper a few hours before it began ... in 1888 the forecast in the newspaper was basically tonight and tomorrow, sometimes an outlook for next day also. I looked this up a few years ago, DC forecaster knew it was going to change from rain to snow at midnite but nobody in NYC got that warning so people (may have) had no idea what was coming. At forecast time snow had already begun in DC).

I recall a 16" snowstorm in Toronto in Jan 1966 that was well predicted, and also a 17" fall west of Toronto in Feb 1965 that we knew was going to occur. But by then satellite imagery was available and very rudimentary models were being tested. I don't think the Chicago Blizzard of Jan 1967 was any big surprise either, we knew in Toronto it was going to go rain-sleet-snow and temp would drop 30F from our record setter on Jan 25th (61F). I was following weather as a high school student then, and as a home wx-stn observer during those tremendous weather events (winter 1963-64 was a bit of a dud but all the others to about 1971-72 were good ones). I observed at various locations to about 1980.

Off topic but I have 24" snow pack and 8" of it fell yesterday. It is mild but we're above rain-snow line (barely, Columbia valley has only patchy snow and bare ground in places, at 1500' below my elevation of 3300').