We are now soon going to flip the calendar to December and the start of the winter season it is now time to look back at some top ten’s for December and some past extreme winters
For December the average mean (1981-2010) is 29.2° this is warmer then the 1971-2000 mean of 27.6° The warmest day is 69° on December 5th 2001. The coldest low of -18° was on December 18th 1983. The 1981-2010 average snow fall amount at Grand Rapids is just under 22” at 21.9” The biggest snow storm of 15.1” happened on December 12th 2000. The snowiest December was in 2000 when 59.2” fell. Last year December was mild with a mean of 32.5° and it was the 6th least snowy December in recorded history at Grand Rapids with just 3.3” of snow fall. December is a cloudy month in west Michigan and in 2013 there was only 7.2% of possible sunshine. The highest wind gust was 66 MPH on December 11th 1949 That was a warm day with the high of 63 at GR. The most rain/snow was 6.95” in 1893 that was a very up and down month with 25” of snow but also many days in the 50’s and the high for that month was 58 and the high on Christmas that year was 58.
The ten coldest Decembers here at Grand Rapids with the mean temp and year. The normal average for December is 29.2°
1. 17.1° 1989
2. 19.0° 2000
3. 19.0° 1976
4. 19.2° 1983
5. 20.5° 1958
6. 21.1° 1917
7. 21.3° 1963
8. 21.4° 1919
9. 22.3° 1985
10. 22.6° 1946
The warmest Decembers
1. 39.1 2015
2. 36.6 1923
3. 36.2 1983
4. 35.8 1931
5. 35.1 2012
6. 35.1 2006
7. 35.1 1913
8. 35.0 2011
9. 34.4 1918
10. 34.3 1941
Snow the top ten snowiest Decembers 21.9” is average
1. 59.2” 2000
2. 54.6” 2008
3. 53.9” 2001
4. 51.3” 1951
5. 37.0” 2016
6. 35.5” 2009
7. 34.8” 1983
8. 34.7” 2013
9. 33.7” 1970
10. 32.9” 2017
Least snow fall
1. 1.0” 2014
2. 2.3” 1913
3. 2.3” 1912
4. 2.5” 2015
5. 2.6” 1979
6. 3.2” 2018
7. 3.7” 1971
8. 3.8” 1906
9. 4.2” 1943
10. 4.5” 2011
Here is a comparison of the fall of 2018 to 2019.
Ok, here is a quick comparison. Mean temperature September 66.1° 2018. 66.4° °2019. H/L for the month 90° 40° 2018. 88° low 48° 2019. Rain fall 5.93” 2018. 7.32” 2019. October mean temperature 50.4 in 2018 and 50.2 2019. High for the month 84 2018 77 2019. Low for the month 27 2018. 31 2019. Rain fall 5.69” 2018 7.13” 2019. Snow fall trace 2018 0.3” 2019. November mean temperature 34.6 2018 With one more day 2019 is at 34.6 so this is tied with last year.. Highest for the month 52 2018 and 54 so far this year. Lowest temp 20 in 2018 and 15 so far this year. Rain fall 2.73” in 2018 and 1.22” so far this year. Snow fall 14.4” 2018 and so far this year 6.5” So yes in the fall months of September to November both 2018 and 2019 have been very much alike.
Now for the meteorological Winter the average winter season (December-February) Grand Rapids has a mean average temperature of 25.0° The warmest was in 1931 with a mean temperature of 33.9° (December 35.8° January 34.2° and February 31.8°) the coldest winter season is 18.2° in 1903 (December 22.7° January 17.3° and February 14.6°) The average snow fall for December-February is 52.1” the most 105.6” in 2013/14 and the leas was 13.4” in 1905/06 for the whole season the most snow fall is 132.0” in 1951/52 and the least for a whole season is a reported 20.0” in the winter of 1905/06.
Slim
Wow CPC says warm all the way past Christmas now!
That has changed 3 times now in 3 days.. according to berry you can’t go by that map remember?? lol..Good Luck …INDY
Wrong again. The only map I said was pointless was the 300 whatever hour snow map. A week ago it had us “trending” towards 14 inches of snow this past week. Actual total…..0.
False. It’s only produced a few times per month. The models and CPC have been trending warm in the long term for almost a week now.
+1000!
Hey Indy, we all know Barry will never admit when is wrong!
Funny. What am I wrong about? Perhaps you can copy/paste the post I was wrong about and share with everyone? Oh wait, there wasn’t one.
When the maps come out blue in summer berry always says you cant predict a day or two away in weather why even post a week out we all know sane old story with him bla blaa blaaa ..INDY
Old news and this will change by the end of next week!
Sure can tell the girls on the blog lol it’s football Saturday come on Michigan…We have a storm rolling in yes another winter storm warning bring it ….INDY
– Wintry Mix event develops in earnest this evening
– Snow, Sleet and Freezing rain tonight mainly north of Interstate 96
– In heaviest swaths across Central Lower…storm totals…2-5
inches of snow and 0.20 to 0.40 accumulation of ice
– Impacts will include slick travel and power outages
Good read on the stats Slim! Remarkable how last Fall and this Fall each month has had almost exactly identical mean temperatures. Another interesting note, of the top 10 least and top 10 most snowiest Decembers, 11 of them have been in the last 20 years. Seems to be feast or famine when it comes to December snow, and with the way the outlooks are trending now, this year could be another December for snow famine.
At this time it is cloudy and 34° here at my house. One thing for sure it looks like a cold rain for later today and will have to keep a close eye on the temperatures. My guess at this time is a very cold rain here with more ice just to the north but we shall see.
Slim
Our local met this morning said we should not be overly concerned about this system in this area. Mostly just cold rain.
In Bill’s blog today he states that about 40% of the US had snow on the ground as of Friday. He says that this is the most snow of the ground (in area coverage) at the end of November in the last 17 years. With just under 36% in 2015 is 2nd place. Now here comes the issue with anyone who thinks that just by having a large area of snow cover will lead to a cold and snowy winter some sad news. December 2015 was the warmest December on record here at Grand Rapids and that December there was… Read more »
That is a great omen for this year then! The less snow the better!
Yet all we hear about is warm weather and an easy winter coming up! Pure hype!
Perfect post for a nother perfect storm coming winter weather advisorys winter storm watches and winter storm warnings the great state of Michigan has it all today amazing… Welcome to December baby!! ….Have a great Saturday go blue kick OSU A##!! Michigan 37 OSU 26…INDY
Hope you’re right about Michigan INDY, GO BLUE!!
Also, INDY check out the forecast for Minneapolis today for the Minnesota vs Wisconsin game! Should be a great one!
https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=44.979&lon=-93.2649#.XeJyFCVOmEc
Wow I hope it’s on tv today what time ?? iNDY
3:30 ABC
I would like to see Harbaugh get this monkey off his back. Ohio State is loaded, so it would be a huge win for Blue.
Speaking of Blue, well look at who is the hottest basketball team in the country. This is good for our state and the B1G.