A Statistical Preview of Denver's December Weather

...A STATISTICAL PREVIEW OF DENVER'S DECEMBER WEATHER...

DENVER'S MONTHLY MEAN TEMPERATURE FOR DECEMBER IS 30.0 DEGREES AND IS

DENVER'S COLDEST MONTH OF THE YEAR. DECEMBER EDGES SLIGHTLY COLDER

THAN JANUARY WHICH HAS A MEAN MONTHLY TEMPERATURE OF 30.7 DEGREES

(1981-2010 AVERAGES).

DECEMBER'S DAILY NORMAL HIGH TEMPERATURES HOLD FAIRLY CONSTANT THROUGH THE MONTH STARTING WITH A HIGH OF 45 DEGREES AND ENDING THE MONTH WITH A NORMAL HIGH OF 43 DEGREES. FOR LOW TEMPERATURES, THE MONTH BEGINS WITH A NORMAL LOW OF 19 DEGREES AND FINISHES WITH A LOW OF 17 DEGREES. THE WARMEST TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED DURING THE MONTH OF DECEMBER, SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1872, WAS 79 DEGREES ON THE 5TH DAY OF THE MONTH, 1939. DECEMBER'S COLDEST TEMPERATURE EVER IN DENVER WAS -25 ON BOTH THE 24TH OF 1876 AND THE

22ND OF 1990.

 

DENVER'S COLDEST DECEMBERS (MEAN TEMPERATURES):

17.4 DEGREES 1983 ***COLDEST MONTH IN DENVER HISTORY

21.2         1909

22.1         1878

22.7         1873

23.1         1913

23.7         1932

24.1         2009

24.3         1914

24.6         1978

24.8         1884

 

DENVER'S WARMEST DECEMBERS (MEAN TEMPERATURES):

43.8 DEGREES 1933

41.2         1980

40.9         1939

40.5         1889

39.7         1906

39.6         1946

39.5         1957

39.5         1881

39.2         1890

38.8         1896

 

BEHIND MARCH AND NOVEMBER, DECEMBER IS DENVER'S 3RD SNOWIEST MONTH

WITH THE CITY NORMALLY COLLECTING 8.5 INCHES. SIMILAR TO DENVER'S OTHER 3 SNOWIEST MONTHS OF MARCH, APRIL AND NOVEMBER, DECEMBER HAS THE CAPABILITY TO

PRODUCE BIG SNOWSTORMS. IN FACT, THE HEAVIEST AND LONGEST DURATION

SNOWSTORM IN DENVER'S HISTORY OCCURRED FROM THE 1ST THROUGH THE 5TH

OF DECEMBER, 1913. THAT 5 DAY SNOWSTORM DUMPED 45.7 INCHES ON THE FAIRLY NEW

CITY OF DENVER AND BROUGHT ALL OPERATIONS TO A HALT FOR WEEKS.

 

DENVER'S SNOWIEST DECEMBERS:

57.4 INCHES 1913 ***SNOWIEST MONTH IN DENVER HISTORY

30.8        1973

29.4        2006

27.1        1982

21.5        1987

20.9        2007

19.6        1918

18.4        1924

17.8        1960

17.5        1891

 

AT TIMES, DROUGHT-LIKE CONDITIONS EXTEND WELL INTO THE WINTER MONTHS

OF DECEMBER THROUGH MARCH. THESE DRY PERIODS ARE OFTEN ASSOCIATED

WITH LA NINA PHASES OF THE PACIFIC OCEANIC REGION, AND CAN HOLD

MONTHLY TEMPERATURES WELL ABOVE SEASONAL NORMALS MAINLY DUE TO

WARMER NIGHT-TIME LOW TEMPERATURES. LA NINA PATTERNS ARE ALSO

ASSOCIATED WITH CONTINUOUS WINDY DOWNSLOPE PERIODS ALONG THE EASTERN

PLAINS REGION, INCLUDING THE FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS, THE ENTIRE I-25

CORRIDOR, INCLUDING DENVER.

 

DENVER`S LEAST SNOWIEST DECEMBERS:

0.0 INCHES  1995 DENVER`S LEAST SNOWIEST MONTH

 T          2002

 T          1996

 T          1906

 T          1905

0.1         1928

0.4         1890

0.5         1935

0.7         1977

0.7         1895

 

                    ...THE OUTLOOK FOR DECEMBER 2015...

THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER 2015 ENDED THE MONTH WITH SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES, WELL ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION AND ABOVE NORMAL SNOWFALL.

THIS PATTERN IS PROJECTED TO CONTINUE INTO THE FIRST WEEK OF DECEMBER AS A SERIES OF MOIST TROUGHS OF LOW PRESSURE ARE EXPECTED TO SWING INTO THE CENTRAL ROCKIES. THE MEDIUM TO EXTENDED RANGE MODELS FOR THE SECOND HALF OF DECEMBER INDICATE NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES WITH A BIAS TOWARD ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION.

 

                       ...DECEMBER STATISTICS...

 

...TEMPERATURES (1981-2010 NORMALS)...

AVERAGE HIGH...........................  42.8

AVERAGE LOW............................  17.1

MONTHLY MEAN...........................  30.0

DAYS WITH HIGH 90 OR ABOVE.............   0

DAYS WITH HIGH 32 OR BELOW.............   6  (5.8)

DAYS WITH LOW 32 OR BELOW..............  29 (29.4)

DAYS WITH LOWS ZERO OR BELOW...........   2  (1.7)

 

...PRECIPITATION...

MONTHLY MEAN...........................   0.35 INCH

DAYS WITH MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION.....   4  (4.1)

AVERAGE SNOWFALL........................  8.5 INCHES (3RD SNOWIEST

                                                      MONTH)

 

...MISCELLANEOUS DECEMBER AVERAGES...

 

HEATING DEGREE DAYS.................... 1086

COOLING DEGREE DAYS....................    0 (0.0)

WIND SPEED (MPH).......................    8.4*

WIND DIRECTION.........................  SOUTH*

DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORMS................    0* (0.0)

DAYS WITH DENSE FOG....................    1* (1.1)

PERCENT OF SUNSHINE....................   67*

(NOTE: SUNSHINE DATA ARE NO LONGER REPORTED AS OF OCTOBER 1, 2009)

 

* = 1971-2002 NORMALS

 

...DECEMBER EXTREMES...

 

RECORD HIGH............................  79 DEGREES ON 12/05/1939

RECORD LOW............................. -25 DEGREES ON 12/24/1876

                                                   AND 12/22/1990

WARMEST................................  43.8 DEGREES IN 1933

MAXIMUM/MINIMUM COOLING DEGREES DAYS...  NONE EVER RECORDED

COLDEST................................  17.5 DEGREES IN 1983

MAXIMUM HEATING DEGREE DAYS............  1469 IN 1983

MINIMUM HEATING DEGREE DAYS............   658 IN 1933

WETTEST................................   5.21 INCHES IN 1913

DRIEST.................................   0.00 IN 1881 (DRIEST MONTH

                                                  IN DENVER HISTORY)

 

WFO BOULDER