December was on the warm side

Having recently read that December 2014 was the hottest December on record, according to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, and that 2014 was the warmest year on record, as well, I guess my data goes along with that information.

We recorded a mean temperature for December of 33.6°F (all-time mean is 29.5°F), putting us 4.1°F above the mean temperature. The Washington state climatologist is reporting that mean temperatures are up across the state for December.

We recorded a high temperature of 58.1°F on Dec. 10 and a low of 11.4°F on Dec. 1. We ended the month with 1.26 inches (mean for December is 1.39) of precipitation. Snowfall, as measured at the home weather station, occurred only three times, and it appeared as a "trace" only.

I've put together this simple table (below) that shows the monthly weather specifics for the calendar year 2014.

For the year, we had 14.6 inches (all-time average is 15.5) of snowfall here at the home weather station and a total precipitation of 12.64 inches (all-time average is 10.55). The final recap shows that in 2014 we had an above-average amount of precipitation and close to average snowfall. The high temperatures for July and August measured above the 100 mark, though weren't records by any means. In July 1939 the record was 113°F and in August 1961 it was 110°F. I think we all would agree it was warm this past summer, though.

As I write this column, we are just over half way through January 2015, and we've measured 0.83 inches of precipitation, which includes the water from 3.2 inches of snowfall.

The Climate Prediction Center has stated, "The January-February-March ... outlook is similar to the one-month January outlook, and shows increased chances of higher than normal temperatures and below normal precipitation statewide. For temperature, the probabilities are high with greater than a 60% chance of above normal temperatures for over two-thirds of Washington State. The odds for less precipitation are fewer, but still extend across the entire state."

Drop by my Facebook page and also my Twitter feeds as well as my website at http://www.grandcouleeweather.info/ (or .org). It has been revised with one-click access to weather radar and satellite feeds and features the web camera feed from WSDOT.