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SLEDDING YESTERDAY, TODAY, TOMORROW – Noelle Stanback was not chicken to slide down Washington Avenue Tuesday morning. She did report that Lucy, her hen, was cold and needed its sweatshirt. The sledding hill may be open all week, closed to car traffic because it is too slick. This forecast calls for no school Thursday either, with snow and rain predicted. – Photo by Ken Stern
The year ended with an inch of rain, 0.84” on the 31st and 0.16” the day before. The 3.5” total rain is typical for Decembers this century. The 20 year average is 3.4”, only four percent less. Rain fell 16 days. Rain fell daily the 10-15, totaling 0.73”. But more rain fell on the 20th, 0.76” and on the 31st.
Thirteen years this century there have been 3” or more of rain. Two years there was about 4.5” of rain and in 2015 seven inches fell.
Less than 1.5” rain occurred twice, 1.3” each in 2009 and 2011.
Christmas Eve through the 26th was the coldest three day stretch, each day averaging in the mid-thirties degrees, and each following day colder. Dec. 26 was the month’s coldest day, averaging 34.3 degrees. The day’s low was 25.7 degrees and high 43.
A warming trend ended the month, with highs of 51 and 52 on the 29th and 31st respectively.
The daily average minimum temperature, 37.3 degrees, was eight percent above the 20 year average, pushing the average daily temperature of 42 degree to six percent above the 20 year average.
There is no ready rainfall or temperature pattern.
There are 18 years of data, with no records for 2002 or 2005.
It did not snow last month.
Measurements and data are at Washington State University’s Mount Vernon weather station on Memorial Highway.
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