December 2021 Observations and Discussion

[Mr Marine Layer]

In a series of unexpected events:

• The Quad State tornado hits the Plains on December 10-11
• California gets a dud of a storm with most places getting less than 0.50" when 2 to 3 inches were forecast
• New York Times editor, 49, dies of heart attack one day after posting that he got his booster shot

[IMoveALot_Weather]

I got home last night. It was -12*F when I got in. Snow depth here is about 14". Getting above zero today will feel balmy before dipping well below zero for 72 hours. -1*F.

[Tom]

24 minutes ago, FAR_Weather said:

I got home last night. It was -12*F when I got in. Snow depth here is about 14". Getting above zero today will feel balmy before dipping well below zero for 72 hours. -1*F.

#realwinter…stoked to hear your cashing in this season.  I know you have been waiting a long time, esp since making the move up north, to be able to experience cold and snow.  Enjoy!

[Mr Marine Layer]

42 minutes ago, FAR_Weather said:

I got home last night. It was -12*F when I got in. Snow depth here is about 14". Getting above zero today will feel balmy before dipping well below zero for 72 hours. -1*F.

Dewpoints must be low.

[Mr Marine Layer]

New Year's Day looks to be nice and cool in Omaha.

[IMoveALot_Weather]

28 minutes ago, Mr Marine Layer said:

Dewpoints must be low.

Rumor has it that when the temperature drops, it gets colder.

[Beltrami Island]

10 minutes ago, FAR_Weather said:

Rumor has it that when the temperature drops, it gets colder.

That's a John Madden line if I ever heard one....

[Thunder98]

It fell to -33F in Cavalier, ND yesterday morning.

 

 

[IMoveALot_Weather]

Yup, it was about 20 degrees warmer here thanks to cloud cover.

[IMoveALot_Weather]

I believe I have my first WCW of the season

Quote

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Grand Forks ND
308 PM CST Thu Dec 30 2021

MNZ001>005-007-008-013>016-022-023-027>031-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-
024-026>030-038-039-049-052>054-011800-
/O.NEW.KFGF.WC.W.0003.211231T0000Z-220101T1800Z/
West Polk-Norman-Clay-Kittson-Roseau-West Marshall-East Marshall-
Pennington-Red Lake-East Polk-North Clearwater-Mahnomen-
South Clearwater-West Becker-East Becker-Wilkin-West Otter Tail-
East Otter Tail-Grant-Towner-Cavalier-Pembina-Benson-Ramsey-
Eastern Walsh-Eddy-Nelson-Grand Forks-Griggs-Steele-Traill-Barnes-
Cass-Ransom-Sargent-Richland-Western Walsh-
Including the cities of Crookston, East Grand Forks, Ada,
Twin Valley, Halstad, Moorhead, Hallock, Karlstad, Lancaster,
Roseau, Warroad, Greenbush, Warren, Stephen, Argyle, Newfolden,
Middle River, Grygla, Thief River Falls, Red Lake Falls, Fosston,
Fertile, McIntosh, Erskine, Bagley, Clearbrook, Mahnomen,
Naytahwaush, Waubun, Alida, Ebro, Lake Itasca, Long Lost Lake,
Lower Rice Lake, Roy Lake, Upper Rice Lake, Detroit Lakes,
Wolf Lake, Breckenridge, Fergus Falls, Perham, New York Mills,
Parkers Prairie, Henning, Battle Lake, Elbow Lake, Hoffman,
Ashby, Herman, Barrett, Cando, Langdon, Cavalier, Walhalla,
Drayton, Pembina, Neche, St. Thomas, Fort Totten, Maddock, Leeds,
Minnewaukan, Devils Lake, Grafton, Park River, New Rockford,
Lakota, Mcville, Aneta, Tolna, Grand Forks, Cooperstown, Finley,
Hope, Mayville, Hillsboro, Hatton, Portland, Valley City, Fargo,
Lisbon, Enderlin, Gwinner, Milnor, Forman, Rutland, Wahpeton,
Edinburg, Adams, and Lankin
308 PM CST Thu Dec 30 2021

...WIND CHILL WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON CST SATURDAY...

* WHAT...Dangerously cold wind chills expected. Wind chills as
  low as 55 below zero.

* WHERE...Portions of northwest and west central Minnesota and
  northeast and southeast North Dakota.

* WHEN...Until noon CST Saturday.

* IMPACTS...The dangerously cold wind chills could cause
  frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 5 minutes.


PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Avoid outside activities if possible. If outside, make sure you
wear appropriate winter clothing.

 

[OmahaSnowFan]

HORRIBLE scenes out of the Denver area today as wildfires have moved into some of the suburbs

https://denver.cbslocal.com/2021/12/30/grass-fires-boulder-county-evacuate-flames/

[westMJim]

It was yet another mild overnight here as the low of 32 with cloudy skies the current temperature is 35. There is still 1.5" of snow on the ground.  This December will end up being the one of the warmest on record here in Grand Rapids. With a current mean of 34.5° The warmest December on record is 39.1 set in 2015. 36.2 in 1923 is in 2nd place then 35.8 in 1931, 35.1 in 2012, 2006, 2013. 35.0 in 2011. Then this year note that 5 of the current warmest Decembers have happened in the last 20 years.

[Timmy Supercell]

Fog last couple mornings here in Ashland! Up until yesterday there was none at all since I got here.

Looks like ours actually forms drizzle too (not like the drier cold type we had in Klamath). Mid 40's and looks like some echoes to the west of here coming.

[Timmy Supercell]

14 hours ago, OmahaSnowFan said:

HORRIBLE scenes out of the Denver area today as wildfires have moved into some of the suburbs

https://denver.cbslocal.com/2021/12/30/grass-fires-boulder-county-evacuate-flames/

I caught some of that before I went to bed, strange how Colorado can be this dry. Nearly everywhere else is doing better on moisture whether it be from rain or snow. 

My brother just moved to Colorado in June (Federal Heights). Sounds like this activity is away from him.

We both moved to the 2 states that are making national headlines weeks apart. 

[East Dubzz]

Interested if we see much freezing drizzle this afternoon. I know it's not expected to be much, but even the most thin layer of ice can be annoying. 

[snowstorm83]

21 minutes ago, East Dubzz said:

Interested if we see much freezing drizzle this afternoon. I know it's not expected to be much, but even the most thin layer of ice can be annoying. 

I thought it was supposed to be partly cloudy this morning but there's been freezing drizzle here. My roommate said roads are slick and his brakes locked up a couple times. 

[OmahaSnowFan]

11 minutes ago, snowstorm83 said:

I thought it was supposed to be partly cloudy this morning but there's been freezing drizzle here. My roommate said roads are slick and his brakes locked up a couple times. 

There's been so many accidents here in Omaha this morning that the police are only responding to injury accidents. My wife is driving back from eastern Iowa and has made it as far as Des Moines but I'm worried about it getting worse the further this way she gets.

The NWS said they didn't think it would be an issue today but good ol' Jim called it last night.

[IMoveALot_Weather]

Got Culver's. Decided to put it in my outdoor freezer. -15°F.

[East Dubzz]

39 minutes ago, snowstorm83 said:

I thought it was supposed to be partly cloudy this morning but there's been freezing drizzle here. My roommate said roads are slick and his brakes locked up a couple times. 

Wonder if this is why they just issued an advisory for the drizzle tonight.

[East Dubzz]

26 minutes ago, OmahaSnowFan said:

There's been so many accidents here in Omaha this morning that the police are only responding to injury accidents. My wife is driving back from eastern Iowa and has made it as far as Des Moines but I'm worried about it getting worse the further this way she gets.

The NWS said they didn't think it would be an issue today but good ol' Jim called it last night.

Meant to include this part to my post above as well 

[IMoveALot_Weather]

I think there's a great chance that we get way below our forecasted lows here tonight. My grid says -29*F, but I'm already well below where I should be. It's currently -17*F, every forecast had me at -10 right now. Combine that with clear skies and a NW breeze, I should get well into the -30s. HRRR puts me at -37 and I don't think that's a longshot. The all-time record is -39.

[Timmy Supercell]

Corbin is southern Kentucky, so I wonder if they get less snow than other cities. Saw this graphic on Jackson NWS page.

I bet Louisville has gotten more than a foot in one day before. 

[IMoveALot_Weather]

Going to the Twin Cities next week and feeling temps in the upper 20s is gonna be amazing. 

[Hawkeye]

My December totals

Snow: 3.8"

Precip: 1.75"

My 2021 precip total is 32.42".

[westMJim]

December 2021 was a top ten as one of the warmest on record. The mean of 34.5 at Grand Rapids was a departure of +4.1. That is good for the 7th over all warmest Decembers on record. The high for the month was 63 on the 16th The low for the month was 15 on the 8th. There was a total of 2.23" of pricip of that 10.1" was snow that snow fall total is -10.7" below average. The most snow on the ground was 4". At Muskegon and Lansing December 2021 was the 4th warmest at both locations the mean at Muskegon was 36.5 and at Lansing it was 36.0. For the year 2021 was the 8th warmest on record and at Lansing and Muskegon it was the 4th warmest on record.
We will have to see how January 2022 plays out. There are some  ingredients for a good amount of snow at the start.

[mlgamer]

Here in Topeka, December had a temp anomaly of +9.2! I don't know if that is a Dec record, but it has to be around the top of the list. Precip was only 0.11" and no snow.  Very warm and very dry.

[snowstorm83]

December was the 6th warmest on record at LNK with an average temp of 36. The avg high was the warmest on record though (49.5). 

Edit: Also might as well add that 2021 as a whole had an average temp of 53.7 (12th warmest on record. Very impressive since February had a -14.4 departure. Goes to show how warm the rest of the year was. Precip was a few inches below average at 26.86" 

3 hours ago, mlgamer said:

Here in Topeka, December had a temp anomaly of +9.2! I don't know if that is a Dec record, but it has to be around the top of the list. Precip was only 0.11" and no snow.  Very warm and very dry.

Looks like it's 2nd warmest for Topeka behind 1889

[mlgamer]

30 minutes ago, snowstorm83 said:

Looks like it's 2nd warmest for Topeka behind 1889

Thanks! I figured that was pretty close to the top but was too lazy to look it up...lol

[Clinton]

KC finished December exactly 10.0 degrees above normal and was the 3rd warmest on the 134-year record! KC picked up only 0.50" of precip for the 23rd driest Dec. on record. Dec 2021 was 1 of only 2 (2004) in 134-years to not receive even a trace of snow!

[OmahaSnowFan]

Here's stats for my backyard.

Avg low: 24.8 (+5.0)

coldest low: 6.6 (31st)

Average high: 46.1 (+8.4)

warmest high: 72.5 (15th)

Avg temp: 35.5 (+6.8)

Total precip: .40" (-.82")

Total snowfall: 2.0" (-3.8")

What an insane month! The month ranked as the 5th warmest all time at the airport. Record highs on the 2nd and the 15th with the all time warmest December temperature of 74 on the 15th. Peak wind gust of 74 mph was also recorded at the airport on the 15th when the tornadic squall line moved through. Had a tornado watch issued as well that day.

Snowed one day and rained one day for the entire month.

[Tom]

Here was ORD's month in review...