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Selected U.S. City and State Extremes December 2000 Source NOAA/NWS Forecast Offices and compiled by NCDC. Last Updated 01/15/01

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Temperature / Dewpoint Rainfall / Thunderstorms Snowfall Wind Pressure Miscellaneous

Temperature / Dewpoint

1. The last time that Rapid City, SD had a below zero F. temperature was on January 4th, 1999 or over 700 days ago. This is a record number of days without a sub-zero temperature. The low temperature on January 4th, 1999 was seven degrees below zero. Arctic high pressure is expected to drop down over South Dakota on the 9th-10th, this current streak came to an end. The coldest temperature of the 1999-2000 winter season was 2 above zero, while the coldest of the 1998-1999 winter was 22 below zero. The coldest temperature measured in December 2000 so far was -19 F. on both December 11th and 12th.

2. Flint, MI set a new December minimum temperature record on December 25 when the temperature fell to 13 degrees below zero.

3. Waterloo, IA tied their record coldest December temperature on December 25 when the temperature fell to 29 degrees below zero. It was also -29 degrees on December 10, 1919.

4. As of December 26th, 2000 the average temperature for December for the Little Rock, AR metro area was 33.9 F. This was 8.8 degrees below normal. This ranks as the third coldest December on record, beaten by 1983 with an average of 29.6 and 1963 with an average of 33.4 degrees.

5. Fort Wayne, IN is likely to have one of the coldest Decembers on record. Fort Wayne's average temperature through the 25th was 18.4 F., coldest on record 16.9 F set in 1989, second coldest is 19.3 F set in 1963.

6. December 2000 was the coldest December for South Bend, IN with an average temperature of 17.1 F. The previous coldest December was in 1989 with an average temperature of 17.7 F.

7. December 2000 was the second coldest December for Charlotte, NC since records began in 1878. The coldest December was in 1971 with an average temperature of 33.4 F. December 2000 average temperature was 35.2 F, the third coldest was 35.6 which occurred in 1963.

8. December 2000 was the second coldest December for Asheville, NC since records began in 1962. The coldest December was in 1989 with an average temperature of 31.6 F. December 2000 average temperature was 32.5 F.

9. December 2000 was the coldest December for Greenville-Spartanburg, SC since 1963, the average temperature was 35.8 F. The coldest December was in 1917 with an average temperature of 33.2 F.

10. December 2000 was the coldest December for Charleston, SC with an average monthly temperature of 42.6 F. This was 8.6 degrees below normal. The previous record was 43.2 set in 1989. The average temperature also ties February 1985 for the sixth coldest month on record. The coldest month was January 1977 at 38.7 degrees F, records began at the Charleston airport in 1930. There were 18 days when the low temperature fell below freezing and 12 days when the high did not reach 50 F.

11. December 2000 ties the coldest December for Savannah, GA with an average monthly temperature of 43.7 F. This was 8.0 degrees below normal and ties for thecoldest December set in 1963 and 1989. These three Decembers also tied for theseventh coldest month on record in Savannah, the coldest month was 39.9 degrees F set in January 1977. There were 20 days when the low temperature fell below freezing.

12. December 2000 was the coldest December for Augusta since 1961, the average temperature for the month was 38.5 F which was 7.5 degrees below normal.

13. December 2000 was the second coldest December for Columbia, SC with an average temperature of 38.4 degrees F which was 8.9 degrees below normal. The coldest December was in 1917 with an average temperature of 37.9 F.

14. Green Bay, WI recorded -22 F on Christmas Day, December 25th, 2000. This broke the record of -17 set in 1933 and also ranks as the second coldest December temperature in Green Bay. The coldest December temperature was -27 set in 1983.

15. Evansville, IN recorded a monthly average temperature of 23.6 F in December 2000. This is the second coldest for December, the coldest was 23.0 F set in 1989.

16. Lexington, KY recorded a monthly average temperature of 25.1 F in December 2000. This is the second coldest for December, the coldest was 23.0 F set in 1989.

17. Louisville, KY recorded a monthly average temperature of 25.1 F in December 2000. This is the coldest ever for December. The previous record was 25.3 F set in 1989.

18. At San Angelo, TX the 2000 average annual temperature was 67.7 F. This was 2.8 degrees F above normal and a new record for warmest year. The previous warmest year was 1933 with an annual temperature of 67.5 F.

Rainfall

1. Cold Bay, AK as of December 3rd, 2000 received 74.24 inches of precipitation so far this year. This broke the old record of 53.15 inches set in 1978, the normal precipitation is 36.00 inches.

2. Augusta, GA recorded 37.81 inches of precipitation for the year 2000. This was 6.85 inches below normal. The year 2000 was the 2nd consecutive year of below normal rainfall in Augusta. The year 2000 was also the third driest year since 1948

3. Columbia, SC recorded 36.39 inches of precipitation for the year 2000. This was 13.52 inches below normal. The year 2000 was the 5th consecutive year of below normal rainfall in Columbia. The year 2000 was also the fifth driest year since 1948

4. New Orleans, LA recorded 38.88 inches of precipitation during the year 2000. This was the driest year on record since observations began at the airport in 1946. The previous driest year was in 1962 when 39.00 inches of rain fell. Looking back at all available official weather records for New Orleans dating back to 1836, there were two years that reported lower rainfall than 2000. The driest year was 1899 when only 31.07 inches fell and thesecond driest was 38.62 inches in 1891.

Snowfall

1. Grand Rapids, MI reported 15 inches of snow in a 24 hour period on December 11-12, 2000. This ties the 24 hour December snowfall record of 15.1 inches set on December 10-11th, 1970. Grand rapids, MI also recorded 59.2 inches of snow for the month of December, setting a new all-time record for any month. The old December record was 54.0 inches.

2. Springfield, MO measured 18.0 inches of snow during December 2000. This broke the old record December snowfall of 16.7 inches set in 1916.

3. Waterloo, IA measured 34.0 inches of snow during December 2000. This set a new all-time monthly record for any month. The previous record for the all-time snowiest month in Waterloo was 24.3 inches in February 1962.

4. Dubuque, IA measured 37.6 inches of snow during December 2000. This set a new all-time monthly record for any month. The previous record for the all-time snowiest month in Dubuque was 34.3 inches in January 1929.

5. Moline, IL measured 31.8 inches of snow during December 2000. This set a new all-time monthly record for any month. The previous record for the all-time snowiest month in Moline was 26.7 inches in January 1979.

6. Des Moines, IA measured 26.9 inches of snow during December 2000. This set a new December record for snowfall. The previous December record was 23.9 inches set in December 1961. The all-time monthly record for Des Moines remains as 37.0 inches set in January 1886.

7. Marquette, MI measured 89.5 inches of snow during December 2000. This set a new December record for snowfall. The previous December record was 82.6 inches set in December 1981. December 2000 was also the second snowiest month on record, only behind the 91.7 inches that fell in January 1977. For the calendar year 2000, 251 inches of snow fell which is the fourth snowiest calendar year on record, records date back to 1961.

8. Green Bay, WI measured 28.9 inches of snow during December 2000. This set a new December record for snowfall. The previous December record was 27.0 inches set in December 1977.

9. Milwaukee, WI measured 49.5 inches of snow during December 2000. This set a new December record for snowfall. The previous December record was 30.7 inches set in December 1951. The all-time monthly record for Milwaukee remains as 52.6 inches set in January 1918.

10. Madison, WI measured 35.0 inches of snow during December 2000. This set a new December record for snowfall. The previous December record was 32.8 inches set in 1987. The all-time monthly record for Madison remains as 37.0 inches set in February 1994.

11. Rochester, MN measured 35.3 inches of snow for December 2000. This set a new December and snowiest month ever record for snowfall. The previous December record was 30.6 inches set in December 1969, the old snowiest month record was 35.1 inches set in March 1951. In December 2000 alone Rochester, MN saw nearly three quarters (73.3 %) of their total normal winter snowfall (48.1 inches). Three of the top 5 snowiest months occurred during the last 5 years (#4 -January 1996 and # 5 - January 1999)

12. Amarillo, TX measured 21.2 during December 2000. This set a new December record for snowfall. The previous December record was 15.3 inches set in December 1987.

13. Syracuse, NY measured 76.1 inches for the September - December seasonal total. This was the second snowiest Sepetember through December period. The snowiest was 79.3 inches in 1995.

14. Snowy in Buffalo, NY so far this season. Since October 1st, 95.9 inches of snow has fallen through the end of December 2000. The previous record for the season (Oct-Dec) was 92.2 inches set during the infamous winter of 1976-1977. The 30 year normal is just 35.0 inches. The record snowfall began with just a trace of snow on October 8th, 2000 followed by 45.6 inches of snow in November (also a new record) and 50.3 inches of snow in December. December 2000 is the seventh snowiest December on record. The current seasonal todal of 95.9 inches is above the 30 year normal snowfall for the entire season of 93.5 inches.

15. Flint, MI measured 35.3 inches of snow during December 2000. This set a new December record for snowfall. The previous December record was 24.9 inches.

16. Saginaw, MI measured 40.3 inches of snow during December 2000. This set a new December record for snowfall. The previous December record was 36.7 inches.

17. South Bend, IN measured 44.6 inches of snow during December 2000. This set a new December record for snowfall. The previous December record was 41.9 inches.

17. The Quad Cities AP, IL (Davenport, IA & Moline, IL) measured 32.0 inches of snow during December 2000. This set a new December record for snowfall. The previous December record was 22.0 inches.

Wind

1. Glasgow, MT measured a 66 MPH wind gust on December 27, 2000. This set a new December record. The previous December record was 62 mph on December 4, 1995.

Pressure

None Reported yet.

Miscellaneous

None reported yet.

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NCDC / Climate of 2000 / December / Climate-Watch / Selected Extremes / Search / Help