December Cold And Snow Can't Stop Warm and Dry 2025

Saint Cloud December and Annual 2025 Weather Summary

December Temperatures

December 2025 finally was a change from the milder than average weather that had dominated the past three years. The average St. Cloud temperature in December was 14.9°F (average high: 25.5°F, average low: 4.3°F), 2.9°F degrees colder than the 1991-2020 normal. This is only the second month of the 32 months since April 2023 to have a colder than average temperature. The only other month was February 2025 (see table below):

Still, December 2025 was merely the 56th coldest of the 144 Decembers in St. Cloud records.

Cold Produced by Early Snowfall and Frequent Northwest-to-Southeast Steering Winds

The cold conditions were favored after a pair of Thanksgiving week storms produced 6.0 inches of snowfall and left 5 inches on the ground. Since sunshine is far less effective at warming the ground with a snow cover, each of the first 8 December days were colder than average. This was followed by steering winds primarily from the northwest to southeast from Alaska and the Yukon into the Northern Plains. Seriously cold air moved into Alaska, the Yukon and Northwest Territories, and Nunavut by the 10th of December, producing record cold for those usually cold areas. Only one wave of serious cold came through Minnesota on December 12-14, producing St. Cloud's first high of zero or colder and St. Cloud's first low of -20 or colder for this cold season. During the month, St. Cloud had 14 days with a low of 0 or colder, including 9 of the first 14 days of the month. This was the most December days of zero or colder since 2013. During the average winter, St. Cloud has 4.3 days with a high of 0 or colder, 5.4 days with a low of -20 or colder, and 42.7 days with a low of zero or colder.

14th Snowiest December

Much of the month was dry, but there were two major storms: a wet snow and sleet storm on December 8-10 that dumped 8.6 inches of snow on St. Cloud (voted as the #5 Minnesota weather event of the year) and a December 28 wind and snow storm that produced 4.8 inches of fluffy snow on St. Cloud (tying the December 28 record snowfall) as well as whiteout conditions in much of Minnesota. Those two storms accounted for the bulk of the 16.3 inches of December snow in St. Cloud. That ranks as the 14th snowiest December out of the 125 reliable Decembers in St. Cloud records. That was 7.0 inches above the December average snowfall and pushed the 2025-2026 seasonal snowfall to 24.3 inches, 7.1 inches above average. This ranks as the 19th snowiest start (Oct-Dec) of the snow season in St. Cloud records. During the past two relatively snow-less seasons, St. Cloud had only picked up 5.7 inches in 2023, despite a record December precipitation total, and 10.3 inches in 2024.

Above Average Precipitation Won't Help Ground Water Situation

The amount of moisture supplied by the snowfall, as well as some light rain and ice at times, was more than average, although it was still small by the standards of the rest of the year. The St. Cloud December melted precipitation total was 1.09 inch, 0.21 inch above the December average.

Above average precipitation is needed in much of Minnesota as the August through November precipitation was well below normal (10th driest August through November in St. Cloud records). The US Drought Monitor had much of northern Minnesota in drought conditions. Most of the snow that falls during the cold season can help river and lake levels after it melts, but the ground underneath the snowpack is usually frozen and doesn't thaw until the snow actually melts, so little of the moisture in the snow can recharge surface moisture. This year may be an exception, since St. Cloud had no complete days colder than freezing before our late November snows. 

Still, the growing season in Minnesota will rely on above average rainfall once the snow melts to recharge soil from the dryness during the second half of 2025.

2025 Another Warm Year with Dry Second Half

The cold of December couldn't prevent 2025 from being yet another warmer than average year in St. Cloud. The average annual St. Cloud temperature was 44.9°F, 2.0°F above average. That made 2025 St. Cloud's 16th warmest year out of the 144 years on record. The warmth was more concentrated in the spring 

4 of the past 5 years had above average temperatures and 17 of the 28 years since 1997 have been warmer than average (see table below)

While we can't use the part of the temperature record of one place to prove or disprove the theory of global warning, the distribution of the past 27 years would be consistent with the predictions of global warming (a northern place within a continent would have a good chance of being warmer than average). Yes, there were some significantly cold years, like 2008, 2009, 2013 (the winter of 2013-2014 is tied for St. Cloud's 5th coldest winter), and 2018, although they tended not to be the extreme cold seen earlier in St. Cloud history. On the other hand, the majority of the warm years were much warmer that average, featuring 4 extreme warm years (2012, 2016, 2023, and 2024). Those 4 years were further away from average on the warm side than any colder than average year during the period.  

The other aspect of the relatively mild recent years is the lack of record cold temperatures. The table below shows that there have been over 100 daily record warm temperatures set in the 2020's, including 6 records for the entire month. That doesn't include both the earliest 60, and 70-degree highs and the latest 90-degree and 80-degree highs. That is the sneaky part of these warm years: much of the warmth has been a result of warm springs and falls (September and early October 90-degree heat voted the #3 Minnesota weather event of 2025) . On the other hand, St. Cloud has seen only 6 daily record cold temperatures during the past 6 years. Most of these have been batches of cold coming early in the season (November or December) or late in the season (March or April). St. Cloud hasn't seen a new cold low temperature record during the three winter months since December 18, 2013.

The frequently humid air, either from recent rainfall or evaporating from the soaked ground, produced several uncomfortable humidity days with dew points in the uncomfortable 60's or the oppressive 70's. Because the low temperature on clear, calm night would tend to be the dew point, 2025 produced 64 days with a low of at least 60°F, tying 1900 for the most 60-degree lows in a given year. The summer months ended up being nearly 2 degrees above average, on the strength of the average lows being 2.8 degrees warmer than average (the 11th highest average low temperature for the summer). The most extreme low temperature was 80 degrees, set on June 22. That temperature set a record low for the entire month of June and was St. Cloud's first low of 80 degrees or warmer since August 13, 1938, and only the 7th low that warm in St. Cloud records. There were two lows of 75 degrees or milder in June, the first two St. Cloud days with a low of 75 or greater since July 4, 2012.

But, Dry Fall Will Require Spring Rain

However, the period from August through the end of the year became quite dry. The August through November rainfall was only 5.64 inches, the 10th lowest August-November precipitation in St. Cloud records.

The dry early spring and fall meant that several fall Canadian air masses had the potential to produce near or below freezing temperatures, even though the afternoons were warm. So, the last frost came in early May and the first frost ended up during the first week of October, only producing a growing season within two weeks of the average. 

The combination of a relatively snow-less 2024-2025 cold season and the quick ramp up to the 2025-2026 snow season produced a total of 48.4 inches, 0.5 inch above the average.

Major Minnesota Issue: Smoke from Canadian Wildfires (#2 Minnesota Weather Event of 2025)

Minnesota had a dry start to the spring through late April and early May. This was a taste of the persistently dry conditions in central Canada in the Territories and the northern Prairie Provinces. Since these areas had a second consecutive snowless winter, followed by similar warm and dry conditions as were in Minnesota through the early spring, wildfires became widespread. This made 2025 the second worst wildfire season in Canada. Nearly any time the steering winds became northwest-to-southeast during the late spring and summer, Minnesota and the Dakotas had outbreaks of smoke from those fires. 

Between May and August (set past AQI Index to daily AQI and station to St. Cloud, then go month by month on the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency past AQI data calendar), St. Cloud had 3 days with unhealthy air quality (red) and 9 days with unhealthy air for sensitive groups (orange). However, the rainy period from mid-May on allowed St. Cloud to escape some of the worst fire conditions, since early May (heat and fire voted the #4 Minnesota weather event of 2025) produced 3 major fires in northeastern Minnesota 

Finally, the Canadian Prairies got significant late August and September rain, reducing the wildfire area and keeping the smoke out of Minnesota.

Where Does the Winter Go From Here?

The people who believe in long-range weather forecasting have been pleased so far with the results in the Northern Plains and adjacent Canadian Prairies. We are still having a weak La Nina event (colder than average ocean temperatures in the tropical Pacific). According to the theory, this would tend to lead to high pressure near the Canadian West Coast and steering winds flowing northwest to southeast from Alaska and northwestern Canada into the US. This would tend to produce colder than average winter temperatures over our area. That has been true during much of the past month, especially since the cold trapped in the source region of Alaska and northwest Canada has been borderline record cold (frequent temperatures in the -40's with some -50's and -60's; see for example any afternoon NWS WPC North America zoom-in map this December or early January)

However, this is a relatively weak La Nina with tropical Pacific temperatures only about half a degree Celsius less than average

So, there has also been a strong second band of steering winds, which have been directing the storms into the West Coast, causing major flooding at times. This separate band of steering winds is more typically prominent in an El Nino (warmer than average tropical Pacific conditions) season. Our first December snowstorm and one of the Thanksgiving storms were produced by these wetter, southern stream systems. 

The main question for our future is how persistent the northwest-to-southeast flow will be and whether it manages to move the mother lode of cold air into Minnesota. If our flow is more west-to-east or if we have more encounters from the southern stream, the rest of the cold season would tend to be mild. 

Which one will happen? I don't know. I'm not a believer in the long-range forecast business.

December 2025 Statistics

Annual 2025 Statistics

2025 Month By Month

Last Update: 6 January 2026