Weather

December 2000 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

This Month's Daily Statistics

  

SUBJECT: Welcome back to reality
December 2000 is 3rd coldest, 6th snowiest December in St. Cloud history

December 2000 and 2000 annual St. Cloud weather summary

(NOTE: Due to automated observations, the snowfall and precipitation figures, which were supplemented with cooperative observing reports, are unofficial until mid-January.)

Everyone had cautioned us not to expect another mild winter. Even normal winter temperatures would have been a shock to us. However, were you ready for this?! December 2000 in Saint Cloud was the third coldest December of the 120 years on record. The average temperature of 3.8 degrees for the month was more than 11 degrees below normal. I've been comparing this winter to January weather, but the average December temperature would have been more than four degrees colder than the average January. The only Decembers which have been colder were 1927 and 1983. The latter year is still the coldest December on record and holds many daily temperature records, including all but one of the daily low temperature records for December 17-24. These statistics are consistent with most of Minnesota for which December 2000 ranked second coldest ever in Minneapolis-St. Paul and in the top 5 statewide.

How cold was it? Saint Cloud has not had a 20-degree high since December 9 or a normal high since December 4. The low temperature of -26 on Christmas morning 2000 broke the record low for the day. In fact, it was the coldest temperature recorded at Saint Cloud since December 26, 1996 when the temperature dropped to -34. December 25th was one of two mornings this month with a low colder than -20. During the previous three winters, there have been a TOTAL of 4 days with a low of at least -20. There were 3 days with a high of zero or colder in December 2000. During the previous 3 winters, there were a TOTAL of 5 days with a sub-zero high (none during the 1999-2000 winter). During December 2000, there were 19 days with a low temperature of 0 or colder. In the entire cold season of 1997-1998, there were only 16 days with zero or colder lows. With a total of 20 sub-zero low days during this cold season, we will surely exceed the total of sub-zero lows for the entire 1998-1999 (29) and 1999-2000 (25) seasons before the end of January.

December 2000 also was a very white month. Eighteen inches of snow accumulated during the month in Saint Cloud, tying December 1945 for the sixth snowiest December in the 101 years of Saint Cloud snowfall records. This makes December 2000 the snowiest December since 1968 and 1969, which each had more than 25 inches for the month. Ironically, can you believe we lucked out several times? Several major storms hit in a band to our south, so Minneapolis had its second snowiest December (and fifth snowiest of any month), and Rochester, Indianapolis, Chicago, and other cities had their snowiest Decembers. These cities had anywhere from 25 to over 30 inches of snowfall this month.

The 7.5-inch snowfall on December 28 was the largest snowfall of the year and the largest single storm snowfall since the 9.8 inches on March 8-9, 1999. This snowfall brings the 2000-2001 seasonal snowfall to 28.6 inches, topping the 28.1 inches during the entire 1999-2000 cold season.

DECEMBER 2000 ST CLOUD STATISTICS

TEMPERATURE (F)                 DEC 2000        NORMAL
Average high                      11.7           23.1
Average low                       -4.1           5.0
Monthly average                   3.8*           14.1
*3rd coldest December of 120 years on record (see table below)

Warmest high                      34 on the 4th 
Coldest high                      -4 on the 12th (tied record; see below)
Mildest low                       16 on the 3rd
Coldest low                       -26 on the 25th (broke record; see below)
Daily records set:              
Record cold low                   -16 on the 12th (old record: -15 in 1962)
                                  -26 on the 25th (old record: -25 in 1968 and 
                                                             1996)
Record cold high                   -4 on the 12th (tied record set in 1922)
Record cold mean                  -10 on the 12th (old record: -7 in 1922)

MELTED PRECIPITATION (in)        DEC 2000        NORMAL
Total melted precip                .84            .83
Most in 24 hours                   .33 on the 29th

SNOWFALL (in)
Total snowfall                    18.0**          8.9
Most in 24 hours                   7.5 on the 28th (broke record; see below)
Seasonal (2000-2001)               28.5           16.2
**tied for 6th snowiest in 101 years of records (see table below)
Daily records set:
Daily snowfall                     7.5 in on the 28th (old record: 4.8 in—1982)
ST. CLOUD TEMPS--DECEMBER  (120 YEARS; AVG = 16.1 F; SDEV =  5.9 F)

        WARMEST                          COLDEST

     28.6 F  1913                     -0.4 F  1983
     27.8 F  1939                      3.1 F  1927
     27.3 F  1891                      3.8 F  2000 
27.2 F 1931 4.0 F 1985
27.0 F 1881 4.2 F 1924 26.1 F 1959 4.5 F 1886 25.6 F 1918 6.4 F 1917 25.2 F 1894 7.3 F 1976 25.0 F 1923 7.4 F 1884 24.3 F 1889 7.7 F 1972 ST. CLOUD TEMPS--FEWEST LOW TEMPERATURES OF 0 DEG OR LOWER COLD SEASON 16 1997-1998 17 1986-1987 22 1918-1919 22 1941-1942 25 1999-2000 29 1908-1909 29 1990-1991 29 1998-1999 30 1931-1932 30 1982-1983 31 1937-1938 31 1943-1944 31 1957-1958 Total for 2000-2001 through December 31, 2000: 20 days ST. CLOUD SNOWFALL--DECEMBER (101 YEARS; AVG = 7.4 IN; SDEV = 5.7 IN) SNOWIEST DRIEST 25.5 IN 1927-1928 0.0 IN 1981-1982 25.4 IN 1968-1969 TRACE 1899-1900 25.0 IN 1969-1970 TRACE 1905-1906 21.8 IN 1950-1951 TRACE 1913-1914 19.0 IN 1936-1937 0.2 IN 1943-1944 18.0 IN 1945-1946 0.6 IN 1923-1924 18.0 IN 2000-2001 ? 6th snowiest 0.6 IN 1939-1940 17.8 IN 1978-1979 snowiest since 0.8 IN 1967-1968 15.1 IN 1996-1997 1969 1.0 IN 1952-1953 14.8 IN 1934-1935 1.0 IN 1960-1961 ST. CLOUD SNOWFALL(IN) OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY TOTAL 1999-2000 0.0 1.1 4.5 5.6 2000-2001 0.0 10.6 18.0 28.6 NORMAL 0.5 6.8 8.9 10.1 7.0 9.8 2.3 0.1 45.5 2000 STILL ENDS UP AS A WARM, EXTREMELY DRY YEAR


These extremely cold statistics for December (and, to some degree,
November), partly offset the extremely warm first 5 months of the year. Still,
the 2000 average temperature ended up being 42.6 degrees, more than a degree
above normal. While 2000 ended up being colder than 1999 (3rd warmest on record)
and 1998 (tied for 8th warmest on record), it was warmer than every other year
between 1992 and 1997, the latter including the first part of our three
consecutive mild winters.

December's heavy snowfall could not offset the biggest Saint Cloud weather
news of the year: the drought. While the snowfall of December 2000 translated
into near normal melted precipitation for the month, the 2000 precipitation
total was 21.47 inches, nearly 6 inches below normal. This total ranks as the
23rd driest year of the 108 years on record or within the driest quarter of
years. More importantly, the growing season (April 1-October 31) rainfall, which
is most likely to find itself recharging ground water, totaled only 14.06
inches, the 5th driest total on record and nearly 8 inches below normal. This
drought was limited to the corridor between Little Falls and the northern Twin
Cities Metro during the spring and early summer, but greatly expanded during the
extremely dry September (tied for 9th driest on record in Saint Cloud) and first
half of October. These conditions led to numerous serious grass fires in central
Minnesota and a much more serious fire in the northern Twin Cities area. Despite
some helpful rains during the first half of November (daily record rainfall set
on the 1st and the 6th), the low water table will be a concern in the spring,
unless the snowpack continues to build so that we have to worry about flooding
during the spring melt.

=============================================================================
2000 WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS BY MONTH/SEASON


JANUARY - 5.0 inches of snow on the 12th set a new daily record

MARCH - Trace of snow for the month is only the 5th March in 109 years of St.
Cloud records ever that a trace or less of snow fell. March also ranked as the
third mildest March on record (nearly 10 degrees above normal) and the mildest
since 1918.

MARCH-MAY: Spring 2000 was the 11th warmest spring on record with a temperature
of 46.2 degrees (normal is 42.3 degrees)

JUNE: 94 on the 9th tied a record for the date and was the warmest temperature
of the year.

JULY: 57 as a high temperature on the 18th was a record cold high for the day
(old record: 67) and tied July 3, 1927 as the coldest July high on record.

AUGUST: August 2000 was the 10th driest August on record (1.20 inches, 2.76
inches below normal) and the driest August since 1981


SEPTEMBER: With only 0.93 inches of rainfall, September 2000 was the driest
September since 1952 and tied 1923 for the 9th driest on record.

OCTOBER: With the growing season complete (April 1-October 31), the 2000
rainfall total of 14.05 inches ranked as the 5th lowest growing season rainfall
on record and was nearly 8 ½ inches below normal. The temperature records
included a record high of 85 on the 19th and a record low of 16 on the 9th.

NOVEMBER: The drought was eased somewhat by daily record rainfall on the 1st
(.93 inches) and the 6th (1.09 inch). The total of 3.19 inches was the 6th
rainiest November on record. Two daily snowfall records were set: 2.0 inches on
the 7th and 3.0 inches on the 13th. The low on the 1st was 58, the mildest
November low on record. Also, the 3rd Minnesota tornado on record occurred in
Kandiyohi County on November 1, the same day that produced the only November
tornadoes in the history of North Dakota. On the other hand, the low of –3 on
the 21st also set a daily record.

2000 MONTHLY STATISTICS FOR ST. CLOUD

MONTH                   JAN     FEB     MAR     APR     MAY     JUN
Avg High (F)           22.3    32.5    48.6    55.3    70.3    74.4
Normal High (F)        18.5    24.8    37.6    55.0    68.4    77.4
Avg Low (F)             1.0    11.5    26.4    31.0    45.6    49.9
Normal Low (F)         -2.4     3.8    17.6    32.0    43.4    52.2
Avg Temp (F)           11.7    22.0    37.5    43.2    58.0    62.2
Normal Avg (F)          8.1    14.3    27.6    43.5    55.9    64.8
Precip (in)             .76    1.03    1.61    1.01    2.96    3.10
Normal Pre (in)         .74     .63    1.41    2.35    3.16    4.60
Snowfall (in)          10.8     8.4       T     3.3     0.0     0.0
Normal Snow (in)       10.1     7.0     9.8     2.3     0.1     0.0

MONTH                   JUL     AUG     SEP     OCT     NOV     DEC     YEAR
Avg High (F)           80.6    81.7    71.9    60.5    34.9    11.7     53.7
Normal High (F)        82.6    79.4    69.1    57.4    39.0    23.1     52.7
Avg Low (F)            57.7    55.9    43.2    35.8    22.3    -4.1     31.3
Normal Low (F)         57.6    54.8    45.4    34.4    20.3     5.0     30.3
Avg Temp (F)           69.2    68.8    57.6    48.2    28.6     3.8     42.6
Normal Avg (F)         70.1    67.1    57.3    45.9    29.7    14.1     41.5
Precip (in)            3.24    1.20    0.93    1.60    3.19     .84    21.47
Normal Pre (in)        3.38    3.96    3.16    2.21    1.27     .83    27.43
Snowfall (in)           0.0     0.0     0.0     0.0    10.6    18.0     57.9
Normal Snow (in)        0.0     0.0       T     0.5     6.8     8.9     45.5



ST. CLOUD TEMPS--MARCH     (120 YEARS; AVG = 27.2 F; SDEV =  5.5 F)

        WARMEST                          COLDEST

     43.0 F  1910                     14.9 F  1899
     37.8 F  1918                     15.0 F  1888
     37.5 F  2000 <-- 3RD WARMEST ON  15.7 F  1965
     37.3 F  1973     RECORD; WARMEST 17.6 F  1960
     36.7 F  1946     IN 82 YRS       18.1 F  1951
     36.3 F  1902                     18.4 F  1943
     36.0 F  1911                     18.5 F  1923
     36.0 F  1968                     18.8 F  1975
     35.7 F  1987                     19.0 F  1940
     35.5 F  1981                     19.4 F  1897

ST. CLOUD SNOWFALL--MARCH     (101 YEARS; AVG =   8.2 IN; SDEV =   7.4 IN)

             SNOWIEST                           DRIEST

      51.7 IN  1964-1965                  0.0 IN  1924-1925
      36.0 IN  1916-1917                   TRACE  1901-1902
      28.1 IN  1950-1951                   TRACE  1902-1903
      22.8 IN  1984-1985                   TRACE  1909-1910
      19.4 IN  1974-1975                   TRACE  1980-1981
      17.7 IN  1907-1908                   TRACE  1999-2000 
16.1 IN 1994-1995 0.1 IN 1967-1968
15.7 IN 1951-1952 0.2 IN 1920-1921 15.5 IN 1919-1920 0.3 IN 1972-1973 15.3 IN 1963-1964 0.4 IN 1908-1909 ST. CLOUD PRECIP--SEPTEMBER (108 YEARS; AVG = 2.95 IN; SDEV = 1.88 IN) WETTEST DRIEST 10.72 IN 1926 0.07 IN 1952 9.48 IN 1985 0.68 IN 1943 7.12 IN 1900 0.74 IN 1922 6.60 IN 1929 0.78 IN 1932 6.55 IN 1983 0.80 IN 1919 6.49 IN 1914 0.81 IN 1893 6.28 IN 1986 0.84 IN 1918 6.12 IN 1934 0.90 IN 1935 6.10 IN 1921 0.93 IN 1923 5.99 IN 1980 0.93 IN 2000
GROWING SEASON PRECIP: APR-OCT AVG = 21.95 SDEV = 5.27; 111 YRS; 108 GOOD YRS TEN DRIEST YEARS 11.02 1976 12.80 1910 12.89 1922 13.57 1992 14.06 2000 <--5TH DRIEST ON RECORD 14.52 1996 14.83 1931 14.96 1988 15.00 1948 15.25 1930 ================================================================================


DARING (OR INSANE) PREDICTION FOR THE REST OF ST CLOUD'S WINTER


What does the rest of the winter look like? During the 14 previous Saint
Cloud winters which had at least 25 inches of snowfall through the end of
December, 13 ended up with an above normal snowfall year. The average snowfall
of those 14 winters was just about 60 inches with 10 of the 14 winters having a
snowfall between 53 and 70 inches. Since a cold season snowfall total of between
53 and 70 inches would be between 8 and 25 inches above normal, it certainly
looks like Saint Cloud is on track for a snowy winter. On the other hand, only 5
of the 10 snowiest winters had at least 25 inches by December. In fact, 2 of the
4 snowiest winters on record did not have at least 25 inches by December. In
1964-65, the snowiest winter in Saint Cloud history, only 12.4 inches had fallen
by the end of December. Only 2 of the 14 winters with at least 25 inches by the
end of December had more than 80 inches. So, while the outlook for this winter
would be snowy, it would not be extremely snowy.

Will the icebox weather pattern that has locked in a jet stream straight
from the Arctic Ocean quit? Of the winters which contained the 5 previous
coldest Decembers, four years had above normal January temperatures and three of
the 5 years had above normal February temperatures. This makes sense, since the
creation of extremely cold arctic air masses requires the air to stay over the
region without any sunlight for a week or two. Our pattern of constant movement
of arctic air into the United States limits the ability of the arctic air
generating region to produce new extremely cold arctic air masses. The warm-up
this week could be the first sign of this moderation. On the other hand, the
fifth of these cold December years was the winter of 1886-1887 which ranks as
the second coldest winter on record. Hopefully, there are no parallels from that
year to this one.

WINTERS WITH AT LEAST 25 INCHES OF SNOWFALL THROUGH DECEMBER IN SAINT CLOUD
               SNOWFALL THROUGH DECEMBER        TOTAL SEASON SNOWFALL
1911-1912               31.8                           36.8
1927-1928               40.5                           69.6 (5th)
1936-1937               37.4                           84.5 (2nd)
1940-1941               32.4                           54.0
1947-1948               26.9                           46.7
1950-1951               30.2                           82.0 (3rd)
1968-1969               31.1                           66.9 (6th tie)
1969-1970               33.4                           47.6
1982-1983               31.3                           53.3
1983-1984               36.7                           63.6
1985-1986               29.2                           58.6
1988-1989               27.3                           65.2 (9th)
1991-1992               32.7                           54.5
1996-1997				 28.5							62.8
2000-2001				 28.6  
Avg of previous winters 34.4                           60.4

ST CLOUD'S OTHER 10 SNOWIEST WINTERS ON RECORD
1964-1965               12.4                           87.9 (1st)
1916-1917               11.6                           84.5 (4th)
1978-1979               22.5                           66.9 (6th tie)
1974-1975               10.3                           65.4 (8th)
1993-1994               22.8                           64.9 (10th)

Figure in parenthesis is rank among 101 winters on record.

Historic temperature data provided courtesy of the Saint Cloud National Weather Service Office, and NOAA/NWS
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Send comments to: raweisman@stcloudstate.edu