Weather

December 2005 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

This Month's Daily Statistics

Cloudy Last Week of December Makes a Warm Month out of a Cold One

Despite having three weeks of below normal temperatures, December 2005 became the eighth warmer than normal December in the past 9 years. The average temperature of 18.0°F was 3.6°F above normal. December 2005 was on pace to join December 2000 as the only colder than normal Decembers since 1997. During December 1-21, the average temperature was only 11.8°F, averaging 4.1°F below normal. During this three week period, there were 14 days with a high below 20 degrees (which would be normal for January) and 8 days with a low of zero or below. The cold weather was largely the result of the snow cover from the post-Thanksgiving storm and a persistent northwest steering wind pattern that steered the coldest air in North America over the United States to the east of the Rockies.

However, the pattern changed drastically on December 22. For the last 10 days of December, the average temperature was 31.1°F, 20.5°F above normal. After the morning of December 22, the temperature never fell below 24°F and was no lower than 28°F during December 23-30. The warm weather was associated with persistent low clouds and occasionally dense fog. In fact, there was zero sunshine during the last 8 full days of December. This is the longest sunless streak Saint Cloud has experienced since the 15 consecutive sunless days in late December 1991 into January 1992.

What produced the drastic change? The cold air got used up by being dragged into middle latitudes. Then, the steering winds shifted to a west-to-east flow pattern, locking up any new cold air in far northern Canada. However, as snow melt began, that moisture got trapped near the ground, producing the low clouds and fog. Since there was snow cover throughout central Minnesota and South Dakota, there was no way for a south wind to bring drier air into Minnesota, so the clouds and very warm low temperatures remained.

Two major snowstorms (December 13-15 and December 29-30) during December pushed the total snowfall to 15.1 inches. That December snowfall was 7.3 inches above normal and ties December 1996 as the 9th highest December snowfall in 106 years of records. In fact, a glance at the 10 snowiest Decembers show the two most recent winterlike Decembers: December 1996 which had 16.2 inches of snow and December 2000 (3rd coldest December on record). All other Decembers since 1996 have been warmer than normal. In addition, this was the first December since 2000 during which a snow cover was sustained all month. The 11 inches of snow cover reported on the 16th was the deepest December snow cover since December 30, 2000 and the deepest snow cover of any month since February 13, 2004.

The December 2005 melted precipitation totalled 1.01 inches, 0.31 inch above normal. All but 0.05 inch of the precipitation was in the form of snow during the month.

Will Saint Cloud be able to break out of the mild and gloomy weather pattern? There are some signs that the steering winds will shift to the northwest by later this week, allowing somewhat colder air, but also drier air into central Minnesota. Until then, we wait under the clouds.

Top of Page
(December 2005 Summary)
Jan-Jul Aug-Dec Year NWS Stats
Hot Summer 2005
Heavy Rains August 28 Sept 12 Oct 4

    December 2005 Statistics

Temperatures (°F)
December 2005
Normal
December Average High Temperature (°F)
24.0
23.2
December Average Low Temperature (°F)
12.1
5.5
Mean Temperature for December (°F)
18.0
14.4

December Extremes

Temperature(°F)
Date
Warmest High Temperature for December 2005 (°F)
43
December 23rd
Coldest High Temperature for December 2005 (°F)
5
December 18th
Warmest Low Temperature for December 2005 (°F)
32
December 24th
Coldest Low Temperature for December 2005 (°F)
-14
December 19th
Record Temperatures in December 2005
Temperature(°F)
Date
Old Record
Daily Record Warm Low
30
December 28th
28 in 1940
Temperature Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
December 2005 Days with High Temperatures <= 32°F
24
23.5
December 2005 Days with High Temperatures <= 0°F
0
1.0
December 2005 Days with Low Temperatures <= 32°F
31
25.7
December 2005 Days with Low Temperatures <= 0°F
8
1.5
Precipitation (in)
December 2005
Normal
December 2005 Precipitation (in)
1.01
0.83
Precipitation Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
December 2005 Days with Measurable (>= 0.01 inch) Precipitation
10
6.6
December 2005 Days with >= 0.10 inch Precipitation
4
2.0
December 2005 Days with >= 0.25 inch Precipitation
1
0.7
December 2005 Days with >= 0.50 inch Precipitation
0
0.1
December 2005 Days with >= 1.00 inch Precipitation
0
0.0
December Extremes
Precipitation (in)
Date
Most Daily Precipitation in December 2005
0.35
December 30th
Record Precipitation in December 2005
Precipitation (in)
Date
Old Record
No Precipitation Records Set
Snowfall (in)
December 2005
Normal
December 2005 Saint Cloud Airport Snowfall (in)
15.1*
7.5
December 2005 SCSU Snowfall (in)
15.5
7.5
2005-2006 Seasonal Snowfall (1 Oct 2005 - 31 Dec 2005)
19.7
16.3
December Extremes
Snowfall (in)
Date
Most Daily Snowfall in December 2005
4.1 (Airport)
December 30th
4.5 (SCSU)
December 14th
Record Snowfall in December 2005
Snowfall (in)
Date
Old Record
Daily Record Snowfall
3.7 inches
December 14th
1.6 inches/1975
*Tied for 9th Snowiest December with 1996
10 Snowiest Decembers in Saint Cloud
Top of Page
(December 2005 Summary)
Jan-Jul Aug-Dec Year NWS Stats
Hot Summer 2005
Heavy Rains August 28 Sept 12 Oct 4

A Warm Summer Pushes 2005 to 6th Warmest

2005 Annual Saint Cloud Weather Summary

Despite having 7 warm winters in the past 8 winters, it was a warmer than normal summer that made 2005 one of the 10 warmest years in Saint Cloud. The 2005 average Saint Cloud temperature was 45.0°F, 3.0°F above normal. Thus, 2005 tied with 1938 as the 6th warmest year of the 125 years of Saint Cloud temperature records. During the current streak of warmer than normal winters, many of the winters were cooler than normal. In fact, the summer of 2005, which ranked as the 21st warmest of the 125 summers in Saint Cloud records, was the warmest summer since the hot summer of 1988. That combined with the usual very mild cool seasons to allow 2005 to crack the top 10.

While the average high temperature of 2005 ranked only as the 13th warmest (55.2°F), the average low temperature was 34.5°F (tied for 5th warmest with 1987). Only one month (May) had a colder than average temperature. The largest departure from normal was during February, which was 6.4°F warmer than normal. Still, it took the mild and cloudy weather of the last 10 days of December to crack the ten warmest years. That streak of temperatures, which averaged 20.5°F above normal, pushed the annual average temperature up by 0.6°F and into the top ten.

Despite a fairly intense two month late summer dry spell, 2005 precipitation totalled 32.87 inches, 5.82 inches above normal. This was the 18th highest precipitation total in the 102 years of Saint Cloud precipitation records. The summer contained a dry period from mid-June through late August, which produced rainfall more than 4 inches below normal. However, that was snapped by a 2+ inch heavy rainstorm on August 25-26. That was quickly followed by the rainiest September-December period in Saint Cloud history. Nearly 14 inches of rain fell during the last 4 months, beating the next highest total in 1926 by .13 inch. The total of 13.92 inches was 7.12 inches above normal for the last 4 months of the year. There were a series of heavy rainstorms from late August through early October. The biggest one in Saint Cloud was the 4.07 inches of rain on October 4-5, the largest October 24-hour rainfall in Saint Cloud recorded history.

Despite a relatively snowless winter of 2004-2005, the annual Saint Cloud snowfall for the calendar year 2005 totalled 44.7 inches, just 0.3 inch short of normal. Two-thirds of this total fell in January and December combined.
Top of Page
(December 2005 Summary)
Jan-Jul Aug-Dec Year NWS Stats
Hot Summer 2005
Heavy Rains August 28 Sept 12 Oct 4

2005 Statistics

 

Temperatures (°F)
2005
Normal
Average High Temperature (°F)
53.3
52.5
Average Low Temperature (°F)
32.7
31.1
Mean Temperature for 2005 (°F)
45.0*
41.8

*6th warmest year tied with 1938 in Saint Cloud History

Ten Warmest/Coldest Years in Saint Cloud History


Link to 2005 Monthly Temperatures

Liquid Equivalent Precipitation (in)
2005
Normal
2005 Total Precipitation (in)
32.87
27.05
Snowfall (in)
2005
Normal
2005 Total Snowfall
44.7
45.0
2005 Month-by-Month Summary January-July
Temperature (°F)
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Average High Temperature 19.9 31.7 39.4 60.9 64.1 80.4 84.7
Average Low Temperature 2.1 13.8 18.8 36.8 44.9 59.8 61.2
Mean Temperature 11.0 22.7 29.1 48.8 54.5 70.1 72.9
Departure from Normal +2.5 +6.4 +0.4 +5.0 -2.2 +4.8 +3.0
2005 Warmest High Temperature 98°F on June 23rd
2005 Coldest High Temperature -4°F on January 14th
2005 Warmest Low Temperature 76°F on June 23rd*
2005 Coldest Low Temperature -29°F on January 16th 

*1st Low of at least 75°F since June 30, 2002

Precipitation (in)
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Liquid Precipitation 1.80*  0.97 0.65 2.11 3.30 4.37 2.11
Departure from Normal +1.05 +0.47 -0.79 -0.17 +0.39 +0.01 -1.50
Most in 24 hours 4.12 inches on October 4-5

*9th Wettest January on Record

Snowfall (in)
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Snowfall 15.0 8.9 1.0 T 0.1 0.0 0.0
Departure from Normal +3.5 +2.2 -7.5 -2.6 - - -
Most in 24 hours 6.4 inches on January 11th-12th
Top of Page
(December 2005 Summary)
Jan-Jul Aug-Dec Year NWS Stats
Hot Summer 2005
Heavy Rains August 28 Sept 12 Oct 4
2005 Month-by-Month Summary August-December
Temperature (°F)
Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec 2005
Average High Temperature 80.1 74.9 59.9 42.2 24.0 55.2
Average Low Temperature 56.1 51.6 37.7 24.1 12.1 34.9
Mean Temperature 68.1 63.2 48.8 33.2 18.0 45.0
Departure from Normal +0.7 +5.5 +3.1 +4.1 +3.1 +3.0
Precipitation (in)
Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec 2005
Liquid Precipitation 3.64  5.54 4.81* 2.56 1.01 32.87
Departure from Normal -0.08 +2.52 +2.64 +1.01 +0.25 +5.82
*9th Wettest October on Record
Snowfall (in)
Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec 2005
Snowfall 0.0 0.0 T 4.6 15.1 44.7
Departure from Normal - - -0.6 -4.3 +7.3 -0.3
Top of Page
(December 2005 Summary)
Jan-Jul Aug-Dec Year NWS Stats
Hot Summer 2005
Heavy Rains August 28 Sept 12 Oct 4
September-December Total Precipitation
(102 Years; Average = 6.80 IN)
1
13.92 IN
2005
2
13.79 IN
1926
3
13.67 IN
1983
4
13.07 IN
1968
5
12.93 IN
1982
6
12.76 IN
1985
7
12.23 IN
1971
8
11.21 IN
1984
9
11.09 IN
1934
10
10.95 IN
1900

 

 

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