December 2013 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

    December 2013 Statistics

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When It Snowed, It Snowed A Lot; When It Rained, Not So Much
2013 Annual Saint Cloud Weather Summary

Second Snowiest Calendar Year in 2013

2013 will probably be remember more for its cool and snowy spells with the later nearly setting records. The total annual snowfall in 2013, spreading across parts of two snow seasons, was 84.3 inches, ranking second only to the 85.2 inches from 1936. The heavy snow included a late season snow bonanza in the late winter and spring and frequent snow in December. April set a record for St. Cloud snowfall with 24.4 inches, beating the previous April record by nearly 9 inches. The February through April snowfall produced a total of 57.8 inches, the second highest late season total in St. Cloud records. February, March, and December each placed among the 10 highest totals for their respective months. And, St. Cloud barely missed a record-setting early May snowstorm that plastered southeastern Minnesota, interior Wisconsin, and parts of Nebraska and South Dakota.

There were 7 daily records of snowfall broken and two tied, including the heaviest snows on April 9-12 (9.7 inches in St. Cloud) and April 18-19, when 11.1 inches fell in St. Cloud.

2013 Cooler Temperatures (Rare Since 1997)

The snow dominated much of the weather news for the 2012-2013 winter, the spring, and the beginning of the new winter. While the snow was slow to leave, temperatures remained very cold. December 2012 and January 2013 were actually a bit warmer than normal, but with the long-term snow cover slow to leave (4th latest date for continuous snow cover to melt: April 7) and several reinforcing snows in April (140 days with at least an inch of snow in 2012-2013-- 4th highest winter total), April ended up being the second coolest April on record and the spring (March-May) ended tying for 5th coolest. The persistent snow cover meant a very late warm-up. The first 50-degree high and the first 60-degree high didn't occur until April 26, tying for the latest first occurrence of these thresholds, and following up some of the earliest ones every record from 2012 (first 50-degree high: January 5; first 60-degree high: March 11).

The slow warm-up also produced a delayed start of the fishing season. The late ice-out including new records for lateness in lakes with long records such as Lake Minnewaska, Green Lake, and Lake Mille Lacs. The cool conditions also led to a late start to the growing season since the persistent cool and wet weather continued into May. Despite this, the corn harvest appears to be similar to 2012, with some regional exceptions. However, the cool weather broke quite suddenly on May 14 as St. Cloud soared to its hottest temperature of the year (95°F) with some parts of the state breaking 100 degrees.

There were also very cool readings in December, the 7th coolest on record. There was also an usual cool part of the summer with 28 straight cooler than average days from July 20 through August 18. This was followed by a hot period to end August with 4 straight days of a 90-degree high, including 6 late August temperature records and the 3rd warmest State Fair period on record.

Overall, the average St. Cloud temperature for 2013 was 40.7°F, 2.2°F cooler than the 1981-2010 average and the 30th coolest of 133 years on record. Note that 2008, 2009, and 2013 stand out as being much cooler than the bulk of the past 16 years since 1997, so the mild winters are showing up in the annual temperatures.

2013 Slight Above Average Precipitation, But With A Late Summer Gap

The frequent snowfall during the cooler part of the year dominated the precipitation total. St. Cloud 2013 precipitation ended up being wetter than average in St. Cloud with 28.84 inches, 1.11 inches above average. Note that a lot of this surplus was during the snow season with the total of January through April plus December being 9.08 inches of liquid, 2.93 inches above average. During the warmer months of May through November, St. Cloud received 19.76 inches of precipitation, 1.79 inches below normal. Even the growing season rainfall was split up with a fair amount of rain during the spring and a three-month (July-September) rainfall deficit of 6.41 inches, leading much of central Minnesota to be rated in severe drought for a while until more October rain eased the situation.

Despite the rainfall busts at times, St. Cloud's 2013 precipitation was frequent in the lighter amounts. There were 125 days with measurable precipitation, tied for 6th highest total with 1985 and 1991. Of those days, 67 days had at least 0.10 inch of precipitation, tied for 8th most with 1911 and 1991. However, the heaviest amounts were much closer to average.

2013 Severe Weather Dominated by June Straight-Line Wind Damage

The lack of heavy precipitation in the warm season showed up in the lack of tornadoes in Minnesota. Only 15 tornadoes were spotted, the lowest total since 1990.

However, there were a few notable wind events. The one that most adversely affected St. Cloud came through during the Early Morning hours of June 21, leading to widespread power outages over a few days in central Minnesota. More attention was given to the second severe weather event that Evening, which produced Straight-Line Wind Damage in Twin Cities and Southern Minnesota. There was also an unusual hail-producing event just to the south of I-94 on August 7.