December 2019 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

Took to the Last Weekend to Get to the (Precipitation) Finish Line

December 2019 St. Cloud Weather Summary

It required the major ice, rain, and snow storm on December 28, but St. Cloud finally made it to the highest precipitation year on record. The annual total of 41.92 inches ended up beating 1897 by 0.91 inch. The rate of precipitation had slowed considerably. Between October 23 and December 27, there had been only 2.32 inches of precipitation. The average for that period was 2.68 inches, so it was one of the few periods in 2019 with below average precipitation.

But, the record was set with style. 1.10 inch fell in the December 28-30 storm in St. Cloud, including a new daily precipitation record on December 28 when 0.60 inch fell. That pushed the December precipitation total to 1.68 inch, missing the 10 wettest Decembers by 0.01 inch.

50+ Inches Elsewhere, Leading to Minnesota's Wettest Year on Record

And, St. Cloud missed a considerable number of nearby rain events. Parts of east central and southwestern Minnesota, and an area from Mankato through southeastern Minnesota received more than 50 inches of precipitation, including Rochester's 55.16 inches. This led to 2019 being Minnesota's wettest on record, although the statewide precipitation record was not broken.

Heavy Snow Was Major Portion of Precipitation Record

The large amount of precipitation partially came in an unusually high snowfall year, once again peaking with late season snowfall (snowiest February on record; third highest February through April snowfall). So, the frost left the ground late in the season. And, with persistent rainfall, there was trouble getting the fields dried out enough for planting. And, only some pockets were able to dry, since there were locally heavy thunderstorm outbreaks.

Crop Problems With Insufficient Drying Could Cause Slow Start to 2020 Growing Season

Finally, the large rainfall in September, followed by early October snowfall (0.5 inch on October 11 and 12; 5th earliest measurable snow in St. Cloud records) meant that fields didn't dry well for harvesting. This will also mean that the soil moisture will be quite high once the ground thaws in the spring, again causing problems for planting and making the area vulnerable to flooding from early season rains.

Other Top 10 Precipitation Statistics

Overall, the St. Cloud record precipitation in 2019 included:

The persistent wet conditions has led to persistent flooding along the James River in South Dakota

4th Highest Calendar Year Snowfall with 77.2 Inches..

The snowfall total included 10.9 inches in December, within 0.4 inch of average. This ran the calendar year snowfall to 77.2 inches, the 4th highest on record. All of the three higher years topped 80 inches.

...With Snowiest February On Record..

This snow spans two snow seasons. The snow season of 2018-2019 actually was off to a slow start with 15.3 inches through January 18. However, there were 6.1 inches in the last 11 days of January, followed by the third highest February through April snowfall. This was led by the record February snowfall of 27.6 inches, breaking the old record by 6 inches.

The February snowstorms included a major prolonged snow on February 6 and 7. This storm produced widespread snow, followed by strong winds which shut down roads in northwestern, west central, southwestern, and south central Minnesota after the storm was over. The St. Cloud Airport picked up 9.0 inches over the 3 day perdio. There was also heavy snow on February 11 and 12, mostly from the Twin Cities and southward. St. Cloud did end up with 6.5 inches of snow. There was also a major Central US storm on February 22-24, which produced 4-8 inches of snow just to the south and east of St. Cloud and a swath of 10-14 inches across south central and southeastern Minnesota. This system also produced major blowing snow problems in its aftermath. St. Cloud mostly missed that storm, but had 7.4 inches on February 20.

....And 23+ Inches of Early 2019-2020 Season Snow

The beginning of the 2019-2020 snow year included the 5th earliest measurable snowfall in St. Cloud records, 0.5 inch on October 11 and 12. However, St. Cloud escaped the 1-3 feet of snow that fell from the western Red River Valley into eastern North Dakota. There has been a total of 23.2 inches of snow in St. Cloud through December 31, 4.3 inches above average for this season. This also include the 0.5 inch of ice that fell on December 28 and 29. That ice and more to the south caused over 600 accidents.

December Milder Than Average

When it wasn't raining or snowing, December actually managed to offset some of the late fall cold weather. There were 5 highs above freezing in the first 9 days. After that, there was a surge of cold air that had built up over northeastern Canada during November. This is when there were 9 days with a low of zero or colder. There were three lows colder than -10, but none colder than -20. And, the coldest high temperature was still above zero. Another mild period followed after December 19th with only one low temperature colder than 10 degrees and another 9 highs above freezing. Overall, December 2019 ended up with a 17.6 degree average temperature, 1.6 degrees milder than average.

2019 Colder Than Average, Thanks Mainly to Cold First 5 Months

The year 2019 ended up with a temperature of 40.6 degrees, 2.2 degrees colder than average. This ranked as St. Cloud's 28th coldest year of the 139 years in St. Cloud records. Although there were no monthly temperature records set or even approached, the temperatures during the year, the months that were the most below average were January (3.6 degrees below) and February (9.3 degrees below average). However, the spring (March through May) temperature was 4.4 degrees colder than average. The summer was slightly warmer than average, but the frequent thunderstorms and nearby cloudiness kept temperatures from getting very warm very often. There were only 4 days with a high of at least 90 degrees with no temperature higher than 92 degrees. The lack of sufficient heat, along with the persistent moisture, each caused problems with crops.

Extreme Late January Cold Notable For Being Absent in Many Previous Years

Briefly, the period of January 27 through 31 was noted for its cold, but fell short of many records. St. Cloud had its first two temperatures of at least -30 on January 30 and 31. These were the first two recorded since January 16, 2009, reflecting our trend of mainly mild winters and cold spells that weren't as severe as in earlier years, especially the 1990's and the 1970's. The -17 degree high on January 30 was the 7th coldest high temperature recorded in St. Cloud history. There were 16 straight days with a low of zero or colder, but this was merely the 15th longest streak in St. Cloud records. There were some extremely cold wind chill values in the -50s and -60s during the period, probably closer to record levels than the cold itself.

Another cold air outbreak in early March produced far more record cold temperatures, including 4 record cold temperatures broken or tied in St. Cloud. These were records since the -4 high on March 3 was the second latest sub-zero high in St. Cloud records.

With all of the heavy rainfall, central Minnesota suffered its share of major storms. On August 26, there were tornadoes just to our north in Aitkin and Crow Wing Counties. On July 26, there were some scattered thunderstorms that produced prolonged swaths of large hail from the north, east, and southeast sides of St. Cloud down the Mississippi River to Elk River. Some hail was as large as 4 inches in diameter. There were several other cases of localized flooding and severe weather.