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December 2023 Saint Cloud Weather Summary


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Record Warm, Wet December Finishes Top 5 Warmest 2023

December 2023 and Annual 2023 St. Cloud Weather Summary

St. Cloud and all of Minnesota (except Duluth, which finished 2nd) finished its mildest December by far. The St. Cloud December average temperature of 32.1 degrees was 14.3 degrees above average and 3.5 degrees warmer than the previous number 1, set in 1913. Note especially how often the daily low temperature (bottom of the blue column on the December 2023 high-low temperature graph) was warmer than the average high (where green and light red shading meet). 20 of the 31 days, including the last 11 days, were more than 10 degrees above average. I need to double check my numbers, but there were 10 daily record warm temperatures tied or broken, including the third latest 50-degree high ever recorded (53 degree high on December 24). The December 2023 average temperature was warmer than usual for even November or March. All of Minnesota's major climate stations ended up with their warmest December, except for Duluth that finished with the second warmest.

The very warm conditions meant that the 2023 annual average temperature in St. Cloud tied with 1921 for the 4th warmest year in St. Cloud records. The average temperature was 46.2 degrees, 3.3 degrees milder than average. Half of the top 20 (10 of the 19 warmest years) have happened during the recent period of global warming since 1997. Every month, except for March and April was warmer than average with January, May, June, and August through December were significantly warmer than average. June (5th warmest), September (3rd warmest), and December (warmest) all placed within the top 10.

St. Cloud 2023 Average Temperatures (°F)
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
June
July
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
Yr Avg
Monthly Average Temperatures (°F)
17.2
16.1 23.7 40.9 62.5 71.5 70.4 70.6 65.6 49.4 35.3 32.1 46.2
Departure from Average (°F)
+5.4
0.0 -5.5 -2.4 +6.3 +5.5 +0.1 +2.9 +6.1 +3.7 +4.4 +14.3 +3.2
30-Year Average (1991-2020) 11.8 16.1 29.2 43.3 56.2 66.0 70.3 67.7 59.5 45.7 30.9 17.8 42.9

Wettest December by Far

On top of that, December was the wettest December in St. Cloud records by far. The total precipitation of 3.35 inches was nearly 4 times the average amount of 0.88 inch, and broke the December record (set in 2010) by nearly 0.80 inch. That included 1.47 inch on December 24, which broke the daily rainfall record for the entire month of December by 0.40 inch (1.07 inch on December 25, 1893). The rainfall in December was more than an inch higher than the average for the entire winter (Dec-Feb, 2.93 inches).

More Balancing Out of Extremely Dry Warm Season

The major rainfall culminated a partial recovery from the extremely dry late spring through early fall. There were only 10.52 inches of rain in May through September, 7.53 inches below average. At worst, the drought category from the US Drought Monitor had the worst drought classification in north central and southeastern Minnesota (compare two weeks: September 12 and December 26). The dryness was in spite of the end of a record setting snow season in 2022-2023 (9.97 inches January through April, +4.46 inch above average) and was assisted by a catch-up period from October through December (7.24 inches, 2.38 inches above average), despite an 0.08 inch November, the 7th driest November on record. For the entire year, St. Cloud was within an inch of average (27.73 inches).

El Nino Producing Mild Weather Pattern, But With December Rain

The warm weather in December was part of a typical weather pattern produced during an El Nino season, a warmer than average ocean current off the Central America coast and colder than average water off Australia. The cold air has been held off, not only in the Continental US, but also much of North America as a northern steering wind track has been stuck in central Canada to the Alaska Arctic coast for most of the cold season so far. It has been cold, but in northeastern Europe to Siberia. For November, the southern US storm track held most of the moisture well to our south, and the northern storm track remained in Canada, so we were between them, and got very little precipitation. In December, however, a handful of southern stream storms partially merged with a Canadian storm to produce slow-moving central US storms that dumped huge rain amounts. The biggest one was during December 23 through 25 with more than 2 inches of precipitation. The warm conditions meant very little frost in the ground, so much of the water was able to sink in. This is also proof that warm cold seasons during an El Nino year are a safe forecast from Minnesota westward, but precipitation is more difficult to predict.

Warm Season Warmth Part of Extreme Heat to South, Producing Air Quality Issues at Time

The warm and dry warm season still was merely a small taste of the extreme heat over the South and Southwest for much of the summer. The occasional penetration of the heat allowed St. Cloud to top 90 degrees 24 times, the 11th most 90-degree days in St. Cloud records. This was the most 90-degree days since the 33 days set in the last severely hot and dry summer in 1988. Despite several forecasts and occasional leaps to 100 degrees in the Minnesota River Valley and southwestern Minnesota, St. Cloud didn't duplicate the 101 degree high temperature on June 14, 2022. That was only the 4th 100-degree day since 1988 and the 11th since 1950. Still, 90's extended from May through October, including the hottest October high on record.

The dryness extended across most of the Plains, including the Canadian Plains. This led to one of the worst fire seasons in the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, northern Alberta, and Saskatchewan. Frequently, that air was blown into the northern US with several smoke outbreaks in Minnesota from May through the summer. The worst air quality came during air quality alerts on May 18 and June 14.

Not Cold So Far

The persistent warmth so far this cold season has not allowed a low colder than 3 degrees on November 28. On average, St. Cloud would have 10 or 11 days with a low of zero or colder by now. This is the slowest start to sub-zero lows in St. Cloud since 1954-1955 (that season produced 39 days with a low of zero or colder and 4 days of -20 or colder during the rest of its cold season). So, it is possible that very cold air gets held in the arctic and is let loose over the US later in the year. On the other hand, the large area of warmer than average ocean water will make it difficult for such cold air to build up. So, extreme cold isn't likely for very long the rest of the winter. Still, there have been at least 10 days with a low of zero or colder in every recorded St. Cloud winter. Every year since 2001-2002 has produced at least one low of -10 or colder.

Not Snowy So Far

The warm conditions in December meant that only 3.1 inches of snow fell during the month, less than half of the 6.9 inch average. For the season, the total of 5.7 inches is the 17th lowest start to the snow season through December. What's more unusual is the lack of snow cover. In the average year, St. Cloud begins a nearly three-month period with at least an inch of snow cover on December 10. The last year when the snow cover streak didn't begin until January was during the 2011-2012 winter when only 33 straight days of snow cover began on January 15. That year ended up producing only 27.4 inches of snow. 2006-2007 also had a late date for the steady snow cover, January 16, and ended up with 31.8 inches.

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December 2023 Statistics

Temperatures (°F)
December 2023
Normal
December Average High Temperature (°F)
39.0
25.8
December Average Low Temperature (°F)
25.2
9.8
Mean Temperature for December (°F)
17.8

 10 Warmest Decembers

   

December Extremes

Temperature(°F)
Date
Warmest High Temperature for December 2023 (°F)
53 (tied daily records; see below)
December 7, 14
Coldest High Temperature for December 2023 (°F)
24
December 10
Warmest Low Temperature for December 2023 (°F)
38
December 23, 24
Coldest Low Temperature for December 2023 (°F)
10
December 1
Record Temperatures in December 2023
Temperature(°F)
Date
Old Record
Daily Record Warm High
53 (tie)
December 7
tied record set in 1939
 
53 (tie)
December 14
tied record set in 1998
 
52
December 24
43 set in 1994
 
48
December 25
47 set in 1922
Daily Record Warm Average
42
December 23
41 set in 1899
 
45
December 24
36 set in 1940
 
42
December 25
35 set in 2014
Daily Record Warm Low
38
December 23
36 set in 2014
 
38
December 24
33 set in 1982, 2014
 
36
December 25
32 set in 1936, 2014, 2019
Temperature Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
December 2023 Days with High Temperatures <= 32°F
6
23.5
December 2023 Days with High Temperatures <= 0°F
0
1.0
December 2023 Days with Low Temperatures <= 32°F
24
25.7
December 2023 Days with Low Temperatures <= 0°F
0
9.9
December 2023 Days with Low Temperatures <= -20°F
0
0.9
Melted Precipitation (in)
December 2023
Normal
December 2023 Melted Precipitation (in)
0.88
 
Precipitation Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
December 2023 Days with Measurable (>= 0.01 inch) Precipitation
11
6.6
December 2023 Days with >= 0.10 inch Precipitation
5
2.0
December 2023 Days with >= 0.25 inch Precipitation
4
0.7
December 2023 Days with >= 0.50 inch Precipitation
2
0.1
December 2023 Days with >= 1.00 inch Precipitation
1
0.0
December Extremes
Precipitation (in)
Date
Most Daily Precipitation in December 2023
1.47 (set daily and monthly precipitation records; see below)
December 24
Record Precipitation in December 2023
Precipitation (in)
Date
Old Record
Daily Record Precipitation
1.47 inch
December 24
0.40 inch in 1920
Monthly 24-Hour Precipitation
1.47 inch
December 24
1.07 inch on December 25, 1893
Snowfall (in)
December 2023
Normal
December 2023 Saint Cloud Airport Snowfall (in)
3.1 
9.3
2023-2024 Seasonal Snowfall (1 Oct 2023 - 31 Dec 2023)
5.7 (17th brownest season through December)
20.1
 
Snowfall Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
December 2023 Days with Measurable (>= 0.1 inch) Snowfall
5
8.3
December 2023 Days with >= 1.0 inch Snowfall
2
3.2
December 2023 Days with >= 2.0 inch Snowfall
0
1.6
December 2023 Days with >= 5.0 inch Snowfall
0
0.2
     
December Extremes
Snowfall (in)
Date
Most Daily Snowfall in December 2023
1.1
December 16
Record Snowfall in December 2023
Snowfall (in)
Date
Old Record
No records set      

 

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2023 Statistics

Temperatures (°F)
2023
Average
Average High Temperature (°F)
56.9 (4th warmest annual high)
53.1
Average Low Temperature (°F)
35.7 (5th warmest annual low)
32.7
Mean Temperature for 2023 (°F)
42.9
     
2023 Temperature Thresholds
2022
Average
Warm Season    
2023 Days with High Temperatures >= 90°F
11.4
2023 Days with High Temperature >= 100°F
0
0.5
2023 Days with Low Temperatures >= 70°F
1
3.0
2023 Days with Low Temperatures >= 75°F
0
0.47
Growing Season (Consecutive Days with Low Temp>= 32°F) Apr 27-Oct 9
166
137
Cold Season
2023 Days with High Temperatures <= 32°F
57
87.3
2023 Days with High Temperatures <= 0°F
1
4.3
2023 Days with Low Temperatures <= 32°F
136
170.4
2023 Days with Low Temperatures <= 0°F
25
42.6
2023 Days with Low Temperatures <= -20°F
0
5.4
Liquid Equivalent Precipitation (in)
2023
1991-2020 Average
2023 Total Precipitation (in)
27.73
28.49
Wettest/Driest Years in St. Cloud Records    
Precipitation Thresholds
2023
1896-2023 Average
2023 Days with Measurable (>= 0.01 inch) Precipitation
110
97.3
2023 Days with >= 0.10 inch Precipitation
60
52.9
2023 Days with >= 0.25 inch Precipitation
33
32.1
2023 Days with >= 0.50 inch Precipitation
19
16.8
2023 Days with >= 1.00 inch Precipitation
6
5.5
Snowfall (in)
2023
1991-2020 Average
2023 Total Snowfall
66.2 (12th snowiest out of 124 years)
47.9
Precipitation Thresholds
2023
1904-2022 Average
2023 Total Days with Measurable (>= 0.1 inch) Snowfall
34
32.2
2023 Total Days with >= 1.0 inch Snowfall
19
14.0
2023 Total Days with >= 2.0 inch Snowfall
12
7.6
2023 Total Days with >= 5.0 inch Snowfall
4
1.4
 
2023 Month-by-Month Summary January-July
Temperature (°F)
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Average High Temperature 24.3 27.8 33.4 50.4 75.9 84.5 82.5
Average Low Temperature 10.2 4.4 14.1 31.3 49.0 58.6 60.6
Mean Temperature 17.2 16.1 23.7 40.9 62.5 71.5 70.4
Departure from Normal +5.4 +0.0 -5.5 -2.5 +6.3 (9th warmest May) +5.5 (5th warmest June) +0.1
2023 Warmest High Temperature

97 on August 22 (tied daily record)

2023 Coldest High Temperature 0 on January 30
2023 Warmest Low Temperature 70 on July 26
2023 Coldest Low Temperature -18 on January 29, 30, 31; February 3
   
2023 Daily Record Temperatures
Temperature (°F)
Date
Record Warm High Temperature (4 broken, 5 tied)
86
April 13
97 (tie)
August 22
96 (tie)
September 3
91
90 (tie)
October 2
53 (tie)
December 7
53 (tie)
December 14
52
December 24
48
December 25
Record Warm Average Temperature (7 broken, 3 tied)
34
January 15
34
January 16
83 (tie)
September 3
72 (tie)
September 30
78
77
October 2
75 (tie)
October 3
42
December 23
38
December 24
42
December 25
Record Warm Low Temperature (11 broken, 1 tied)
30 (tie)
January 15
32
January 16
31
January 17
62
May 11
68
June 2
65
June 3
64
September 30
65
October 1
64
October 3
38
December 23
38
December 24
36
December 25
Record Cold High Temperature (1 tied)
37 (tie)
April 21
Record Cold Average Temperature
None Broken
Record Cold Low Temperature
None Broken
Precipitation (in)
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Liquid Precipitation 1.60 1.76 2.87 3.74 0.87 (5th wettest) 0.67 1.83
Departure from Normal +0.93 +1.00 (7th wettest Feb) +1.30 +1.13 -2.79 (4th driest May) -3.07 (3rd driest June) -1.77
Most in 24 hours 1.54 on October 13 (set daily record; see below)
New Daily Precipitation Records Set
Amount (inches)
Date
Daily Record Precipitation (3 broken)
0.68
February 14
1.54
October 13
1.47
December 24 (set December record)
Snowfall (in)
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Snowfall 18.6 14.0 23.5 4.4 0.0 0.0 0.0
Departure from Normal +9.8 (10th snowiest Jan) +5.1 +15.3 (4th snowiest Mar) -0.3 - - -
Most in 24 hours 7.0 inches on January 4 (set record; see below)
     
New Snowfall Records Set
Amount (inches)
Date
Daily Record Snowfall (1 broken)
7.0
January 4

 

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2023 Month-by-Month Summary August-December
Temperature (°F)
Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec 2023
Average High Temperature 82.2 76.7 58.9 45.6 39.0 56.9
Average Low Temperature 59.0 54.5 39.9 25.0 25.2 35.7
Mean Temperature 70.6 65.6 49.4 35.3 32.1 46.2
Departure from Normal +2.9 +6.1 (3rd warmest September) +3.7 +4.4 +14.3 (warmest December) +3.3 (tied for 4th warmest year)

 

Precipitation (in)
Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec 2023
Liquid Precipitation 4.50 2.65 3.81 0.08 3.35 27.73 (26th wettest of 130)
Departure from Normal +0.50 -0.36 +1.20 -1.29 (tied for 7th driest Nov) +2.42 (wettest Dec) -0.76
Snowfall (in)
Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec 2023
Snowfall 0.0 0.0 2.5 0.1 (13th brownest) 3.1 (5th snowiest) 66.2 (12th highest)
Departure from Normal - - +1.5 -6.8 -3.8 +18.3
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Saint Cloud Hottest Annual Temperatures (1988-2023)
Year
Hottest High (°F)
Date
Days with High >= 97°F
1988
102°F
June 24, July 31
13
(7 days with >= 100°F)
1989
98°F
August 4
1
1990
101°F
July 3
1
1991
95°F
July 18
0
1992
92°F
June 12, August 9
0
1993
90°F
August 10
0
1994
95°F
June 14
0
1995
97°F
June 17, July 13
2
1996
96°F
June 28
0
1997
95°F
June 23
0
1998
94°F
May 18
0
1999
98°F
July 30
2
2000
94°F
June 9
0
2001
98°F
August 6, 7
4
2002
95°F
June 30, July 6
0
2003
96°F
August 24
0
2004
96°F
June 30
0
2005
98°F
June 23
1
2006
101°F
July 31
5
2007
96°F
August 10
0
2008
91°F
June 6, 11, August 18
0
2009
92°F
May 20
0
2010
94°F
May 24
0
2011
101°F
June 7
1
2012
94°F
May 18
0
2013
95°F
May 14, Aug 26
0
2014
94°F
July 21
0
2015
91°F
August 14
0
2016
93°F
June 25, July 22
0
2017
92°F
June 10, July 17
0
2018
97°F
June 29
1
2019
92°F
July 15
0
2020
96°F
June 8
0
2021
98°F
June 5
2
2022
101°F
June 14
2
2023
97°F
August 22
1

 

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Last Updated: January 4, 2024

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