MONTHLY WEATHER DATA AND OBS - LAVALE MD							
DECEMBER 2011							
OBSERVER SCOTT LOHR
DATA COMPILED AND PUBLISHED BY NATE MULLINS
							
Special Observations:  F=fog, T=thunder, H=hail,							
S=sleet, G=glaze, DW=damaging winds							
Observation time for this station is midnight.	
						
	Temperature, °F		Precipitation, In.			
			Liquid	Solid	7am		DAY
	24-hour		Rain	Snow/	Snow	Special	WEATHER
Date	Max	Min	Equiv	Ice	Depth	Obs.	SUMMARY

1	48	28					Sunny
2	50	25					Partly cloudy
3	46	26					Partly sunny
4	50	27					Partly cloudy
5	60	36					Partly to mostly cloudy, mild
6	56	50	 .20				Mild, few rain showers
7	54	33	1.68			F	Rain heavy at times
8	36	28					Partly cloudy, colder
9	43	22					Partly cloudy
10	36	32					Partly cloudy
11	35	17					Sunny, chilly
12	36	17					Sunny, chilly
13	47	20					Sunny, milder, becoming PC
14	46	35	   T				Mostly cloudy, few sprinkles
15	58	34	   T				Mostly cloudy, mild, sprinkles
16	55	33					Mostly cloudy
17	38	31					Mostly cloudy
18	38	26					Partly to mostly cloudy
19	53	22					Mostly sunny becoming mostly cloudy
20	48	44	   T				Mostly cloudy, sprinkles
21	52	42	 .01				Brief AM shower, mostly cloudy
22	56	45	 .25				Mostly cloudy, PM rain showers
23	47	37	 .12				Mostly cloudy, AM rain showers
24	40	32					Partly sunny
25	50	23					Partly cloudy
26	45	32					Partly cloudy
27	43	32	 .59			F	Steady rain, fog
28	33	32	 .05	 0.3			AM showers turning to snow squalls
29	36	22	 .01	 0.2	 1		Variable clouds, PM snow showers
30	36	26	 .02	 	 T		Variable clouds, brief rain shower
31	46	30	 .02				Mostly cloudy, brief rain shower
	
AVG/SUM	45.7	30.3	2.95	 0.5	0.03 avg
EXT	60	17	1.68	 0.3	1
Date	5	12*	7	 28	29
*=Also occurred on earlier dates
							
Miscellaneous Stats
			
Mean Monthly Temperature: 38.0°F (+5.1°F)						
Year precipitation to date: 51.09" (+10.52" - final total for 2011)						
Season snowfall to date: 7.5" (-2.8")	
Number of days with:  
Fog 2
							
NOTES/SIGNIFICANT EVENTS

1-5: Warming trend with fair skies:
6-7: Rain showers 6th, steady rain 7th, heavy at times, storm total 1.88". No snow here though a
     few inches of wet snow fell at higher elevations. Daily record 1.68" precip on the 7th.
8-13: Fair & colder
21-23: Mild, rain showers, .38" total precip.
27: Steady rain & fog.
28-31: Variable clouds, brief rain or snow showers, little snow accumulation. 27-31: 0.69" precip.
			
Additional notes/records:
				
6: Record high min 50 F. Old record 48 in 1998.
7: Daily record precipitation 1.68" breaks old record 1.20" in 1953.
20: Record high min 44 F. Old record 40 in 1957.
22: Record high min 45 F tied with 1956.

*2011 was the 4th warmest year on record with a mean temperature of 53.7 F.
*2011 had the highest mean min on record with a mean min of 44.7 F.
*2011 was the 4th wettest year on record with 51.09" of precipitation. 

Here are the top 5 wettest years in LaVale since 1948:

1. 59.05" (1996)
2. 53.17" (1972)
3. 52.93" (2003)
4. 51.09" (2011)
5. 50.63" (1979)

MONTHLY SUMMARY

December followed the suit of November, which was near-normal precipitation, a lack of snowfall
and much milder than average temperatures. It was a relatively quiet weather month, like November.
Winter was virtually absent in December, which had no sub-freezing max temperatures, only 2 nights
below 20 and a meager 0.5" snow. There was a lack of extremely cold or warm weather, as has been
the case throughout much of 2011 - probably because of frequent cloud cover and precip events.

Two-thirds of the month's precipitation fell in a heavy rain storm late on the 6th through the 7th,
with 1.88" of total rainfall. Snow only fell at higher elevations above about 1,500 feet. After the
system passed, two weeks slid by without any measurable precipitation. Then 8 of the final 11 days
had precipitation, but most of it was light, with the month's only light snow 0.5" the 28th-29th.