MONTHLY WEATHER DATA AND OBS - LAVALE MD DECEMBER 2012 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 49 27 2 46 33 .03 3 62 45 4 66 46 .02 F 5 56 40 6 40 21 7 50 31 .13 8 55 37 .02 F 9 43 42 .45 F 10 49 37 .11 F 11 37 31 12 39 26 13 42 20 14 53 20 15 43 26 16 44 36 .03 17 50 36 .32 F 18 48 36 .09 F 19 46 35 .01 F 20 41 33 1.05 0.5 T F,S,G 21 33 29 T T 22 35 29 23 50 27 24 35 24 .25 2.0 2 25 38 29 T T 2 26 32 27 1.12 9.0 2 S 27 31 28 10 28 40 27 T T 9 29 35 29 .38 3.0 11 30 33 25 10 31 40 19 9 AVG/SUM 43.9 30.7 4.01 14.5 3.8 (avg) EXT 66 19 1.12 9.0 11 Date 4 31 26 26 29 *=Also occurred on earlier dates Miscellaneous Stats Mean Monthly Temperature: 37.3°F (+4.4°F) Year precipitation to date: 38.15" (-2.59") *final total for 2012* Monthly precipitation departure +0.99" (normal December 3.02") Season snowfall to date: 14.5" (+4.3") Number of days with: Fog 8 Sleet 2 Glaze 1 NOTES/SIGNIFICANT EVENTS 3-4: Very mild highs 62 and 66, respectively. 3: Record high min 45. Previous record 44 in 1982. 9: Record high min 43 tied with 1971. Rainy. 20: Record daily precipitation 1.05" smashes previous record of 0.69" in 1987. Heavy rain, sleet, freezing rain. 26: 9.0" of snow and 1.12" precipitation. Neither are records (snow 16.0" in 1969, precip 2.01" in 1957) however. *14 inches of snow fell from Dec. 24-31: 2" on the 24th (leading to a White Christmas), 9" (mixed with sleet) on the 26th and 3" on the 29th. *Precip total 4.01" is 0.99" above average. *Snow total 14.5" (7.4" above average) *Avg. temp 37.3 F (4.4 degrees above average) **2012 was the WARMEST YEAR ON RECORD with a mean temperature of 55.0 F. Previous warmest year was 2006 (54.5 F). MONTHLY SUMMARY After a virtual lack of precipitation in November, the weather pattern became active again in December, which had moderately above average precipitation. Nearly all of this fell as rain during the first 3 weeks. However, winter actually arrived on cue for once, and the frequent weather systems that passed dropped snow and ice instead of rain. A large-scale light snow event blanked the entire region with, in general, 1 to 3 inches of snow, 2 inches here, on Christmas Eve, yielding to a White Christmas. Perhaps the most significant storm of the month dropped 9 inches of snow, mixed with sleet, and accounted for over an inch of precipitation, on the following day the 26th. Another modest winter storm dropped an additional 3 inches of snow on the 29th. Snowfall in December totaled 14.5", nearly twice the long-term average of about 7.5". Despite the winter weather that greeted the region over the holidays and the above average snowfall, December's temperatures were still well above normal. The first week was very mild, with 62 on the 3rd and 66 on the 4th. 18 of the first 20 days of December had high temperatures in the 40s or higher. This is remarkable, given that the average high in December is actually right around 40. Likewise, minimum temperatures were well above average and there was a lack of significantly cold air, even during the late wintry stretch, as the month's low was a modest 19 on New Year's Eve. Nearly half of the overnight lows (12) failed to reach freezing or lower, and the 19 sub-freezing low temperatures actually matched November's total - in fact, November had a higher percentage of sub-freezing lows, given that it only has 30 days. The year 2012 was this station's warmest year on record, with a mean temperature of 55.0 F, breaking the 2006 record of 54.5 F. The overall temperature pattern matched that of 1991 (a record warm year at the time, breaking the record set only one year prior in 1990) almost exactly - every month except November had above normal temperatures, with some months (e.g. March) breaking or nearly breaking records, also much like 1991. 2012 marked the 21st year of temperature data at this particular location, and 2012 was not only a record warm year here but across the entire U.S. and in many other parts of the world. The relative warmth of the past 3 years here and around much of the world again supports an overall global warming trend and global climate change.