Of course, December is the beginning month of winter. December started out cool with morning readings in the 20’s. The coldest morning was minus 2 on the 23rd and the warmest was 42 degrees on the 11th. The afternoon readings were in the high 20’s and low 30s except for the week before Christmas. The temperature struggled to get out of the teens.  The last week of the month it was mild with readings in the 40s and it even reached the low 50’s for a day or two.

We received 2.88″ of rain and melted snow. Last year we received 4.21″  We got 15.3″ of snow. Last year the reading was 3.8″  We had 1″ or more of snow on the ground for 17 days with the greatest depth of 6″ on the 6th. We had 6 foggy mornings and damaging winds on the 6th.

For the year we received 49.69″ of rain and melted snow which is 6.9″ above the average.  We received 45.3″ of snow which is 8.7″ below the average.

January is the coldest month of the year. March can sometimes be the snowiest.  Who knows what the winter will bring. We will just have to wait and see.  Hopefully the cross country skiers and those who have snowmobiles will have the opportunity to enjoy the winter.  Pine Creek looks good but there is now ice on the lakes.

Henry W. LushNational Weather Service Observer