Ithaca Climate Summary for December 2000

Temperature

• With a monthly average temperature of 21.6 degrees, the final month of 2000 averaged 6.0 degrees colder than normal.
• This was the largest negative monthly temperature departure since January 1994.
• This was the coldest December since 1989 and the 12th coldest since records began in 1873.
• The warmest temperature of the month was 58 degrees on the 17th.
• This was a record for the day, surpassing 57 degrees set in 1984.
• The coldest temperature of the month was -4 degrees on the 23rd.

Precipitation

• December precipitation totalled 1.61 inches, which represented 63% of normal.
• Five of the last six months of the year were drier than normal.
• The was the third consecutive December with less than 2 inches of precipitation.
• The year 2000 precipitation total was 38.12 inches, which was 2.72 inches above normal.

Snowfall

• December snowfall totalled 19.3 inches, which was 4 inches greater than normal.
• This was the greatest December total since 1997.
• There were 8 days with snowfalls of an inch or more (3 days more than normal).
• There were 26 days during the month with an inch or more of snow on the ground. The last time there were more such days in a December was in 1969 (27 days).
• The seasonal snowfall total now stands at 23.2 inches, 2 inches more than normal.