Ithaca Climate Summary for December 2001

Temperature

• With an average temperature of 35.4 degrees, the month averaged an impressive 7.8 degrees warmer than normal.
• This was the 2nd warmest December on record, trailing only 1891 (37.3 degrees).
• The monthly temperature departure from normal was the greatest of any month since February 1998.
• The warmest temperature of the month was 67 degrees on the 6th (at 3am). This approached the December record maximum temperature of 69 degrees set on December 6, 1998.
• The coldest temperature of the month was 9 degrees on the 30th.
• Each of the 34 consecutive days between November 22 and December 25 were warmer than normal.
• The first twenty days of the month averaged 11.4 degrees warmer than normal.

Precipitation

• December precipitation totalled 2.23 inches, which represented 87% of normal.
• This December had more precipitation than each of the last three Decembers.
• There were three days with more than a quarter inch of precipitation-all but a trace of it came in the form of rain.
• The year 2001 total precipitation was 34.48 inches (only 0.92 inches below or 97% of normal).

Snowfall

• December snowfall only amounted to 2.1 inches. This was well below the normal of 14 inches.
• This was the 4th least snowiest December on record. A recent comparable month was December 1994 with 1.8 inches.
• Seasonal snowfall was also 2.1 inches, which was 18.2 inches below normal.
• This was the 2nd lowest October-December total on record. The least was 1.4 inches in 1891.
• A record was set for the latest occurrence of the first one-inch snowfall. This occurred on December 30th this year. The record was December 18, 1998.