Ithaca Climate Summary for December 1997

Temperature

• With an average temperature of 29.9 degrees, the month of December averaged 2.3 degrees warmer than normal, yet was 3.6 degrees cooler than last December.
• This month ended the string of cooler than normal months at five and was the largest positive departure from normal for any month since February.
• The warmest temperature of the month was 54 degrees on the 16th. This broke the daily maximum temperature record for the day of 51 degrees set in 1982.
• The coldest temperature of the month was 4 degrees and occurred just a couple days earlier (on the 14th).

Precipitation

• December precipitation (rain plus melted snow) totalled 3.25 inches, which was 126% of normal.
• This was only the third month of the year that was wetter than normal.
• Just over half of the monthly precipitation total (1.63 inches) fell during the storm at the end of the month (30th-31st).

Snowfall

• December snowfall totalled 31.3 inches, more than double the normal of 15.3 inches.
• This amount was 21.7 inches more than last December and the snowiest December since 1977.
• There were two significant storms during the month. The first brought 8.3 inches on the 11th-12th. The next produced 21.4 inches on the 30th-31st (more than two-thirds of the monthly total).
• This latter amount was the greatest two-day snowfall since 22 inches fell on March 4-5, 1971. Some of the greatest two-day events on record are:

      Amount          Date
      26 inches       Feb. 4-5, 1961
      23 inches       Dec. 26-27, 1969
      22 inches       Mar. 4-5, 1971
      21.7 inches     Dec. 30-31, 1997
      21 inches       Mar. 29-30, 1984
      20 inches       Mar. 3-4, 1994
  	

• There were 18 days with at least an inch of snow on the ground, just a day more than the long-term average number.
• The maximum depth of snow on the ground was 19 inches on the 31st.
• This was the greatest depth since January 11, 1996, when there was also 19 inches on the ground.
• The seasonal snowfall total is now 41.8 inches, 20.6 inches greater than normal through this point in the winter and only 9.7 inches less than the entire winter of 1996-97.
• Monthly snowfall totals for surrounding communities included 36.7 inches in Groton and 46.2 inches in Freeville.