December Climate Outlook for northern & eastern Maine

DURING THE MONTH OF DECEMBER THE AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE FALLS FROM 32 ON THE 1^ST TO 22 BY MONTHS END.  THE AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE FALLS FROM 18 ON THE 1^ST TO 4 ABOVE BY MONTHS END. THE WARMEST TEMPERATURE EVER OBSERVED DURING THE MONTH OF DECEMBER WAS 58 DEGREES ON BOTH DECEMBER 5^TH AND 12^TH IN 1950.  THE COLDEST TEMPERATURE EVER OBSERVED IN DECEMBER WAS 31 BELOW ON DECEMBER 30, 1989.

DECEMBER IS ON AVERAGE THE 2^ND SNOWIEST MONTH OF THE YEAR BEHIND ONLY JANUARY.  THE AVERAGE SNOWFALL IS JUST UNDER 2 FEET (23.4 INCHES).  THE SNOWIEST DECEMBER WAS IN 1972 WHEN JUST SHY OF 6 FEET OF SNOW FELL (59.9 INCHES), AND THIS WAS THE ALL-TIME SNOWIEST MONTH ON RECORD AT CARIBOU.  1982 HOLDS THE HONORS FOR THE LEAST SNOWY DECEMBER WITH ONLY 4 INCHES OBSERVED ALL MONTH.    DECEMBER HAS HAD MORE 40+ INCH MONTHLY SNOWFALL TOTALS THAN ANY OTHER MONTH OF THE YEAR WITH SIX.

SINCE 1939 DECEMBER HAS BEEN THE COLDEST MONTH OF THE YEAR 3 TIMES IN 1955, 1958, AND 1989.  THE WINTER SEASON (DECEMBER THROUGH FEBRUARY) CROSSES CALENDAR YEARS, AND HAS BEEN THE COLDEST WINTER MONTH 5 TIMES, OR JUST UNDER 7 PERCENT OF WINTERS. OF THE THREE WINTER MONTHS DECEMBER IS TYPICALLY THE WARMEST OF THE THREE.

ON AVERAGE THERE ARE 6 DAYS IN DECEMBER WITH A SNOWFALL OF 1 INCH OF MORE, 2 DAYS WITH A SNOWFALL OF 3 INCHES OF MORE, AND 1 DAY WITH A SNOWFALL OF 6 INCHES OR GREATER.  THE GREATEST CALENDAR DAY SNOWFALL OF 27.1 INCHES WAS OBSERVED ON DECEMBER 15, 2003.  IN YEARS WHEN THE SNOW PACK IS NOT ESTABLISHED IN NOVEMBER IT IS ALMOST ALWAYS ESTABLISHED IN DECEMBER.  THERE HAVE BEEN YEARS WHEN THE SNOW PACK HAS EITHER COMPLETELY OR NEARLY COMPLETELY MELTED EARLY IN THE MONTH OR HAS NOT YET BEEN ESTABLISHED.  ONLY ONE TIME IN 1982 WAS THE GROUND COMPLETELY BARE AT MONTHS END.  THE PROBABILITY OF A WHITE CHRISTMAS (1 INCH OR MORE OF SNOW ON THE GROUND ON CHRISTMAS MORNING) IS 90 PERCENT.

DECEMBER: CARIBOU’S TOP 5 WARMEST (AVERAGE TEMPERATURES):
26.5  DEGREES 2001
26.2 1996
25.2 2010
23.8 1973
23.6 2006

DECEMBER: CARIBOU’S TOP 5 COLDEST (AVERAGE TEMPERATURES):
3.5 DEGREES 1989
5.5 1958
7.6 1972
7.9 1976
8.7 1963

DECEMBER: CARIBOU’S TOP 5 WETTEST
7.97 INCHES 1973
6.60 2005
5.61 2008
5.60 1990
5.28 1972

DECEMBER: CARIBOU’S TOP 5 SNOWIEST
59.9 INCHES 1972 (CARIBOU’S ALL-TIME SNOWIEST MONTH)
54.5 2007
49.4 1954
43.4 2005
43.0 2003

DECEMBER: CARIBOU’S TOP 5 DRIEST
0.74 INCHES 1963
0.79 1943
0.81 1947
0.93 1958
0.99 2001

…DECEMBER  STATISTICS…
….TEMPERATURES (1981-2010 NORMALS)
AVERAGE HIGH………………………...............................26.2
AVERAGE LOW………...................................................10.3
MONTHLY AVERAGE…………………………………………..18.2
AVERAGE # OF DAYS W/HIGHS< 32F……………………...20
AVERAGE # OF DAYS W/LOWS < 32F……………………..30 (29.9)
AVERAGE # OF DAYS W/LOWS< 10F……………………...14
AVERAGE # OF DAYS W/LOWS< 0F……..………………...7


…PRECIPITATION…
MONTHLY AVERAGE………………………………………….....3.27 INCHES
AVERAGE DAYS WITH MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION…..14 (14.3)
LARGEST CALENDAR DAY RAINFALL………………………..2.77 INCHES, DECEMBER 15, 2003
AVERAGE SNOWFALL…………………………………………..23.4 INCHES
MOST SNOWFALL………………………………………………..59.9 INCHES, 1972
LEAST SNOWFALL……………………………………………….4 INCHES, 1982
AVERAGE # OF DAYS W/SNOWFALL > 1 INCH………….….6 (5.8)
AVERAGE # OF DAYS W/SNOWFALL > 3 INCHES…………2
AVERAGE # OF DAYS W/SNOWFALL > 6 INCHES…………1

…MISCELLANEOUS NOVEMBER AVERAGES…
NORMAL HEATING DEGREE DAYS………………………..…1449
NORMAL COOLING DEGREE DAYS……………………….….0
MEAN WIND SPEED……………………………………………..8.5 MPH
AVERAGE NUMBER OF DAYS W/DENSE FOG…………..…2.5
MEAN NUMBER OF CLOUDY DAYS………………………….19 (18.5)

…SUNRISE AND SUNSET…
DECEMBER 1^ST……………………………………………..…6:57 AM/3:45 PM
DECEMBER 31^ST   …………………………………………….7:17 AM/3:53 PM
LOSS OF DAYLIGHT………………………………………….12 MINUTES
WINTER SOLSTICE………………………….………..………DECEMBER 21^ST  12:11 pm EST


Here is the official outlook from NOAA's Climate Prediction Center for the month of December: