December 2009 Was Rather Average

OSWEGO, NY – December 2009 goes into the record book pretty close to average.

“Except for our snowfall, last month was just about average otherwise,” according to Bill Gregway, local observer for the National Weather Bureau.

The average temperature last month was 29.6 degrees.

That is just 0.1-degree below average.

The highest temperature was 55 degrees on the 2nd and the lowest was 3 degrees on the 18th.

The 3 degrees was the coldest since Jan. 17, 2009, when it also hit 3 degrees.

There were no new records in December, Gregway said.

Total precipitation for December came in at 4.04 inches. That is 0.24-inch above average.

The greatest precipitation in a 24-hour period was 0.86-inch on the 26th.

For the year, the precipitation wound up at 37.98 inches for 2009. That is 4.95 inches below average.

There were 23 days of measurable precipitation, with streaks of 13 and 7 days in a row.

Two days saw just a trace of precipitation and 6 days (3 in a row) had no precipitation.

Snowfall was also lacking last month.

December 2009 saw only 27.9 inches of snow. That is 5.6 inches below average.

The greatest snowfall in a 24-hour period was 6.1 inches on the 28th.

For the winter, the snow total is 27.9 inches. That is 15.1 inches below normal.

The area saw 18 percent of the possible amount of sunshine for last month. That is just 1 percentage below average.

The number of cloudy days, 25, was normal.

The number of partly cloudy days, 5, was normal.

The number of clear days, 1, was normal.

There were no thunderstorms in December, which is average.

There was just 1 foggy day last month, which is also average.

The highest barometric pressure was 30.47 on the 12th and the lowest was 29.08 on the 9th.

December 28th saw the highest winds, gust around 50-55 mph out of the west.

Three other times (the 9th, 10, and 11th) the winds were more than 40 mph.

There were 2 days where the high was 50 degrees or greater and 5 days where it was 40 degrees or greater.

On 2 days, the low was in the single digits, Gregway added.

“It was colder and snowier in 2008,” Gregway said. “December 2008 was 1.5 degrees colder than average. The precipitation was 1.7 inches above average and the snowfall was 11 inches above average.”

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