Champaign-Urbana set a record for their heaviest December snowfall total on record. The 20.4 inches of snow that has fallen so far in December surpassed the old record of 19.1 inches set in 1983.
The 5.0 inches of snow on Christmas Day clinched the December snowfall record. By the way, it was also the biggest snowfall on record for that date. It surpassed the old record of 3.8 inches that fell on December 25, 1944.
We have had measurable snow on the ground since December 4.
It has been persistently cold as well. The average temperature for December through the 27 is 21.3 degrees, the ninth coldest December on record. The forecast is for milder temperatures for the rest of the month so this December may slip a little in the rankings. Oddly, we only dropped below zero once, on December 9 with -1°F.
A complete listing of Champaign-Urbana observations are found here.
What happened to the rest of the 1983-84 winter? The snowfall total for January was only 5.6 inches. However, the heavy snow returned in February with 11.6 inches and 8.4 inches in March. Combined with the 0.2 inches that fell in November 1983, that winter season ended up with 44.9 inches.
Update on Cold Weather in Illinois
As of December 21, Illinois remains 10.2 degrees below normal for the month. At 20.9 degrees, this is now the 5th coldest December since statewide records began in 1895. It could still move up or down in the ranking, depending on how the rest of December behaves.
Statewide precipitation stands at 1.06 inches of precipitation (rainfall plus the water equivalent of any snow).
Snowfall totals for the month ranges from less than 2 inches in far southern Illinois to over 14 inches in northwest Illinois (see map below). Right now the two spots with the most snowfall in the state for December are a CoCoRaHS site near Marseilles with 18.5 inches and a CoCoRaHS site near Champaign with 18.3 inches of snow.
From my web page on current conditions in Illinois, here is the breakdown by region within the state as well as the statewide numbers at the bottom for December 1-21.
Illinois
12/01/2010 to 12/21/2010
Climate <------Temperature-----> <---------Precipitation--------->
Division Actual Normal Dev Actual Normal Dev Percent
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northwest 15.2 26.3 -11.0 1.44 1.45 -0.01 99
Northeast 17.0 27.9 -10.9 1.30 1.63 -0.33 80
West 21.4 29.7 -8.3 0.56 1.63 -1.07 34
Central 18.9 29.7 -10.8 1.13 1.76 -0.63 64
East 17.6 30.1 -12.4 1.53 1.75 -0.23 87
West-southwest 23.8 32.5 -8.6 0.56 1.91 -1.35 29
East-southeast 23.3 33.6 -10.2 1.23 2.04 -0.80 61
Southwest 26.2 35.7 -9.5 0.79 2.31 -1.52 34
Southeast 26.4 36.4 -10.0 0.93 2.43 -1.50 38
State 20.9 31.1 -10.2 1.06 1.86 -0.79 57
Dev means Deviation From Normal, Percent means Percent of Normal
Cold Start to December
After such nice weather in October and most of November, real winter weather arrived in Illinois for December. The statewide average temperature for the first 14 days of December was 22.0 degrees, 10.6 degrees below normal.
The statewide average precipitation is 0.83 inches, 0.5 inches below normal.
Snowfall has been widespread across the state in early December. Snowfall totals range from less than an inch in far southern Illinois to over 10 inches in northwestern Illinois. See map below for snowfall totals for December 1-14, 2010.
Updated Forecast for December and Winter
NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center has come out with a new forecast for December and for December-February (winter). This is part of their routine update cycle.
December
The outlook for December in Illinois calls for an increased chance of above normal temperatures. An increased chance of above normal temperatures translates into just a few degrees above normal. Temperatures in Illinois have run an average of 2.9 degrees above normal for every month since March of this year. Therefore, continuing with a forecast for above-normal temperatures is not surprising.
The outlook calls for equal chances of above, below, or near-normal precipitation (or equal chances as they call it) in December in Illinois.
December-February (winter)
The outlook for December-February remains the same as last month. There is an increased chance of above-normal precipitation for all of Illinois. And, there is an increased chance of above-normal temperatures for the southern two-thirds of the state. See the figure below for more details.
