...DECEMBER HIGHLIGHTS...
...12TH WARMEST DECEMBER ON RECORD...
...12TH DRIEST DECEMBER ON RECORD...

THE DRY WEATHER PATTERN THAT PREVAILED DURING THE FALL OF 2005
CONTINUED INTO THE FIRST MONTH OF METEOROLOGICAL WINTER. WITH THE
EXCEPTION OF SEVERAL PACIFIC WEATHER SYSTEMS MOVING ACROSS THE
STATE...HIGH PRESSURE WAS IN CONTROL DURING DECEMBER. THE STRONGEST
WEATHER SYSTEM OF THE MONTH OCCURRED ON THE 12TH AND 13TH...WHERE FOR
THE FIRST TIME SINCE OCTOBER 17...MEASURABLE RAIN WAS RECORDED ACROSS
THE METRO AREA. THE PEAK OF HIGH PRESSURE OCCURRED IN THE DAYS
LEADING UP TO CHRISTMAS WEEKEND WITH DAILY HIGH TEMPERATURES NEARING
RECORD HIGHS. IN FACT...THE TWO-DAY CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY WAS THE WARMEST
ON RECORD WITH AN AVERAGE HIGH OF 79 DEGREES...BREAKING THE OLD
RECORD AVERAGE OF 77.5 DEGREES SET IN 1995 AND 1906. THE HIGH OF 81
DEGREES ON CHRISTMAS DAY WAS THE SECOND WARMEST ON RECORD.

OFFICIALLY...THE AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE OF 54.6 DEGREES WAS
2.7 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 12TH WARMEST DECEMBER ON
RECORD. TEMPERATURE EXTREMES RANGED FROM A HIGH OF 81 DEGREES ON
CHRISTMAS DAY TO A LOW OF 29 DEGREES ON THE 17TH. RAINFALL TOTALS
ACROSS THE METRO AREA WERE LESS THAN A TENTH OF AN INCH. THE
SURROUNDING MOUNTAINS RECORDED BETWEEN A QUARTER OF AN INCH TO A
HALF AN INCH. OFFICIALLY...THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT RECORDED ONE
HUNDREDTH OF AN INCH /0.01"/ OF RAIN...WHICH IS ONE INCH BELOW NORMAL
AND RANKS AS THE 12TH DRIEST DECEMBER ON RECORD (SEVEN DECEMBERS
RECORDED ZERO RAINFALL WHILE FOUR OTHERS RECORDED A TRACE)

...DECEMBER 2005 STATS...       MONTH    NORMAL     DEPARTURE
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE        69.8      64.6        + 5.2
AVERAGE LOW  TEMPERATURE        39.3      39.2        + 0.1
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE             54.6      51.9        + 2.7
RAINFALL (AIRPORT)              0.01"     1.03"      - 1.02"
WATER YEAR RAINFALL (OCT-DEC)   0.32"     2.91"      - 2.59"

...LOOKING AHEAD INTO JANUARY...
THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER FORECASTS THAT THE MONTH OF JANUARY
WILL LIKELY HAVE ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL.

AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE ......... 64.5 DEGREES
AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE........... 38.9 DEGREES
AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE ...... 51.7 DEGREES
RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE ..........   88 DEGREES ON JANUARY 4 1927
RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE ...........    6 DEGREES ON JANUARY 7 1913
WARMEST JANUARY (AVG) ............ 58.6 DEGREES IN 1986
COLDEST JANUARY (AVG) ............ 41.2 DEGREES IN 1937
NORMAL RAINFALL .................. 0.99 INCHES
WETTEST JANUARY DAY .............. 2.63 INCHES ON JANUARY 19 1916
WETTEST JANUARY .................. 4.81 INCHES IN 1993
DRIEST JANUARY ................... ZERO INCHES IN 1972
 	                                (LAST OF 5 OCCURRENCES)
RECORD JANUARY SNOWFALL .......... 6.0 INCHES IN 1898

THE NUMBER OF DAYLIGHT HOURS WILL INCREASE FROM 10 HOURS 5 MINUTES ON
THE FIRST TO 10 HOURS 38 MINUTES ON THE 31ST...A GAIN OF 33 MINUTES.

GLUECK