...DECEMBER HIGHLIGHTS...
...43RD COOLEST DECEMBER ON RECORD...
...43RD DRIEST DECEMBER ON RECORD...
...GREATEST ONE DAY HIGH TEMPERATURE CHANGED ON RECORD...
...FIRST SIGNIFICANT MOUNTAIN SNOW OF THE 2006-07 WINTER SEASON...

THE VERY DRY MONTH OF NOVEMBER CONTINUED INTO THE FIRST HALF OF
DECEMBER WITH NO RAIN BEING RECORDED AT THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
HIGH TEMPERATURES RANGED BETWEEN THE MID 60S TO THE MID 70S WITH NEAR
RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES MID-MONTH. SEVERAL DRY WEATHER SYSTEMS WITH
GUSTY WINDS MOVED THROUGH THE AREA DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE
MONTH. WIND GUSTS NEAR 40 MPH WERE RECORDED ON THE 4TH...7TH AND 8TH.

THE SECOND HALF OF DECEMBER WAS UNSETTLED WITH COOLER THAN NORMAL
TEMPERATURES. SEVERAL WEATHER SYSTEMS AFFECTED THE AREA WHICH FINALLY
BROUGHT SOME NEEDED VALLEY RAINFALL AND SOME MOUNTAIN SNOW. THE FIRST
SYSTEM BROUGHT VERY LIGHT RAINFALL ON THE 18TH AND 19TH. AN ALBERTA
CLIPPER LIKE SYSTEM RACED ACROSS THE AREA ON THE 22ND AND BROUGHT
VALLEY RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW. RAINFALL AMOUNTS WERE MOSTLY LESS THAN
A QUARTER OF AN INCH WITH THE AIRPORT RECORDED JUST UNDER A TENTH OF
AN INCH. THE STRONGEST STORM SYSTEM OF THE MONTH BROUGHT THE FIRST
SIGNIFICANT WIDESPREAD RAIN EVENT TO THE AREA SINCE OCTOBER. THE
STORM STARTED TO IMPACT THE AREA LATE ON THE 27TH...THEN THE 28TH
WAS GRAY COLD AND RAINY WITH SOME SNOW BEING RECORDED IN THE
FOOTHILLS...AND FINALLY ON THE 29TH THE STORM STARTED TO WEAKEN AND
MOVE INTO NEW MEXICO. OUTSIDE OF THE MUCH NEEDED VALLEY RAIN AND
MOUNTAIN SNOW (MOUNT LEMMON RECORDED OVER A FOOT OF SNOW) THE MOST
DRAMATIC CHANGE WERE THE HIGH TEMPERATURE BETWEEN THE 27TH AND 28TH.
THE HIGH TEMPERATURE ON THE 27TH WAS 75 DEGREES AND ON THE 28TH THE
MERCURY STRUGGLED TO GET ABOVE 44 DEGREES. THIS REPRESENTED A 31
DEGREE TEMPERATURE CHANGE FOR ONE DAY WHICH SET AN ALL-TIME
RECORD...ECLIPSING THE 29 DEGREE TEMPERATURE CHANGES THAT OCCURRED
IN FEBRUARY 1910 AND APRIL 1896.

ALL-TIME ONE DAY TEMPERATURE CHANGES ON RECORD...
31 DEGREES...75 DEGREES ON DEC 27 2006 TO 44 DEGREES ON DEC 28 2006
29 DEGREES...75 DEGREES ON FEB 15 1910 TO 46 DEGREES ON FEB 16 1910
29 DEGREES...90 DEGREES ON APR 10 1896 TO 61 DEGREES ON APR 11 1896

THE 44 DEGREE HIGH ON THE 28TH ALSO SET A DAILY RECORD LOW MAXIMUM
TEMPERATURE BREAKING THE OLD RECORD OF 47 DEGREES PREVIOUSLY SET IN
2003 AND 1969. OFFICIALLY...THE AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE OF 51.1
DEGREES WAS 0.8 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 43RD COLDEST
DECEMBER ON RECORD. TEMPERATURE EXTREMES RANGED FROM A HIGH OF 77
DEGREES ON THE 16TH TO A LOW OF 26 DEGREES ON THE 20TH. RAINFALL
TOTALS ACROSS THE METRO AREA RANGED BETWEEN A HALF AN INCH TO ONE
INCH. OFFICIALLY...THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT RECORDED JUST UNDER
TWO-THIRDS OF AN INCH /0.62"/ WHICH IS FOUR-TENTHS OF AN INCH BELOW
NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 43RD DRIEST DECEMBER ON RECORD.

...DECEMBER 2006 STATS...       MONTH    NORMAL     DEPARTURE
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE        64.8      64.6        + 0.2
AVERAGE LOW  TEMPERATURE        37.3      39.2        - 1.9
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE             51.1      51.9        - 0.8
RAINFALL (AIRPORT)              0.62"     1.03"      - 0.41"
WATER YEAR RAINFALL (OCT-DEC)   0.89"     2.91"      - 2.02"

...LOOKING AHEAD INTO JANUARY...
THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER FORECASTS THAT THE MONTH OF JANUARY
WILL HAVE NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND INCREASED CHANCES OF ABOVE
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