...DECEMBER HIGHLIGHTS...
...24TH COLDEST DECEMBER ON RECORD...
...10TH STRAIGHT DECEMBER WITH BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION...
...FIRST SIGNIFICANT MOUNTAIN SNOW OF THE 2007-08 WINTER SEASON...
...ALL-TIME WARMEST DECEMBER LOW TEMPERATURE RECORDED ON THE 7TH...

IN A DRAMATIC CHANGE FROM THE WARMEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD...THE
RESIDENTS OF EASTERN PIMA COUNTY WERE THE RECIPIENTS OF THE 24TH
COLDEST DECEMBER ON RECORD. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE IN DECEMBER WAS
49.2 DEGREES...OR 2.7 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THIS ENDED A STRETCH OF
10 STRAIGHT MONTHS WITH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES.

PAST 10 DECEMBER AVERAGE TEMPERATURES:
2007 ..... 49.2        2002 ..... 50.7
2006 ..... 51.1        2001 ..... 49.3
2005 ..... 54.6        2000 ..... 54.3
2004 ..... 52.7        1999 ..... 51.3
2003 ..... 52.8        1998 ..... 52.0
TEN YEAR AVERAGE ..... 51.8
1971-2000 NORMAL ..... 51.9

ONE INTERESTING FACT TO MENTION HERE IS THE DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL
CHANGE FROM NOVEMBER TO DECEMBER. NOVEMBER WAS THE WARMEST ON RECORD
WITH THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE BEING 7.0 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. WITH
DECEMBER BEING 2.7 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL...THAT MAKES A 9.7 DEPARTURE
FROM NORMAL CHANGE BETWEEN THE TWO MONTHS. GOING BACK TO THE 1950S
WHEN THE FIRST 30 YEAR NORMALS (1921-1950) WERE PUBLISHED FOR
TUCSON...THIS IS THE THIRD BIGGEST 2 MONTH DEPARTURE OF NORMAL CHANGE
ON RECORD.

TOP 5 TWO MONTH DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL CHANGES

1) 11.7 DEGREES
   FEBRUARY 2004 ... 4.2 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL
   MARCH 2004 ...... 7.5 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL
AT THAT TIME...FEBRUARY 2004 WAS THE 21ST COLDEST ON RECORD WHILE
MARCH 2004 WAS THE WARMEST ON RECORD.

2) 11.0 DEGREES
   JANUARY 1956 .... 6.4 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL
   FEBRUARY 1956 ... 4.6 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL
AT THAT TIME...JANUARY 1956 WAS THE WARMEST ON RECORD WHILE
FEBRUARY 1956 WAS THE 5TH COLDEST ON RECORD.

3) 9.7 DEGREES
   NOVEMBER 2007 ... 7.0 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL
   DECEMBER 2007 ... 2.7 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL
AT THAT TIME...NOVEMBER 2007 WAS THE WARMEST ON RECORD WHILE
DECEMBER 2007 WAS THE 24TH COLDEST ON RECORD.

4) 8.7 DEGREES
   NOVEMBER 2000 ... 6.4 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL
   DECEMBER 2000 ... 2.3 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL
AT THAT TIME...NOVEMBER 2000 WAS THE COLDEST ON RECORD WHILE
DECEMBER 2000 WAS THE 14TH WARMEST ON RECORD.

5) 8.6 DEGREES
   FEBRUARY 1960 ... 5.5 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL
   MARCH 1960 ...... 3.1 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL
AT THAT TIME...FEBRUARY 1960 WAS THE 6TH COLDEST ON RECORD WHILE
MARCH 1960 WAS THE 8TH WARMEST ON RECORD.

A WEATHER SYSTEM OFF BAJA CALIFORNIA...WHICH BROUGHT SIGNIFICANT
RAINFALL TO END NOVEMBER CONTINUED ON DECEMBER 1ST. RAINFALL AMOUNTS
ON THE VALLEY FLOOR ON THE 1ST RANGED FROM A TRACE TO A HALF AN INCH
WITH 1"-2" IN THE MOUNTAINS. DUE TO THE WARM NATURE OF THIS
STORM...ALL OF THE MOUNTAIN PRECIPITATION WAS IN THE FORM OF RAIN.

HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT BUILT OVER THE DESERT SOUTHWEST THROUGH THE 6TH
WITH DAILY HIGH TEMPERATURES IN THE 70S. THE UPPER AIR PATTERN ACROSS
THE WESTERN UNITED STATE CHANGED AROUND THE 8TH WHICH ALLOWED STORM
SYSTEM THE GULF OF ALASKA AND CANADA TO DROP SOUTH ACROSS THE STATE.
THIS PATTERN LASTED FOR THE REST OF THE MONTH. THE FIRST STORM SYSTEM
FROM THE GULF OF ALASKA SET UP AN UNSETTLED FIVE DAY PERIOD FROM THE
8TH THROUGH THE 12TH. SINCE THE ORIGINS OF THIS SYSTEM WAS FROM
ALASKA...IT WAS A MUCH COLDER STORM THAN THE ONE AT THE TURN OF THE
MONTH. SNOW LEVELS WERE DOWN TO AROUND 4000 FEET WITH MT. LEMMON
UNOFFICIALLY RECORDING BETWEEN ONE TO TWO FEET OF SNOW DURING THE
FIVE DAY PERIOD. RAINFALL AMOUNTS ON THE VALLEY FLOOR RANGED FROM
AROUND THREE QUARTERS OF AN INCH /0.75"/ TO AROUND ONE AND A HALF
INCHES /1.50"/. A FEW LOCAL SPOTS NEAR THE CATALINA FOOTHILLS
RECORDED UP TO TWO INCHES. OFFICIALLY THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
RECORDED JUST UNDER THREE-QUARTERS OF AN INCH /0.73"/. HIGH
TEMPERATURES DURING THIS FIVE DAY STRETCH RANGED FROM THE UPPER 40S
TO THE UPPER 50S.

WITH THE UPPER AIR PATTERN NOW SET UP TO ALLOW STORMS TO ROLL IN
FROM THE NORTH NORTHWEST...COLDER OVERNIGHT LOW TEMPERATURES WILL BE
ACCOMPANIED BY ANY STORMS THAT MOVED THROUGH. THE FIRST WIDESPREAD
FREEZE EVENT OCCURRED ON THE 15TH WITH MORNING TEMPERATURES IN THE
MID TO UPPER 20S. BRIEF HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT BUILT OVER THE AREA ON
THE 17TH AND 18TH...RESULTING IN DAYTIME TEMPERATURES BEING IN THE
UPPER 60S TO LOWER 70S. FOR THE REST OF THE MONTH...SEVERAL STORMS
WOULD MOVE ACROSS THE AREA...BRINGING SHOTS OF COLDER AIR BUT LITTLE
IF ANY PRECIPITATION ON THE VALLEY FLOOR. HARD FREEZE WARNINGS WERE
ISSUED ON THE 22ND...23RD...AND 28TH AS THE MERCURY DIPPED DOWN INTO
THE UPPER TEENS TO MID 20S.

THE AIRPORT RECORDED NINE DAILY LOWS THAT WERE FREEZING OR COLDER
WITH THE MERCURY ON SEVEN OF THOSE DAYS BEING IN THE 20S. THIS IS
THE MOST OCCURRENCES IN DECEMBER WITH LOWS COLDER THAN 30 DEGREES
SINCE SEVEN WAS RECORDED IN 1953. THE HISTORICAL DECEMBER AVERAGE
(1894-2006) IS FOUR DAYS WHILE THE 1971-2000 AVERAGE IS 2 DAYS.

RAINFALL TOTALS ACROSS THE METRO AREA RANGED BETWEEN A HALF AN INCH
TO AN INCH AND A HALF WITH A SEVERAL SPOTS IN THE FOOTHILLS RECORDING
UP TO TWO AND A HALF INCHES. THE SURROUNDING MOUNTAINS RECORDED
BETWEEN 4 TO 6 INCHES OF RAIN. OFFICIALLY...THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
WAS ONE OF THE DRIER SPOTS ACROSS THE METRO AREA AS IT ONLY RECORDED
AROUND THREE-QUARTERS OF AN INCH /0.76"/. THIS IS AROUND A QUARTER OF
AN INCH BELOW NORMAL AND MARKS THE TENTH STRAIGHT DECEMBER OF BELOW
NORMAL RAINFALL. THE LAST TIME ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL OCCURRED IN
DECEMBER WAS BACK DURING THE STRONG 1997-1998 EL NINO EVENT WHEN THE
AIRPORT RECORDED 2.88 INCHES.

PAST 10 DECEMBER PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS:
2007 ..... 0.76"       2002 ..... 0.64"
2006 ..... 0.62"       2001 ..... 0.60"
2005 ..... 0.01"       2000 ..... TRACE
2004 ..... 0.71"       1999 ..... TRACE
2003 ..... 0.16"       1998 ..... 0.45"
1971-2000 NORMAL ..... 1.03" 
TEN YEAR AVERAGE ..... 0.40" OR 10 YEAR DECEMBER DEFICIT OF 6.35"

TEMPERATURE EXTREMES RANGED FROM A HIGH OF 78 DEGREES ON THE 5TH TO
A LOW OF 25 DEGREES ON THE 29TH. THE LOW TEMPERATURE OF 58 DEGREES
ON THE 7TH TIED THE ALL-TIME WARMEST DAILY LOW TEMPERATURE FOR
DECEMBER...PREVIOUSLY SET IN 1934 ON THE 12TH. 

...DECEMBER 2007 STATS...       MONTH    NORMAL     DEPARTURE
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE        61.4      64.6        - 3.2
AVERAGE LOW  TEMPERATURE        37.0      39.2        - 2.2
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE             49.2      51.9        - 2.7
RAINFALL (AIRPORT)              0.76"     1.03"      - 0.27"
WATER YEAR RAINFALL (OCT-DEC)   1.58"     2.91"      - 1.33"

...LOOKING AHEAD INTO JANUARY...
THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER FORECASTS THAT THE MONTH OF JANUARY
WILL HAVE ENHANCED PROBABILITIES OF ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND
EQUAL CHANCES OF ABOVE NORMAL...NORMAL OR BELOW NORMAL
PRECIPITATION.

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 37 MINUTES ON THE 31ST...A GAIN OF 32 MINUTES.

GLUECK