...DECEMBER HIGHLIGHTS...
...22ND WARMEST DECEMBER ON RECORD...
...1ST DECEMBER SINCE 1997 WITH NORMAL PRECIPITATION...
...FIRST VALLEY SNOW OF THE SEASON OCCURS ON 26TH...

IN A OPPOSITE CONTRAST TO 2007 DECEMBER...WHICH WAS THE 24TH COLDEST
ON RECORD...DECEMBER 2008 ENDED UP BEING THE 22ND WARMEST ON RECORD.

THE MONTH STARTED OFF WARM AND DRY WITH DAYTIME TEMPERATURES RUNNING
4 TO 10 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. A WEAK WEATHER SYSTEM MOVED THROUGH THE
AREA ON THE 8TH AND 9TH...BRINGING ISOLATED SHOWERS WITH DAYTIME
TEMPERATURES IN THE UPPER 50S AND LOWER 60S. A COUPLE MORE WEAK
WEATHER SYSTEMS MOVED THROUGH THE AREA...ONE ON THE 14TH AND THE
OTHER ON THE 18TH...WHICH AGAIN BROUGHT SOME LIGHT RAIN AND DAYTIME
HIGHS IN THE MID TO UPPER 50S.

THE LAST 10 DAYS OF THE MONTH WAS DOMINATED BY TWO WINTER STORMS
THAT BROUGHT WIDESPREAD VALLEY RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW. THE FIRST
WINTER STORM AFFECTED THE AREA ON THE 23RD AND BROUGHT UP TO AN INCH
OF RAIN IN SPOTS ACROSS THE METRO AREA AND 6-10 INCHES OF SNOW TO
THE SURROUNDING MOUNTAINS. THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT SET AN NEW DAILY
RAINFALL RECORD ON THE 23RD WHEN 0.64" WAS RECORDED. THIS BROKE THE
OLD DAILY RECORD OF 0.58" WHICH OCCURRED IN 1914. THIS IS THE MOST
RAIN THAT THE AIRPORT HAS RECORDED DURING DECEMBER SINCE 0.68" WAS
RECORDED ON DECEMBER 26 1994.

THE SECOND AND MUCH COLDER WINTER STORM HIT THE AREA ON THE 26TH. IN
FACT THIS WAS THE LAST OF THREE SYSTEMS THAT WOULD AFFECT THE AREA
DURING A FOUR DAY PERIOD. THE SYSTEM ON THE 23RD BROUGHT THE FIRST
BATCH OF MOISTURE...WHILE A WEAKER STORM NEAR SAN DIEGO BROUGHT SOME
MORE MOISTURE WHICH ALLOWED THE MUCH COLDER THIRD SYSTEM TO SQUEEZE
OUT. TEMPERATURES ON THE 26TH WERE IN THE MID TO UPPER 50S FROM
MIDNIGHT THROUGH 8 AM WITH GUSTY SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WINDS. A STRONG
COLD FRONT MOVED THROUGH THE AREA AND DROPPED TEMPERATURES INTO THE
LOWER 40S BY 10 AM AND THEN INTO THE 30S DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS.
RAIN ARRIVED WITH THE COLD FRONT ALONG WITH SOME SNOW AT TIMES.
RAINFALL AMOUNTS WERE A BIT MORE UNIFORM ACROSS THE METRO AREA MAINLY
IN THE QUARTER TO THREE-QUARTER INCH RANGE. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS IN THE
MOUNTAINS RANGED FROM ABOUT TWO INCHES AT 4000 FEET TO AROUND 18
INCHES ABOVE 8000 FEET.

THE MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 53.7 DEGREES IS 1.8 DEGREES ABOVE
NORMAL AND GOES INTO THE RECORD BOOKS AS THE 22ND WARMEST ON RECORD
(TIED WITH 1996). TEMPERATURE EXTREMES RANGED FROM A HIGH OF 80
DEGREES ON THE 2ND TO A LOW OF 26 DEGREES ON THE 28TH.

PAST 10 DECEMBER AVERAGE TEMPERATURES:
2008 ..... 53.7        2003 ..... 52.8
2007 ..... 49.2        2002 ..... 50.7
2006 ..... 51.1        2001 ..... 49.3
2005 ..... 54.6        2000 ..... 54.3
2004 ..... 52.7        1999 ..... 51.3
TEN YEAR AVERAGE ..... 52.0
1971-2000 NORMAL ..... 51.9

RAINFALL TOTALS ACROSS THE METRO AREA INDICATE THAT DECEMBER 2008
WAS A WET ONE...DEPENDING ON WHERE ONE LIVES...WITH TOTALS RANGING
FROM 0.50" TO 1.75" WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS IN THE RINCON
FOOTHILLS. OFFICIALLY THE AIRPORT RECORDED 1.03"...WHICH IS RIGHT
AT NORMAL...AND ENDS A STREAK OF TEN STRAIGHT DECEMBERS WITH 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:
2008 ..... 1.03"       2003 ..... 0.16"
2007 ..... 0.76"       2002 ..... 0.64"
2006 ..... 0.62"       2001 ..... 0.60"
2005 ..... 0.01"       2000 ..... TRACE
2004 ..... 0.71"       1999 ..... TRACE
1971-2000 NORMAL ..... 1.03" 
TEN YEAR AVERAGE ..... 0.45" OR 10 YEAR DECEMBER DEFICIT OF 5.77"

...DECEMBER 2008 STATS...       MONTH    NORMAL     DEPARTURE
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE        66.5      64.6        + 1.9
AVERAGE LOW  TEMPERATURE        41.0      39.2        + 1.8
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE             53.7      51.9        + 1.8
RAINFALL (AIRPORT)              1.03"     1.03"        0.00"
WATER YEAR RAINFALL (OCT-DEC)   1.32"     2.91"      - 1.59"

...LOOKING AHEAD INTO JANUARY...
THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER FORECASTS THAT THE MONTH 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 39 MINUTES ON THE 31ST...A GAIN OF 34 MINUTES.

(ADDITIONAL DAILY DATA AND GRAPHS ARE AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE AT:
 http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/twc/climate/monthly/dec08.php)

THE 2008 YEAR IN REVIEW REPORT WILL BE POSTED ON OUR WEBSITE AT:
 http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/twc/climate/monthly/2008.php)

GLUECK