Second warmest December on record documented by UW weather station

It’s likely no surprise to most residents in Waterloo Region that last month was the second warmest December in more than a century.

That fact was recently confirmed by the Eric Soulis Memorial Weather Station at the University of Waterloo.

While the UW weather station only starting keeping records in 1998, they also have access to other records throughout Waterloo Region dating back more than 100 years.

Staff said it hasn’t been as warm as December 2023 for a long time.

“Records like that go back to about 1917,” said Frank Seglenieks, coordinator at the UW weather station. “So being the second warmest is pretty significant.”

Overall, it was just over four degrees warmer than average last month.

The only milder December on record is 2015 when it was 5.5 degrees above the average.

The coldest day was on the 13th when the temperature dipped to -6.9 degrees Celsius, which is the mildest monthly December low on record. The hottest day last month was Dec. 9, clocking in at a high of 11.6 degrees Celsius.

“There were high temperatures, but it was really the lack of low temperatures. That really brought the average up,” said Seglenieks.

The total amount of precipitation was within the average range, registering at 78.6 mm. But with the warmer weather, it’s not surprising only 4 cm snow fell throughout the entire month, the weather station said. Normally, the region sees an average of 13 cm of snow in December.

Overall last month, the average daily high was 4 degrees Celsius, compared to the long-term average of 0.7 degrees Celsius. The average daily low was -0.6 degrees Celsius, well above the long-term average of -5.9 degrees Celsius.

So what can we expect in January?

Seglenieks said it should feel closer to seasonal with cooler temperatures likely to hit the region during the second half of the month.

WHY THE WARMER WEATHER?

Weather experts call this an El Niño winter.

“We have less precipitation, less snowfall and warmer temperatures,” explained Seglenieks.

El Niño winters reportedly come around roughly every seven to 10 years.

CHICOPEE REACTS

The rain and warmer temperatures mean Chicopee Ski Resort in Kitchener still isn’t ready to open this season.

Most years they try to get the slopes open before Christmas.

“We are always doing a snow dance here,” said CEO Bill Creighton. “Trying get those temperatures down and get low temperature so that we can make snow.”

Chicopee still doesn’t have a firm opening date but Creighton believes it will be sometime in January.

“We are looking at the crystal ball,” he joked. “But that crystal ball is covered in snow and we can’t see that exact [open] date yet.”

Other ski hills, like Mount St. Louis Moonstone in Coldwater and Boler Mountain in London, have already opened to the public.

Waterloo resident Tim O’Brien and his family are heading to Mount St. Louis this week.

“We just like to go out, and snowfall is really fresh and invigorating,” O’Brien said while picking up snow gear at Select Sports, a ski shop in Kitchener.

Staff there said the warmer December weather was bad for their business.

“A little bit less traffic than usual and it's definitely weather related,” said Jay Cutaia from Select Sports.

The store is seeing around 15 per cent less sales than a typical December but he admitted that January is already off to a good start.

“People are back from holidays and ready,” Cutaia said.