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.
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