Outlook for December

By Rick Thoman
Alaska Climate Specialist
Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Preparedness
International Arctic Research Center/University of Alaska
Fairbanks

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center has released the outlook for December, and for western Alaska it calls for increased chances of both above normal temperatures and above normal precipitation (melted snow plus any rain).
The weak La Niña that is now established in the equatorial Pacific Ocean strongly increases the odds for a mild December. In the past 50 years, more the 80 percent of Decembers during La Niña were warmer than normal.
Precipitation in December during La Niñas in that time have not favored above or below normal for the region. While December has the least amount of possible sunshine, the month is only occasionally the coldest month of the winter, with just four occurrences in the past 20 years.
Looking back through Nome’s long climate history, the highest December temperature occurred last year, when the temperature reached 44°F on December 11.
The lowest temperature in December is -42°F in 1929, but it has now been 50 years since it’s been in the 40s below at Nome airport in December.
So far this century, the coldest December day in Nome was in 2011, when the last day of the year had a high of -23°F and a low of -32°F.
December has the highest average snow total of any month of the year, at about 16 inches. The highest total was 31 inches in 1931. In contrast, a few Decembers have barely had an inch of snow, including last December, when much of the precipitation fell as rain the second week of the month.