Thursday, December 1, 2016

Meteorological Fall Wraps Up and Meteorological Winter Begins

Only 24 more days until Christmas!  Hard to believe we're in the final month of 2016.  And what a year it's been.  Most of the year has been feeling the effect of last year's El Niño and that's part of the reason the past several months have been so warm. 

Seasonal stats coming in from the Chicago National Weather Service Thursday show that not only was the month of November exceptionally warm, but the entire 3 month period of Meteorological Fall was also warm.

Meteorological Fall (September, October, November) had an average temperature of 57.3 degrees.  Almost six degrees above average!  This places the fall season as the second warmest Meteorological Fall on record for Rockford since records began in 1905.  Precipitation was below average by 1.24 inches.

It should also be no surprise that the month of November also ended on a warm note.  November 2016 will go down as the third warmest November on record for Rockford since records began in 1905!  The month had an average temperature of 45.9 degrees - a whole seven degrees above average!

The outlook for December isn't quite as warm and for the first time in a very long time the extended outlooks from the Climate Prediction Center suggest much of the country at a higher chance for below average temperatures - Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin included.  Temperatures to end this week will be very close to normal.  However, by the end of next week forecast models are suggesting a major chill covering much of the lower 48.  It's a week away, but highs in the 20's are possible next Thursday and Friday.

No comments:

Post a Comment