Easterwood Field

College Station, Texas


Monthly Summary for December 1997


	TEMPERATURE      PRECIP.                       TEMPERATURE

  Day   Max  Min  *DEPART   TOTAL         MEANS            ACTUAL       DEPART.

   1    51   42     -8                    Maximum           59.7         -1.8
   2    61   50      0      0.47          Minimum           38.6         -2.6 
   3    61   43     -3      0.38          Monthly	    49.1         -2.3
   4    59   33     -8                                  
   5    56   35     -8                    EXTREMES           TEMP         DATE
                                          Highest            77F            8 
   6    53   36     -8                    Lowest             26F        13,14
   7    52   45     -5      0.28     
   8    77   51     11                    DEGREE DAYS       TOTAL        DEPART.
   9    73   48      8      0.01          Heating            491           57
  10    53   41     -6                    Cooling              0          -13
                                          
  11    46   37    -10                     
  12    41   36    -14                    PRECIPITATION       AMOUNT     DEPART.  
  13    48   26    -15               
  14    60   26     -8                    Total Monthly        2.86       0.03
  15    65   30     -4                    Total for 1997      42.17       3.09
                                          Precipitation Days      9          1
  16    69   33      0                
  17    66   36      0                    EXTREMES            AMOUNT     DATE 
  18    69   31     -1                    24-hour Maximum      0.84      23rd 
  19    75   47     10      0.36 
  20    68   60     14      0.39          MAXIMUM WIND GUST    37mph     23rd

  21    61   42      2      0.01          NUMBER OF DAYS      AMOUNT     DEPART.
  22    66   38      2                    TEMPERATURE
  23    61   48      5      0.84          Maximum 90 or higher    0        0
  24    62   40      1                    Maximum 32 or lower     0        0
  25    54   37     -4                    Minimum 32 or lower     7       -1

  26    47   36     -8      0.12                 RECORD BOOK FOR DECEMBER
  27    50   32     -8                    Highest Temperature     89F    1922
  28    55   33     -5                    Lowest Temperature      19F    1989
  29    61   32     -3                    Wettest Month        12.66"    1913
  30    69   30      1                    Driest Month          0.10"    1950

                                          Wettest 24 hours      7.50"    1913
  31    61   41      2
Temperature in degrees Fahrenheit
Precipitation in inches
"T" denotes less than or equal to 0.005"
BOLDFACE indicates extreme values for the month
ITALICS indicate a record was set or tied
* Departure of the daily mean temperature, as calculated from the average
of the maximum and minimum temperatures, from the 1961-1990 normals.













New Records Set

  DAY             PARAMETER                   VALUE    OLD RECORD       YEAR

No new records set.




Near Records

  DAY             PARAMETER                   VALUE      RECORD         YEAR

There were no near records.

Monthly Review

A low pressure system resided over the Brazos Valley to start the final month of 1997. The associated cold front quickly moved through our area on the 3rd, bringing a cold air mass which kept average daily temperatures below normal for the rest of the first week. Towards the end of the first week, high pressure dominated the region. As this system moved into Louisiana, winds shifted to southeasterly and pushed moisture from the Gulf of Mexico inland. This resulted in widespread precipitation throughout East Texas, including College Station on the 7th.

A much stronger cold front passed across East Texas on the 9th. Anomalies from normal average daily temperatures reached nearly twice the magnitude (-15F) during the second week than they did during the first week (-8F). Also unlike December's first cold front, this one had very little rainfall associated with it.

The last couple weeks of 1997 were relatively mild for College Station with the exception of a weak cold frontal passage on the 25th. The month's 24-hr maximum precipitation amount of 0.84" on the 23rd fell during a thunderstorm which produced wind gusts of nearly 40mph.

NOTE: The sections "New Records Set" and "Near Records" have been and are currently based on data dating back to 1910 in College Station. Starting in January 1998, these sections will be based on data observed during the period of record (POR) 1951-present in College Station. We have chosen 1951 as the start of the POR because this is when the coop station moved to Easterwood Field. 

January Normals for College Station

                           Temperature
Beginning of the month       59 / 39         Monthly Precipitation:      2.65"
Middle of the month          58 / 38         Precipitation days:            9
End of the month             60 / 39         32F Days                      11


Prepared by:    John F. Griffiths (State Climatologist)
                Brian N. Belcher (Graduate Assistant to the State Climatologist)
                belcher@tamu.edu