Volume 17 Number 12                                                                                                  DECEMBER 2004

 

          Unlike the rest of 2004, December was much drier than normal.  Despite some arctic air at the end of the month, a large portion of the state was above average for temperatures as well.  The month began cool and dry with a cold front pushing through the state during the 5th-6th.  The heaviest rainfall was in East Texas and along the Upper Coast, but totals barely exceeded 1” over those two days.  A high pressure system settled over the state and temperatures warmed significantly until a dry cold front began to pass over on the 11th.  Lows in the western half of the state dropped to the 20s and 10s during the middle of the month.

          Another high pressure system warmed temperatures over their normals once again.  On the 22nd, however, a large trough brought a mass of arctic air over the state.  High temperatures dropped from the 60s and 70s to the 20s and 30s.  A low pressure system brought heavy snow to much of the state giving many people a white Christmas.  On the 24th-26th, snowfall totals reached as high as 12.5” in Victoria – a new daily and monthly record.  Corpus Christi received 4”, and Houston and Galveston saw snow on Christmas for the first time in their history.

          The month ended with another warm up as highs reached near 80 in the south.  For the month, only Lubbock (103%) and Brownsville (132%) were above normal for precipitation.  Temperatures were below normal across the entire southern half of the state with the exception of San Antonio.  Temperatures in the northern half was well above normal for the month of December.

 

DECEMBER SNOWFALL TOTALS

 

          For the entire year, every first-order station received above normal precipitation.  Victoria was the only station to break its record for wettest year ever, but several other stations came close.  Abilene (4th wettest), Amarillo (9), Austin (3), College Station (3), Dallas/Fort Worth (5), Del Rio (4), Houston (6), Lubbock (2), Midland (6), San Antonio (6), Waco (2), and Wichita Falls (5) all had one of their 10 wettest years ever.

 

DECEMBER 2004

 


* Complete temperature data were unavailable.  Temperatures are rounded to the nearest whole degree.

*HDD - Heating degree-day: Refer to the Monthly Average chart for a definition                                                           T = Trace (<0.005")

*CDD - Cooling degree-day: Refer to the Monthly Average chart for a definition                                           M:  Information not available.

(departures are based on 1971-2000 normals)                                                                                                                   ##### indicates 0 %

 


 

CLIMATIC AVERAGES FOR JANUARY

 


Records are at the current site, other records may have occurred at previous sites.

*CDD - Cooling degree-day:  The difference between the mean individual daily temperature and 65°F, with one

CDD resulting for each degree above the standard 65°F during one day.

*HDD - Heating degree-day:  The difference between the mean individual daily temperature and 65°F, with one

HDD resulting for each degree below the standard 65°F during one day.

 

 

Agricultural Weather Highlights

 

http://agnews.tamu.edu/dailynews/stories/CROP/

 

 

Past Weather Events in January

 

January 10-12, 1918:  Blizzard.  This was the most severe since February, 1899; it was accompanied by zero degree temperature in North Texas and temperatures from 7 to 12 degrees below freezing along the lower coast.

 

January 4, 1929:  Tornado.  Near Bay City, Matagorda County.  Five killed, 14 injured.

 

January 4, 1946:  Tornado.  Near Lufkin, Angelina County and Nacogdoches, Nacogdoches County; 13 killed, 250 injured; damage $2,050,000.

                             Tornado.  Near Palestine, Anderson County; 15 killed, 60 injured; damage $500,000.

 

January 25, 1965:  Dust Storm.  West Texas.  The worst dust storm since February 1956 developed on the southern High Plains.  Winds, gusting up to 75 mph at Lubbock, sent dust billowing up to 31,000 feet in the area from the Texas-New Mexico border eastward to a line from Tulia to Abilene.  Visibility was reduced to 100 yards in some sections.  Worst hit were Muleshoe, Seminole, Plains, and Morton on the South Plains.  The rain gauge at Reese Air Force Base in Lubbock contained 3 inches of fine sand.

 

January 31-February 1, 1975:  Flooding.  Nacogdoches County.  Widespread heavy rain caused flash flooding here, resulting in three deaths; damage over $5.5 million.

 

January 12-13, 1985:  A record-breaking snowstorm struck West and South Central Texas with up to 15 inches of snow that fell at many locations between San Antonio and the Rio Grande.  San Antonio recorded 13.2 inches of snow for January 12 (the greatest in a day) and 13.5 inches for the two-day total.  Eagle Pass recorded 14.5 inches of snow.

 

January 22, 1999:  Golf ball- and softball-sized hail fell in the Bryan/College Station area resulting in $10 million in damage to cars, homes and offices.

 

January 1-31, 2001: United States Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency received a Presidential Disaster Declaration in December 2000. This declaration was issued for the persistent drought conditions in Deep Southern Texas. $125 million in damage was reported in the region. 

 

Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon (State Climatologist)

Michael Hammer (Undergraduate Assistant)