Monthly Climatological Summary
Norman 3SE, Cleveland Co., OK (Lat 35^10'57"N, Lon 97^25'27"W, elev 1130)
December 2001
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Temperature Precipitation Snow AM PM
Max Min Water Snow Depth Wx Wx
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01 57.9 31.1 .00 0.0 0 BKN BKN
02 67.8 35.2 .00 0.0 0 SCT BKN
03 61.9 50.9 .02 0.0 0 -DZ OVC
04 73.2 61.3 T 0.0 0 BKN -DZ
05 75.4 50.7 T 0.0 0 -SHRA SCT
06 61.7 39.6 .00 0.0 0 BKN BKN
07 62.8 38.1 .00 0.0 0 BKN BKN
08 49.6 31.5 .00 0.0 0 BKN SCT
09 51.4 24.1 .00 0.0 0 SKC SKC
10 56.3 28.6 .00 0.0 0 BKN SCT
11 48.6 34.5 .19 0.0 0 OVC -RA
12 53.4 43.2 .10 0.0 0 -DZ FG
13 46.4 38.8 .28 0.0 0 -DZ FG RA
14 51.6 30.2 .00 0.0 0 FG SKC
15 51.4 41.9 .06 0.0 0 OVC -DZ
16 52.9 43.5 1.36 0.0 0 RA -RA
17 55.8 36.0 .05 0.0 0 SKC SKC
18 63.7 36.5 .00 0.0 0 FEW FEW
19 48.4 31.1 .00 0.0 0 SKC SKC
20 60.3 31.3 .00 0.0 0 SCT SCT
21 59.9 36.3 .00 0.0 0 BKN FEW
22 56.1 34.7 .01 0.0 0 SKC FEW
23 42.6 26.2 .00 0.0 0 BKN SKC
24 41.0 23.5 .00 0.0 0 SCT BKN
25 47.3 17.8 .00 0.0 0 SCT BKN
26 44.1 21.9 .00 0.0 0 SKC SKC
27 50.9 29.8 .00 0.0 0 OVC OVC
28 57.4 26.6 .00 0.0 0 BKN BKN
29 42.1 21.9 .00 0.0 0 SCT BKN
30 31.3 23.7 .16 1.9 2 -SN -SN
31 34.9 13.8 .00 0.0 1 FG SCT
KEY TO AM/PM WX: SKC - sky clear, FEW - few clouds, SCT -
partly cloudy, BKN - mostly cloudy, OVC - overcast, RA -
rain, SHRA - rain shower, FG - fog, DZ- drizzle, SN - snow.
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Means and Totals for December 2001
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Average Maximum Temperature: 53.5
Average Minimum Temperature: 33.4
Mean Temperature: 43.4
Maximum Temperature: 75.4 (12-05-01)
Minimum Temperature: 13.8 (12-31-01)
Days with max temperature 90.0F+: 0 Year: 77
Days with max temperature <32.0F: 1 Year: 5
Days with min temperature <32.0F: 15 Year: 59
Days with min temperature <0.0F: 0 Year: 0
Precipitation: 2.23 Year: 30.72
Greatest one-day precipitation: 1.36 (12-16-01)
Snowfall: 1.9 Year: 8.4
Greatest one-day snowfall: 1.9 (12-30-01)
Maximum snow depth at midnight: 2 (12-30-01)
Days with measureable pcpn: 9 Year: 76
Days with pcpn 1.00"+: 1 Year: 10
Days with measureable snowfall: 1 Year: 4
Days with snowfall 1"+: 1 Year: 4
Days with glaze ice: 0 Year: 5
Days with damaging wind: 0 Year: 11
Days with hail: 0 Year: 3
Days with thunderstorms: 0 Year: 51
Days with fog: 4 Year: 23
NOTICE: All temperatures are in degrees Fahrenheit and all precipitation values in inches. Snowfall totals denoted by an asterisk indicate hail.
Summary....Like most of the United States east of the Rockies, Oklahomans spent most of Dec 2001 wondering if winter was ever going to arrive at all. Temperatures during the first week of the month were especially warm as southerly winds brought up warm, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico. Many people in this area were walking around in shorts and having backyard barbeques during that week. Central Oklahoma found itself in a California-like weather pattern during the middle of the month with several days of rain and dense fog. Skies did clear long enough on the 14th for the partial solar eclipse to be visible. Canadian airmasses finally began to filter into the region on the 22nd, continuing to do so at regular intervals for the rest of the year. But because even Canada has been warm so far this winter, the airmasses coming into Oklahoma from the north were not brutally cold. However, the final day of 2001 did see some of Oklahoma's coldest temperatures of the year, as calm winds and snow covered ground helped temperatures bottom out around 10F in the OKC area and around 1F to 5F in parts of western Oklahoma. The 13.8 degree reading on the 31st came very close to being this location's coldest temperature of 2001 - just barely above the 13.6 degree reading we had on Jan 20.
After three very dry Decembers in a row - Turlock CA finally got some decent rain in Dec 2001. A total of 4.49 inches of rain fell during the month, the second highest December rainfall total recorded there in the past 15 years. At the halfway point of the 2001-02 rainy season, the season rainfall total for Turlock is 6.91 inches....only the 1996-97 season had more rain at the halfway point since 1987 (8.97 inches).