Monthly Climatological Summary
Norman 3SE, Cleveland Co., OK (Lat 35^10'57"N, Lon 97^25'27"W, elev 1130)
December 2002
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Temperature Precipitation Snow AM PM
Max Min Water Snow Depth Wx Wx
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01 55.8 25.2 .00 0.0 0 SKC SKC
02 68.5 40.5 .00 0.0 0 BKN BKN
03 46.8 32.7 1.38 0.0 0 OVC RA
04 33.6 29.1 .20 T T -RA SN PL -SN PL
05 36.7 23.7 .00 0.0 0 BKN OVC
06 51.6 21.9 .00 0.0 0 SKC SKC
07 55.4 34.2 .00 0.0 0 BKN BKN
08 51.3 37.6 T 0.0 0 OVC -SHRA
09 45.0 40.6 .13 0.0 0 -RA -DZ FG
10 47.8 42.4 .00 0.0 0 FG OVC
11 45.7 40.8 .00 0.0 0 OVC OVC
12 50.2 41.9 .01 0.0 0 OVC -DZ
13 52.3 32.4 .09 0.0 0 -RA SKC
14 61.0 30.2 .00 0.0 0 SKC SKC
15 62.8 35.6 .00 0.0 0 SKC FEW
16 61.2 42.1 .00 0.0 0 BKN OVC
17 70.9 41.9 T 0.0 0 BKN -SHRA
18 63.7 44.1 T 0.0 0 -RA SCT
19 51.6 34.2 .00 0.0 0 BKN BKN
20 54.5 30.7 .00 0.0 0 SKC SKC
21 61.0 29.1 .00 0.0 0 SKC SKC
22 50.0 25.5 .00 0.0 0 OVC OVC
23 42.4 30.6 1.24 0.8 T +TSSN RA PL RA -FZDZ
24 30.4 22.1 .02 0.1 T -FZDZ SN -SN
25 41.9 16.7 .00 0.0 0 SKC SCT
26 47.5 30.0 .00 0.0 0 BKN BKN
27 50.5 25.7 .00 0.0 0 SKC BKN
28 61.2 29.7 .00 0.0 0 BKN BKN
29 62.4 39.9 .00 0.0 0 OVC OVC
30 62.4 43.9 .02 0.0 0 -TSRA BKN
31 52.0 29.8 .00 0.0 0 SKC FEW
KEY TO AM/PM WX: SKC - sky clear, FEW - few clouds, SCT -
partly cloudy, BKN - mostly cloudy, OVC - overcast, DZ -
drizzle, FZDZ - freezing drizzle, RA - rain, SHRA - rain shower,
PL - ice pellets, SN - snow, TSRA - thunderstorm with rain,
TSSN - thunderstorm with snow, FG - fog.
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Means and Totals for December 2002
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Average Maximum Temperature: 52.5
Average Minimum Temperature: 33.1
Mean Temperature: 42.8
Maximum Temperature: 70.9 (12-17-02)
Minimum Temperature: 16.7 (12-25-02)
Days with max temperature 90.0F+: 0 Year: 66
Days with max temperature <32.0F: 1 Year: 5
Days with min temperature <32.0F: 15 Year: 65
Days with min temperature <0.0F: 0 Year: 0
Precipitation: 3.09 Year: 33.28
Greatest one-day precipitation: 1.38 (12-03-02)
Snowfall: 0.9 Year: 3.3
Greatest one-day snowfall: 0.8 (12-23-02)
Maximum snow depth at midnight: T (12-24-02)
Days with measureable pcpn: 8 Year: 90
Days with pcpn 1.00"+: 2 Year: 12
Days with measureable snowfall: 2 Year: 5
Days with snowfall 1"+: 0 Year: 1
Days with glaze ice: 2 Year: 4
Days with damaging wind: 0 Year: 4
Days with hail: 0 Year: 1
Days with thunderstorms: 2 Year: 43
Days with fog: 2 Year: 18
NOTICE: All temperatures are in degrees Fahrenheit and all precipitation values in inches. Snowfall totals denoted by an asterisk indicate hail.
Summary....Dec 2002 often found Norman not quite cold enough to get snow or freezing rain, but not quite warm and humid enough to get thunderstorms. As a result, residents of Norman often shivered in a chilly rain as they watched the snow and ice just miss them to the north and west, and the severe thunderstorms miss them to the south and east. Northern and western Oklahoma had their second major ice storm of the year on Dec 3, and widespread amounts of snow greater than 6 inches fell across the same region on the 23rd. Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes affected parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, and eastern Texas on the 18th, 23rd, and 30th. Norman didn't go away entirely empty handed on the 23rd, as a thunderstorm dropped almost an inch of wet, slurpeelike snow that morning. The powerful storm that brought tornadoes to Arkansas on the 18th kicked up tremendous amounts of dust as it moved through the southwestern US and northern Mexico, which fell to Earth in a muddy rain over Oklahoma on the 18th. All exposed surfaces throughout Norman were covered with a dusty white residue after the rain ended that morning.
The southern branch of the jet stream that was responsible for bringing active weather to much of the nation all month really took aim on California in Dec 2002. Turlock had 4.12 inches of rain during the month. In addition to the rain, Turlock had peak wind gusts of 43 mph on the 14th, 41 mph on the 16th, and 38 mph on the 28th. Severe weather visited the region on the 16th, with tornadoes touching down near Jenny Lind (30 miles north of Turlock) and near Merced (25 miles southeast of Turlock). The 38 mph wind gust in Turlock on the 28th occurred during an unusually sharp frontal passage which caused some wind damage in Delhi (5 miles southeast of Turlock). Turlock's season rainfall total was 6.47 inches through the end of the month, which is well above the season to date average of 4.5 inches.