Although last year December ranked among the warmest on record, December 2015 topped the charts! Temperatures across the Northeast ran 10 - 15 degrees above normal, resulting in some trees, shrubs, and other plants re-blooming! Philadelphia measured its warmest December on record (if you remember our November 2015 summary, the city also smashed November temperature records), which also led up to Philly setting its all-time warmest deviation from average for any month. Of the most notable warmest days this month, Christmas Eve featured widespread 60s and 70s across the Northeast, and with above normal ocean temperatures already in place, some folks in Virginia and Maryland made it a beach day! In fact, once temperatures rose above 50 degrees in New England on the 24th, the major cities set a new all-time record number for most December days at or above 50 degrees of all-time.
While spots south of New York City finished the month without any measurable snowfall, many in New England broke records for the latest first measurable snowfall date. Most notably was Worcester, MA, which broke its previous December 24th record by three days when the first winter storm of the season arrived on December 27th. High pressure sank out of Canada and locked cold air into the Northeast. Then, a system that brought significant snow to Texas and Oklahoma raced towards the Northeast, producing a "cold air damming" weather situation. In these cases, cold air is trapped at the surface while warmer air higher up in the atmosphere overruns the air mass producing wintry mix. Sleet, snow, freezing rain, and eventually plain rain affected areas from northeastern Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey all the way up into New England. Of the WeatherWorks service areas in the Northeast, southern New Hampshire took top honors for snowfall, measuring up to 3 - 6 inches. Even with this system, many finished the month with large snow deficit up to 5 to 15 inches below normal.
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