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College Station Monthly Summary: December 2011

2011 has earned its reputation as a record-breaker at Easterwood Airport. However, December 2011 fell short of that reputation because there were only two broken records: lowest maximum temperature of 39 on the 6th & lowest minimum temperature of 26 that following night. A very strong arctic trough dipped down into Texas early in the month, and the cold front passed on the 5th. The extremely cold temperatures followed the cold front and gave College Station its first freeze of the 2011-2012 winter. However, temperatures did not take long to warm up to the 70s a few days later. With each cold front, relief showed up in the form of rain and College Station observed above normal rainfall for the month. On the 21st-22nd , 1.20” of precipitation was measured along the passage of a cold front. College Station benefitted from the rain during December and the cooler temperatures indicated the onset of winter.

  Daily Temperature Daily Precipitation Monthly Temperature Summary
Day Maximum Minimum *Departure Total Mean Value *Departure
1 72°F 41°F +2°F   Maximum 61.8°F ‑1.0°F
2 73°F 59°F +11°F T Minimum 44.1°F +2.6°F
3 75°F 60°F +12°F T Average 52.9°F +0.7°F
4 68°F 46°F +2°F 0.36" Degree Days Total *Departure
5 48°F 38°F ‑11°F 0.09" Heating 376 ‑37
6 39°F 33°F ‑18°F T Cooling 9 ‑5
7 49°F 26°F ‑16°F   Numberof Days: Total *Departure
8 57°F 30°F ‑10°F   Maximum ≥ 90°F 0 0
9 63°F 41°F ‑1°F   Maximum ≤ 32°F 0 0
10 59°F 46°F 0°F   Minimum ≤ 32°F 3 ‑5
11 57°F 42°F ‑4°F    
12 64°F 47°F +2°F   Monthly Precipitation Summary
13 70°F 52°F +9°F T Precipitation Value *Departure
14 77°F 63°F +18°F 0.02" Monthly Total 3.43" +0.20"
15 76°F 53°F +12°F 0.14" Year-to-date Total 19.97" ‑19.70"
16 54°F 48°F ‑1°F 0.53" Days ≥ 0.01" 12 +4
17 62°F 46°F +2°F    
18 65°F 50°F +6°F   Monthly Extremes
19 70°F 54°F +11°F 0.12" Extreme Value Date(s)
20 65°F 46°F +4°F 0.06" Highest Temperature 77°F 14th
21 54°F 43°F ‑2°F 0.07" Lowest Temperature 26°F 7th
22 63°F 45°F +3°F 1.13" Max. 24-hour Precip. 1.20" 21st-22nd
23 48°F 44°F ‑5°F   Maximum Wind Gust 35 mph 3rd
24 48°F 43°F ‑6°F 0.85"  
25 46°F 43°F ‑6°F 0.01" Record Book for December
26 52°F 36°F ‑7°F 0.05" Highest Temperature 89°F 1922
27 62°F 32°F ‑3°F   Lowest Temperature 2°F 1989
28 65°F 34°F 0°F   Highest Minimum 74°F 1982
29 65°F 39°F +2°F   Lowest Maximum 23°F 1990
30 73°F 43°F +8°F   Wettest Month 12.66" 1913
31 76°F 44°F +10°F   Driest Month 0.00" 1947
  Wettest 24 Hours 7.54" 1913
"T" indicates daily precipitation ≤ 0.005".
BOLDFACE indicates an extreme daily value for the month.
ITALICS indicates a daily record was set or tied.
*Departure from the 1971‑2000 normal.

*New Records Set

Day Parameter Value Old Record Year
No new records were set or tied in December 2011.

*Near Records Set

Day Parameter Value Record Year
6th Tied 2nd lowest maximum temperature 39°F 39°F 2011
7th Tied 4th lowest minimum temperature 26°F 16°F 1950
*NOTE: Records from 1910 through July 1951 are based on observations taken at the Texas Agricultural
Experiment Station main farm located 7 miles SW of College Station. Records from August 1951 through
the present are based on observations taken at Easterwood Field.

January Normals for College Station

Beginning of the month: 62°F/41°F Monthly precipitation: 3.32"
Middle of the month: 61°F/40°F Precipitation days: 9
End of the month: 63°F/42°F Days ≤ 32°F:  11
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