A Cold December in Victoria

Since the beginning of 2014, has had an almost continual string of above average monthly temperatures.  Through November 2016, 31 of the previous 35 months were warmer than the long-term average, and of the four months that were cooler, three were only slightly below the average.  December 2016 was much colder than normal in Victoria, with a mean temperature of just 3.3 degrees - a full two degrees colder than the average of 5.3 degrees.  That made it the third coldest December in Victoria in the last 30 years. This past month was also the coldest of any month since 2008.  There were 11 days when the overnight low fell below freezing, compared with the normal of 2.9 days.  The coldest temperature of the month was -3.8 degrees on December 17, while the warmest temperature was 9.5 degrees on December 2.

The chart below compares this December's maximum and minimum temperatures at Victoria Gonzales with the 30-year average.  You can see that except for a handful of days, temperatures were well below normal for much of the month.  On several days, the daily maximums were below the normal minimums for that day.

Daily Max & Min Temperatures in Victoria, December 2016

As mentioned in the previous blog, snow also returned to Victoria in December, for the first time in nearly five years.  In total, there was 8 cm of snow during the month, with most of that falling on December 9.  There was one day during the month with significant (more than 2 cm) of snow on the ground - again on December 9.  Perhaps surprisingly after the snow-free weather we've experienced over the past several years, this December's snowfall was actually slightly below the 30-year average for December of 9 cm.  However, the average snowfall in December is skewed by a small number of large snowfalls - particularly the huge dump (over 100 cm) of December 1996.  If you don't count that one year, average December snowfall would drop to 5.5 cm.

December was wetter than average, with 120 mm of precipitation, compared with the average of 95 mm.  There were 21 days with measurable precipitation during the month, compared with the December average of 18 days.  The chart below compares daily and cumulative precipitation in Victoria during December 2016 with the 30-year average cumulative precipitation.  You can see that we ended the month with about 25% more precipitation than average.

Daily and Cumulative Precipitation in Victoria, December 2016