Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

December Rainfall Up; Down For Year

This may be hard to believe, but the area ended December with a surplus of rainfall, according to John Teeter, local meteorologist.

Teeter said the normal amount of rain for December is 4.60 inches, while the region received 9.460 inches, for a surplus of 4.80 inches.

The December moisture brought the area close to normal for the year, but it still ended on a deficit note. Normally Prescott gets 50.49 inches of rain a year, but only 47.80 inches fell in 2000, for a shortfall of 2.69 inches.

In the Cale area, according to weatherman Davis Benton, December had 7.52 inches of rain, including the sleet and snow toward the end of the month.

For the year, Benton said, th total was 53.33 inches, about eight inches below normal.

Teeter concurred saying even with the wet December, the earlier dry spell during 2000 left the year in a deficit situation with rainfall.

The largest single day rainfall total, Teeter said, was 1.80 inches on Dec. 16.

The highest the mercury climbed was 68 on Dec. 12, while the low was 17 on Dec. 22-23.

Much of the precipitation during December, he said, was in the form of ice crystals which caused severe damage to trees, power lines and many structures.

"Many have said this was the worst ice storm ever," he said. "Short memory. In 1955, the ground was covered with ice and snow for the entire month of February.

"There were large ice storms every year from 1972 through 1980, and 1983 produced one of the worst."

The 1983 storm, he said, put the Nevada County Rescue Unit in business, as it delivered medicine and supplies to shut-ins and transported nurses and other personnel to the old Nevada County Hospital.

"Nineteen eighty-three was the worst winter in my own experience," he said. "In 1930, there was more snow, but no ice and people could get around.

"It looks like more cold, wet weather during January and February, then we can get ready for tornado season."

Benton said the most significant weather occurrences for 2000 were the record 12.5 inches of snow on Jan. 27, followed by an unusually long, hot and dry summer with only three inches of rain for the entire season, along with several days seeing the temperature climb above the 100 degree mark. It ended with the ice storms of December.