Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

December weather topsy-turvy

December was a topsy-turvy month where the weather was concerned.

According to local weather watcher Phillip McAdams, the mercury climbed to 67 degrees on Dec. 22, while the month's low, of 23, was recorded on Dec. 11-12.

In Cale, according to meteorologist Davis Benton, December's temperatures were near normal, though the high in the south part of Nevada County reached 74, while the low dropped to 25.

McAdams said there was 2.62 inches of rain during the final month of the year for the Prescott area, while Benton said Cale received 3.09 inches of rain. According to McAdams, the largest single day's total was 1.31 inches on Dec. 28.

Overall 2003 was reasonably normal where weather was concerned. McAdams said the hottest it got during the year was 96 degrees on Aug. 18-20, while the coldest it got was 14 on Jan. 25.

The year's precipitation, he said, was 44.33 inches. Only 0.26 inch fell in January, with 2.04 inches in March, 1.37 inches in September as the low months, with 9.20 inches in February, 4.87 inches in May and an odd 8.65 inches in June for the wettest months of the year.

The remaining months, he said, each had around three inches of rain each.

Benton said the south part of the county received a total of 35.78 inches, making it the lowest rainfall total in the past 25 years. This is 17.19 inches below the annual average.

The highest rainfall in the past 25 years, Benton said, was 82.08 inches in 1991.

For 2003, he said, the lowest monthly total was 0.06 inch in Jan, while the highest was 11.04 inches in June.