From the North Shore of Little Rock Lake in pristine Benton Co.

DECEMBER 2011 WEATHER & PHENOLOGY IN REVIEW

Jim Hovda, Rice MN 56367-0265 jhovda.rice@jetup.net

This month is a contrast in December 2010 to 2011. It has been a brown ground month with the exceptions of a few “dustings” of snow/rain. I suppose I could categorize the month as a sort of dismal November. Even the birds have been absent. For those who love winter sports/activities, this has been a disaster. Selling snow blowers and snowmobiles has been difficult, I’m sure. On the flip side, many of us who look at snow and bitter cold as hard work, high heating bills, and difficult driving, this December was very welcome. The month did end with snow on the ground.

WEATHER LAST DECEMBER:

Considerably colder and more snow. Thirteen days with below zero temperatures compared to only three this year. The coldest was a recorded -17.9 degrees below zero (F) on the 14^th. Of the remaining eighteen days only two made it to the 20's. The warm readings saw the thermometer make it to the 30's only three times compared to twenty-two times this year. Our high last year was only 35.4 degrees (F) compared to 46.5 Degrees (F) on the 27^th this year.

Last year at this time 13.6" of snow fell compared to only 2.7" this year. If you thought the snow would never end, your feelings were not far off. Snow fell on twenty-one days. What a month. Total snow at the end of the month stood at 18.8". Total precipitation for the year came to 36.17". Nearly everyone was happy to exit to the Southern U.S.

WEATHER:

I’ve alluded to most of it already. Warm and dry. In fact, fire dangers have been posted in parts of MN because of all the dry grass. Coldest temperature was a -3.7 Degrees below zero (F) on the 6^th and 7^th. Warmest, a 46.5 degree (F) reading on the 27^th. In fact, St. Cloud recorded a 49 degree (F) reading that broke a 1905 record of 48 degrees (F). The average low and high temperatures were 14.67 & 34.12 degrees (F) respectfully. The most precipitation fell (snow) consisting of .16" of liquid on the 30^th which also produced the most snow, 1.7". Total snow for the snow season stands at 12.7" while we ended the precipitation season with 29.81" of melted snow and rain. Keeping things positive, a golf course in Dayton, MN was open on the 18^th and the days are getting longer.

MN WEATHER RECORDS IN DECEMBER:

The local record cold temperature was a -42 degrees below zero (F) in 1884 while our Northern Minnesota friends endured -57 degrees below zero (F) at Pokegama Dam. Our local warm temperature record was a 50 degree (F) reading on the 1^st while it made it to 74 degrees (F) on the 9^th in Wheaton. The most snow fell in 2008 when we received 24.7" of the white stuff. OTHER RECORDS - - The most precipitation in a year, 53.52" fell in St. Francis in 1991. Listed by the MN Climatology Working Group, on September 1^st a severe thunderstorm produced (non-tornado) winds measured at 121 mph at a weather station about a mile west of Donaldson in Kittson County. 121 miles per hour is the strongest wind speed ever measured in Minnesota. The group notes that while wind speeds of this magnitude and higher have likely occurred in Minnesota in the past, there wasn’t any instrumentation that survived to record the event.

PHENOLOGY:

This has been a bleak month for birds and critters. The lack of snow had made food gathering an easy task. Our usual birds Junco, Northern (Red) Cardinal, Blue Jay, Gold Finch and a bevy of woodpeckers round out most of the birds. And, their numbers at the feeders are way down. Only one bunny makes it to the cracked corn every night. I have not heard one owl.

My only interesting observation was catching sight of a large bird that dove into the long grass by the lakeshore then fly up to the top of a birdhouse pole. It had some species of rodent. The bird was a Cooper Hawk. I suppose the rodent was out for an afternoon stroll forgetting to keep an eye out for enemy aircraft. The stroll ended up in disaster.

RESIDENT OBSERVATIONS:

On the 3^rd, Dr. Ray Merritt reported no less than 14 Red Cardinals at his feeder. Linda and Conrad Urbik of Royalton have reported several sightings of Cedar and Bohemian Waxwings at their feeder and bird bath.

LITTLE ROCK LAKE:

Fishing is not good. Randy Fernholz reports that water clarity is only about 1.5 ft and ice thickness is about 8". There is a lot of open water near the Hwy #10 and Little Rock Creek bridges. Only snowmobiles and four-wheelers are on the lake. Not many fish houses on the lake either. Even these folks are using a lot of care as to where they venture. Randy and I believe that this could be a banner year for the invasive Curley-leaf Pond Weed propagation. This weed depends on sunlight coming through the ice. With no snow, this could spell trouble. The causes are in dispute; however there is a lot of shore ground heaving on many parts of the lake. Randy Fernholz reports that ground heaving on his lake shore has reached 49". There is still January to go for this issue.