December 2006 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

Saint Cloud Weather Summary for December 2006 and Annual Weather Summary for 2006

December 2006 Statistics

Warm December and January, Hot July Pushes 2006 to 5th Warmest
2006 Annual Saint Cloud Weather Summary

2006 finished as tied with 1900 for the 5th warmest year out of 126 years in Saint Cloud records. The average annual temperature of 45.9°F was 4.1°F warmer than normal and 0.9°F warmer than last year (7th warmest). During this streak of 9 mild winters out of the past 10, the only years that have cracked the top 10 warmest (1998, 1999, 2005, 2006) were the ones with warmer than normal temperatures during the summer.

There were four months that placed in the 10 warmest months: January, April, July, and December. January 2006 was by far the warmest January in Saint Cloud history especially notable since the 25.5°F average temperature beat the previous record by 2.7°F. The average January 2006 temperature of 25.5°F was 16.7°F warmer than normal, making it month most above normal in Saint Cloud records.While December's average temperature was 11.6°F above normal, this only ranked as the 7th warmest December.

July 2006 was the 8th hottest July in Saint Cloud history and featured the first 100°F high (101°F on July 31) recorded since 1990. Saint Cloud had only 8 days with a 100-degree high since 1950 (58 recorded all-time). July 2006 in Saint Cloud also included 15 days with a high of at least 90°F. That was the second highest number of July 90-degree days, and the most since 1936. Most of these 90-degree highs were in two streaks with consecutive 90-degree highs: July 12-16 and July 23-31. The latter streak of 9 days was the 4th longest in Saint Cloud records and the longest since 1964. July 2006 also featured a day (July 30th) with a low milder than 75°F, only the 52nd time there has been a low temperature this warm.

The most serious weather-related condition to hit Minnesota during 2006 was the intensely dry conditions that plagued much of the state through the summer and the northern part of the state all year long. In Saint Cloud, we were affected at times by the lack of precipitation, but not as badly as in areas further to our north. The total 2006 Saint Cloud precipitation was 24.23 inches, 2.90 inches below normal. This ranks as the 40th driest year in the 104 years of Saint Cloud precipitation records.

What made the precipitation situation worse in central Minnesota is that there were long periods with very little precipitation. 11.53 inches of the annual total (or 48% of the yearly rainfall) fell during two short periods. A prolonged rainstorm from April 28 through May 2 (noted in the May Saint Cloud summary and the State Climatology Office Report) dumped 3.44 inches of rain on the city. Between August 23 and September 30, there were three major rainstorms. In Saint Cloud, these storms dropped 7.85 inches of rain. These storms also ended a severe weather drought, since Minnesota was tornado-less into mid-August. Then, two outbreaks of tornadoes on August 24 and September 16 in Rogers produced the two Minnesota tornado-related deaths since the Granite Falls tornado of 2006.

In contrast, the period between May 15 and August 22 produced 6.00 inches, nearly six-and-a-half inches below normal. And, since early October, there was very little precipitation until the last weekend of December. The last dry 2006 report from the Minnesota State Climatology Office shows that extreme drought covers most of the northern part of the state, but all of the state shows below normal dryness. This is the region that has had extremely low river and lake levels. The Mississippi River at Saint Cloud has been much lower than normal because of the extreme dryness to our north. And, Lake Superior levels are now at record low levels. However, at its worst, the extreme dry conditions affected crops and water tables severely as close to us as Alexandria and Morrison County. It will be very important to have a wet spring after the ground thaws to recharge water tables.

Both the second half of the 2005-2006 winter and the start of the 2006-2007 winter have been snowless. The calendar year Saint Cloud snowfall totalled only 16.4 inches. This is almost 30 inches below the normal total of 45 inches. Snowfall records are kept by cold season, so this is unofficial. However, the 2006 Saint Cloud snowfall appears to be the 4th lowest total behind only 1901, 1902, and 1925. There have been three cold seasons with lower snowfall totals than 16.4 inches, none of which are more recent than 1958-1959. Three recent years, 1998-1999, 1999-2000, and 2004-2005, have had less than 6.5 inches of snow through the end of the December. All three of those recent years ended up with significant snowfall (at least 22 more inches) during the second half of the snow season, but all finished with well below normal snowfall.