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Deadly tornadoes over the weekend of the 16th-17th affected parts of Mississippi and Alabama. Preliminary reports indicate that 12 people died in the event, 11 of those in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. According to the National Weather Service in Birmingham, the tornadoes hit five Alabama counties: St. Clair and Etowah in east-central part of the state, Limestone County in the north, Geneva County in the south and Tuscaloosa in the west. |
Record Cold Christmas Morning
Bitterly cold arctic air spilled southward over the Midwest on Christmas Eve setting the stage for a record cold Christmas morning in many locations. Among the new daily minimum temperature records set were: Waterloo, IA at -29 degrees F; St. Cloud, MN at -26 degrees F; Rockford, IL at -22 degrees F; and Green Bay, WI at -22 degrees F. Further south in Texas, new daily precipitation records for Christmas day were set at DFW Airport with 1.94 inches; and Austin Bergstrom with 1.10 inches. Further north and west conditions were even worse with heavy freezing rain developing over parts of Oklahoma, Arkansas, and northeastern Texas, while an upper level storm moved through New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle dumping record amounts of snow.
Arkansas - Oklahoma Icestorm
A devastating winter storm developed over southeastern parts of Oklahoma, western and southern Arkansas and adjacent parts of northeast Teaxas and extreme northwestern Louisiana. Ice and glaze buildup began late Christmas Eve and continued in some areas until Wednesday, December 27. Tremendous ice accumulations occurred along and 50 miles either side of the I-40 corridor through Arkansas and Oklahoma. Widespread power outages were reported, mainly south of an Okemah to Grove, Oklahoma line. Conditions were particularly bad in Pittsburg (OK), Le Flore (OK), and Sebastian (AR) Counties where total ice accumulation ranged from 1 to 2 inches, and most of Arkansas received at least an inch of ice accumulation. At the height of the storm, 300,000 people in Arkansas were left without power, 120,000 in Oklahoma, 106,000 in Texas, and about 50,000 in Louisiana. In addition to power loss, telephone and water outages were reported. Air travel became a nightmare after hundreds of flights were cancelled at Dallas on Tuesday and the Little Rock airport was shut down for three days. States of emergency were declared in 26 Arkansas counties, and Hot Springs and other towns lost use of their water treatment plants after the power failed. As of Thursday (December 28) 275,000 customers in Arkansas (and 425,000 overall) were still without electric power. As a result of the storm, President Clinton declared Oklahoma and parts of Arkansas federal disaster areas. This was the second significant ice storm to affect Arkansas this month with about 300,000 homes losing power on December 12-13. According to the National Weather Service, the two ice storms of December, 2000 have been the most widespread and damaging in Arkansas state history dating back to 1819.
Texas Panhandle Snowstorm
An upper level storm system acted in conjunction with the surface storm system to its east to produce localized but extremely heavy snowfall from eastern New Mexico across the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles from Monday into Wednesday (December 25-27). Mineral Hills, NM received 22 inches of snow and all major highways running north and west from Amarillo, TX were closed due to the heavy snowfall. At Amarillo, the storm total was 20.5 inches with a maximum depth of 15 inches on the ground.
Northeastern U.S. Snowstorm
A powerful Noreaster hit portions of the central and northern Atlantic coast region at the end of 2000. The storm brought heavy snows to portions of eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and New England. The storm dumped over 2 feet of snow in parts of interior New Jersey with many spots getting a foot of snow. This was the heaviest snowstorm in the Central Park, New York Metro area since January 1996 when 20.2 inches fell. See the media report for more information.
Record Snowfalls and Near Record Cold for December
Last month, the U.S. experienced the second coldest November on record since 1895. NCDC's monthly November 2000 report is available here. December 2000 (as of December 29) is also quite cold. Precipitation and drought products augment our standard monthly products and give a more timely snapshot of the current climate.
The Winter of 2000-2001 continued severe with several cities in the Midwest reporting record December snowfall totals. As of December 24, Grand Rapids, MI had reported 54.1 inches, setting both a new December and new monthly snowfall record. Similarly, as of December 29, Waterloo, IA had reported 30.9 inches; Dubuque, IA had reported 35.5 inches; and Moline, IL had received 29.1 inches; all breaking their all-time monthly snowfall records for not only December, but also for any month. New December snowfall records were set at several locations in Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Texas. In addition, as of December 27, Syracuse, NY reported 76.1 inches of snowfall for the September - December season so far. This was the second snowiest September - December period (but the record may well be broken before December ends). In most of these locations, snow was still falling adding to the December records.
As of the last week in December, numerous cities were expecting the final December temperature averages to be near their coldest Decembers on record. South Bend, IN expected expected December 2000 to be either the coldest or second coldest on record. Charlotte, NC and Fort Wayne, IN expected December 2000 to be the second coldest on record and Little Rock, AR expected it to be the second or third coldest on record.
See the NWS statements on December cold and snow.
Is is colder elsewhere? Verkhoyansk in Siberia, has the reputation of being one of the coldest spots on earth. The station also has one of the largest differences between winter and summer temperatures. The average high/low temperatures for December are -52/-56 F while in July the averages are 66/47 F. The station is tied with another Siberian station for the record for the lowest Asian minimum temperature of -90 F set on 7 February 1892. See the Global Measured Extremes of Temperature and Precipitation WWW page.
Australia is in the midst of an early summer heatwave. Temperatures recently have been in excess of 40 C (104 F) in parts of southeastern Australia. Fire danger in that region is high; fire bans have been in place and barbecues using wood or charcoal are outlawed. Only barbecues fueled by gas can still be lighted. See media report for more information. In some areas of Victoria state, residents were being warned to prepare for wild fires to threaten their homes.
Other global highlights for the month can be found at NOAA/OGP Special Global Summary for December 2000.
Note: Hazard event satellite images available courtesy of NOAA OSEI Satellite Images WWW site.
Selected U.S. City and State ExtremesThe Selected U.S. City and State Extremes provides a list of new records that were set across the U.S. during December 2000.
Additional Resources
For further information, contact:
Tom Ross
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
phone:828-271-4499
fax: 828-271-4328
email: tom.ross@noaa.gov
Specific requests for climatic data should be addressed to: ncdc.info@noaa.gov
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NCDC / Climate Research / Climate of 2000 / December / Climate-Watch / Search / Help