The first day of the month was mild but is was the exception to what was a clearly established trend toward colder weather. In fact, the coldest air of the season settled in in the wake of a deepening storm on the 2nd.
We were slightly a flurry over the possibility of snow flurries on Wednesday the 2nd and some snow did fly that afternoon in Spirngfield and points to the east, Winter precipitation again occurred the following Sunday the 6th with reports of light sleet and snow again mostly east of Springfield.
All eyes started staring at a big storm for the central and northern plains for December 8-9 and what affect it would have on the Ozarks. As the event drew near, it was obvious the the Ozarks were not going to be significantly impacted by winter precipitation.
Flurries did fly on Wednesday the 9th on what turned out to the a very blustery day. Wind gusts overnight in the wake of the deepening cyclone over Illinois went to 43 mph in Springfield, 41 in West Plains and 45 in Rolla! The sustained strong winds during the day along with temperatures in the teens produced wind chills in the single digits.
Map at 6 a.m. 12/9/2009Huge Snow of December 8-9
After a bitter cold 6 above low on the morning of the 10 followed by 17 the next morning, some moderation to near or above normal temperatures arrived for the weekend of the 12-13th.
The 14th through Christmas Eve was a fairly mild period with only trace amounts of precipitation. But around the 18tth, long range models starting showing the possibilities of a big snow near or in the Ozarks which would time out to give us a White Christmas!
The storm did eventually form with the hardest hit areas in Oklahoma and the northern plains. The Ozarks saw trace to one inch amounts from Springfield east while the totals went up to 4-6″ close to the Kansas border. Link to the National Weather Service review.
Another snow came our way in the final week of the month. A shortwave in the warm sector produced snow overnight into the 30th. The snow band lifted north and pivoted to the northwest overnight and early in to Wednesday the 30th. Amounts of 1-3″ were common in areas to the northwest of Springfield.
The last day of the year and the month was us sitting on the edge of a cold air plunge that would last well into the new year.
The month ended up four degrees below normal. We had eight days where the thermometer failed to rise above freezing. While snow threatened several times, Springfield ended up with 1.8″ for the month.
This is the fifth month of the last six which recorded below normal temperatures. An excellent review of the monthly temperature and precipitation patterns has been produced by the Springfield National Weather Service.
