It’s been easy to love December’s balmy temperatures and snow-free weather in Northeast Ohio.
The end of the month is approaching and it’s in position to become the warmest December in the Akron-Canton area since records began in 1887.
It could also become the least-snowiest December on record.
The average December temperature at the Akron-Canton Airport is 44.3, 13.5 degrees above normal.
The current record for December warmth is 41.1 degrees in 1989.
The high temperature for the month was 68 degrees on Dec. 12. The coldest December temperature was 20 degrees on Dec. 20.
The daily high temperatures in December have been in the 60s on five separate days; in the 50s on 12 days; in the 40s on nine days; and in 30s on three days.
That is comparable to typical December temperatures in Atlanta (45.6 degrees), Nashville, Tenn., (40.7 degrees) and Columbia, S.C. (47.1 degrees).
To date, this December has produced only 0.2 inches of snow in the Akron-Canton area.
The current record for the least snow in December is 2014, with just 0.5 inches.
Second place for least snow totals in December goes to 1994 with 0.7 inches and third place goes to 1986 with 0.8 inches.
The normal December snowfall in the Akron-Canton area is 10.2 inches.
The region got 12.5 inches of snow in December 2013.
Though there hasn’t been much snow this month, it’s been a bit soggy.
So far this December, the area has had 3.6 inches of precipitation, which is 1.02 inches above normal.
No measurable snow was recorded in the area in November.
Last month was also the third-warmest November on record. The average temperature was 48.6 degrees, 6.8 degrees above normal.
The record warm Novembers were 1931 with 49.5 degrees and 1909 with 48.8 degrees.
Northern Ohio is benefitting from two weather patterns.
A strong El Nino in the Pacific Ocean is producing above-normal temperatures and drier-than-usual weather in northern Ohio, the U.S. Weather Service said.
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is predicting less precipitation than normal near the Great Lakes and the Ohio Valley due to the strong El Nino that affects the position of the Pacific jet stream.
That is expected to produce rainy and cool weather from California to Texas to the Gulf Coast and Florida and up the East Coast to southern New England from January through March.
Also affecting northern Ohio is a pattern known as the Arctic Oscillation.
Northern Ohio will likely get some severe winter storms but those are not part of the winter outlook and cannot be predicted far in advance.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.