December 2011 Review - Mild, dry, and snowless

December Temperature Data:

**Sault Ste Marie (1888 - 2011)**
December Mean	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Warmest Temp/Date(s)	Coolest Temp/Date(s)	Record Warm/Year	Record Cold/Year
26.0	22.2	+3.8	N/A	43 / 11th	-3 / 28th	30.9 / 2001	7.3 / 1989

**Houghton Lake (1919 - 2011)**
December Mean	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Warmest Temp/Date(s)	Coolest Temp/Date(s)	Record Warm/Year	Record Cold/Year
30.0	23.9	+6.1	Tied 7th Warmest	50 / 15th	11 / 28th	31.4 / 2001	12.9 / 1989

**Alpena (1916 - 2011)**
December Mean	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Warmest Temp/Date(s)	Coolest Temp/Date(s)	Record Warm/Year	Record Cold/Year
29.3	25.0	+4.3	Tied 10th Warmest	51 / 15th	3 / 28th	32.3 / 1923	12.5 / 1989

**Traverse City Airport (1897 - 2011)**
December Mean	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Warmest Temp/Date(s)	Coolest Temp/Date(s)	Record Warm/Year	Record Cold/Year
32.9	26.7	+6.2	6th Warmest	52 / 15th	18 / 10th,28th	37.6 / 1913	16.2 / 1989

**Gaylord** **Airport (1951 - 2011)**
December Mean	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Warmest Temp/Date(s)	Coolest Temp/Date(s)	Record Warm/Year	Record Cold/Year
27.0	22.6	+4.4	Tied 9th Warmest	49 / 15th	4 / 28th	31.4 / 1982	12.2 / 1989

December Precipitation Data (inches):

**Sault Ste Marie (1888 - 2011)**
Precipitation	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Greatest 24-hr rainfall/date(s)	Days with measurable precipitation	Record Wettest/Year	Record Driest/Year
2.03	2.79	-0.76	N/A	0.53 / 14th-15th	16	6.24 / 1995	0.45 / 1913

**Houghton Lake (1919 - 2011)**
Precipitation	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Greatest 24-hr rainfall/date(s)	Days with measurable precipitation	Record Wettest/Year	Record Driest/Year
1.10	1.65	-0.55	N/A	0.34 / 14th-15th	14	4.60 / 2008	0.18 / 1960

**Alpena (1916 - 2011)**
Precipitation	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Greatest 24-hr rainfall/date(s)	Days with measurable precipitation	Record Wettest/Year	Record Driest/Year
1.00	1.74	-0.74	N/A	0.30 / 14th-15th	14	5.07 / 1996	0.39 / 1994

**Traverse City Cooperative Observing Station (1930 - 1993, 2001 - 2011)**
Precipitation	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Record Wettest/Year	Record Driest/Year
2.20	2.72	-0.52	N/A	6.39 / 2008	0.56 / 1935

**Gaylord Cooperative Observing Station (1940 - 2011)**
Precipitation	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Record Wettest/Year	Record Driest/Year
2.10	3.11	-1.01	N/A	5.38 / 1985	0.83 / 1997

December Snowfall Data (inches):

**Sault Ste Marie (1888 - 2011)**
Snowfall	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Greatest daily snowfall/date(s)	Days with measurable snowfall	Record Snowfall/Year	Least Snowfall/Year
10.1	35.6	-25.5	N/A	1.8 / 29th	13	98.7 / 1995	3.5 / 1913

**Houghton Lake (1919 - 2011)**
Snowfall	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Greatest daily snowfall/date(s)	Days with measurable snowfall	Record Snowfall/Year	Least Snowfall/Year
3.9	16.0	-12.1	6th Least Snowiest	1.3 / 30th	6	45.8 / 2008	1.2 / 1943

**Alpena (1916 - 2011)**
Snowfall	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Greatest daily snowfall/date(s)	Days with measurable snowfall	Record Snowfall/Year	Least Snowfall/Year
5.0	18.9	-13.9	9th Least Snowiest	2.3 / 29th	7	48.1 / 2008	1.8 / 1994

**Traverse City Cooperative Observing Station (1930 - 1993, 2001 - 2011)**
Snowfall	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Record Snowfall/Year	Least Snowfall/Year
3.3	26.7	-23.4	Least Snowiest	50.8 / 1985	3.3 / 2011

**Gaylord Cooperative Observing Station (1940 - 2011)**
Snowfall	Normal	Departure	Ranking	Record Snowfall/Year	Least Snowfall/Year
9.8	33.3	-23.5	Least Snowiest	60.5 / 1985	9.8 / 2011

- all averages are calculated using the new 1981 - 2010 period

( ) = Consistent years of record; Record temperature data for Gaylord is a combination of Gaylord Airport (2001- 2011) and the Cooperative Observing Station records (1951-2001), Record precipitation data for Traverse City is a combination of Cherry Capital Airport (1930-1993) and the Cooperative Observing Station records (2001-2011)

- only rankings in the top 10 will be entered

* = Record occurred in multiple years; latest year shown

**THESE DATA ARE PRELIMINARY AND HAVE NOT UNDERGONE FINAL QUALITY CONTROL BY THE NATIONAL CLIMATIC DATA CENTER. THEREFORE, THESE DATA ARE SUBJECT TO REVISION. FINAL AND CERTIFIED CLIMATE DATA CAN BE ACCESSED AT WWW.NCDC.NOAA.GOV.**

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* Data for Traverse City is derived from a composite of observations taken at both Cherry Capital Airport and the cooperative observing station at Munson Medical Center. This data is for informational purposes only and does not meet climatological standards. This data set may include periods with missing data…particularly snowfall data from 1996-2001.

**Data for Gaylord is derived from a composite of observations taken at both Gaylord-Otsego County Airport and the cooperative observing station located near downtown Gaylord. This data is for informational purposes only and does not meet climatological standards. This data set may include periods with missing data and data that has been recorded from different observing points throughout history.

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December 2011 Review - Mild, dry, and snowless