December Summary

Met Central 2005 / Met Central
Date: Jan 05, 2006 - 09:07 AM

December temperatures were all over the place but moisture was either slim
or none.

Met Central Report - December 2005 Summary

January 4, 2006

December temperatures were all over the place but moisture was either slim or none.

December temperatures were a study in extremes. During the first 10 days of the month 5 new low temperature records were set and then during the last 10 days of December, 6 new daily high temperature records were set - making a total of 7 for the month. The monthly high and low extremes were also threatened. For the month the daily highs averaged over 2 degrees C above normal while night time lows ran just about exactly average.

December Record Temperatures - High 23.4 (74.1 F), Low -20.2 (-4.4 F)

December '05 Record Temperatures - High 23.1 (73.6 F), Low -19.6 (-3.3 F)

Moisture, or lack there of, is certainly becoming noticeable. December's moisture consisted of a mere dusting of snow on the 13th on some areas of the Sevilleta. This averaged out to 0.4 mm of moisture across the refuge with a range of 0 to 1.9 mm. This was the second driest December in SEV LTER history. There was no December precipitation in 1996 and a refuge-wide average of 0.6 mm in 2003.

The Nov-Dec total for the Sevilleta is easily a new record low. The 1.2 mm total for the last 2 months was well below the 4.1 mm total for 1989. .

December Meteorological Summary

                       December       December '05    December '05
Variable             Long-term* Mean    Mean           Mean Range
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Mean Max Temp (C)          9.76         11.9           9.7 - 12.7
Mean Min Temp (C)         -5.24         -5.2          -9.2 - 1.7
Mean Average Temp (C)      2.26          3.4           1.7 - 4.5
Mean R.H. (%)             55.1          32.8          29.3 - 37.9
Mean Vap Press. (mb)       3.92          2.56         2.41 - 2.69
Mean Max Wind (m/sec)      8.2           7.6           7.4 - 9.9
Mean Solar Rad. (kWh/m2)   3.07          3.47         3.38 - 3.61
Precip.(mm)               14.4           0.4           0.0 - 0.7
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*Long-term refers to all of the Sevilleta met stations for 1989-2004

Albuquerque - Sevilleta Comparison

Albuquerque did slightly better than the Sevilleta during Dec. because of a bigger snowfall on the 13th. This was the second very dry and very warm month in a row in ABQ as well. Despite this, Albuquerque came in at 120% of average with the 10th wettest year since 1931.

                Loc     Precip          Normal       % of Normal
=====================================================================
December        ABQ      2.5 mm         12.4 mm            20 %
                SEV      0.4 mm         14.4 mm             3 %

Year to Date    ABQ    290.0 mm        241.0 mm           120 %
                SEV    233.5 mm        259.1 mm            90 % 

====================================================================
Remember to check National Weather Service Monthly highlights at:
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/abq/climate/Monthlyreports/December/2005/Dec2005.htm

Water-year Precipitation

The 21.8 mm of precipitation that the Sev received for the last 3 months of 2005 makes for a pretty slow start to the 2006 water-year -only 37% of average. This is the second driest start to a water year in the 1989-present SEV LTER history; the driest 3-month start was 1996 with a Sev-wide average of 14.2 mm for the Oct-Dec, 1995 period.


             Precipitation (mm)


               1989-2005
Month           Mean            2005-2006    
===========================================
Oct 05          23.1              20.6      
Nov 05          14.4               0.8    
Dec 05          14.4               0.4
===========================================
Total           58.6              22.2

ENSO

Last month there seemed to be hints that we might be headed into La Nina and this month seems to reinforce that possibility. Most indicators are pointing that way. Sea surface temperature anomalies are below normal in all Nino zones. The SOI went from -0.3 to -0.2 which actually resulted in the 5-month mean dropping from +.08 to +.04 - not exactly a big move away from neutral.

Returning Drought?

So the big D seems to be rearing its ugly head again. The Palmer Drought Index shows all of NM in near-normal status but most indicators point towards continued or increasingly dry conditions for early 2006. In addition to the ENSO drift towards La Nina, the PDO has recently moved back into the cool phase. This usually seems to further enhance the dry conditions of La Nina here in the SW.

Notables from on and off the Sev

Things look pretty dry out on the refuge right now although there are a few areas with considerable presence of little seedlings. Road travel creates copious amounts of dust.

Speaking of roads, the roads south of Mckenzie Flats through Palo Duro Canyon received some much-needed maintenance during Dec so that 4WD is not necessary any more.

Why Can't We All Share

End of Dec brought news reports of heavy rains and flooding in Northern California. The Rose B owl Parade got rained on for the first time in 50 years. At the same time grass fires were sweeping across tens of thousands of acres in Texas, Oklahoma, and eastern NM.

Hurricanes - The Endless Season

Told you so. In addition to Hurricane Epsilon that remained active through the 8th of Dec, Tropical Storm Zeta became official on the 28th of Dec and is still churning in the mid-Atlantic

December Forecast

Not surprisingly, the NOAA forecast is for increased chances of warmer and drier than normal conditions for both January and the January through March period.

A 2005 annual summary will be posted "soon" The National Weather Service 2005 summary can be found at:

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/abq/

D.M.

This article comes from Sevilleta LTER
http://sev.lternet.edu/

The URL for this story is:
http://sev.lternet.edu/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=83