A slow start for wintertime weather

by Russell Russ

The final two months of 2021 brought Norfolk closer to wintertime. There were glimpses of winter weather in November and December, but for the most part winter held off until after the ball dropped on the new year. What was very notable was the drop in precipitation during the final two months of the year. The string of much wetter than normal months from July through October was broken. November and December were both well below normal for snowfall and total precipitation, while December was high ranking for warmth. Most local ponds began icing over in late November into mid-December, but the ice then went in and out several times and most ponds were not fully iced at the end of December. November, the potential predictor month for winter, was colder and drier than normal. Could that mean this winter will be cold and dry? Time will tell. 

November’s average temperature of 36.6 degrees was 0.5 degree below normal and more than five degrees colder than November 2020. Temperatures ranged from a high of 63 to a low of 15 degrees. The high of 63 degrees on Nov. 18 tied the 1963 record high for that date. Precipitation for the month totaled 2.37 inches, 2.21 inches below normal. It was Norfolk’s 11th driest November of the last 90 years; the driest was 2012 with just 0.84 inch. The 1.5 inches of snowfall for the month was 5.1 inches below normal. The first flakes of the season arrived on Nov. 14, and the first measurable snowfall came on Nov. 26. 

December’s average temperature of 32.3 degrees was 6.5 degrees above normal, ranking it as Norfolk’s seventh warmest December. Temperatures ranged from a high of 60 to a low of 13 degrees. There were three days with record daily high temperatures: Dec. 11 with 59 degrees (previous high was 56 in 1979); Dec. 16 with 60 degrees (was 55 in 1982); and Dec. 17 with 52 degrees (was 50 in 1984). Norfolk’s warmest December was in 2015 with an average temperature of 39.5 degrees. With a total monthly precipitation of 3.01 inches, it was 1.56 inches below normal. December’s monthly snowfall total of 4.1 inches was 12.7 inches below normal. Norfolk did have a white Christmas this year, although with just one inch on the ground in the morning it just barely made it, and the snow was gone by the next morning. It ranked as Norfolk’s seventh least snowy December in the last 90 years; the record was set in 1943, with a monthly snowfall total of just 0.6 inch.

Weather observations and record keeping are performed by Russell Russ for the National Weather Service and Great Mountain Forest at Norfolk’s National Weather Service Cooperative Weather Observer Station, Norfolk 2SW.