December

Mild weather opened up December...and the weather also did...with a bang. A tremendous setup for severe weather was in place. In fact, the NWS put us in a moderate risk area for it. The potential for significant wind damage was off the charts for December. Indeed, a nasty squall line did move through on that afternoon:

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But because of a very shallow pool of cold air that moved in the night before, most of CNY was spared significant wind damage, as any strong winds were locked up well above the surface. A summary of the event can be found here and here (from Albany).

This ushered in much colder air and lake effect snow. That brought 3" to Utica and about 4-12" to other parts of CNY. Here is a recap of that event. The next wave of snow arrived on the 7th and 8th, along with brutal cold:

 
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In fact, temperatures plunged below 0 in many spots on the morning of the 8th. Here's a recap.

From this point on, December was quiet. We had shots of rain (and thunder on the 15th) on th 13th, 17th, 22nd/23rd. Some freezing rain and icing occurred on the 22nd. The northern lights made an appearance on the 14th. A brief interruption with some lake effect occurred on the 19th. Then on Christmas, a shot of rain and snow arrived. Most places saw rain, but a few hilltops got 1-3" of snow. Then some mixed rain, freezing rain and snow hit us from time to time at the end of the month.

An incredibly quiet, boring December, as it was the 2nd warmest ever.

All in all the year was an active one, with lots to talk about. For more details on these events, check out the Weather Blog, as we discussed many of these events ad nauseum. If you have questions or comments on this, feel free to send us an email at weather@wktv.com. The NEWSChannel 2 Weather Team thanks you for your help and support all year long!