DES MOINES, Iowa — The data is official now: Des Moines experienced unusual warmth and a severe lack of snow in December 2023.
The average temperature in December 2023 was 37.4° at Des Moines International Airport, which is a whopping 9.7° above the norm of 27.7°.
37.4° is enough to put December 2023 in second place on the list of warmest Decembers on record in Des Moines.
According to the National Weather Service in Des Moines, this comes up just shy of the warmest December on record, December 1889, which reported an average temperature of 39.5°.
Perhaps even more impressive, Des Moines had only one day in December with a high temperature below 32°, which actually occurred on the last day of the month, New Year's Eve.
In an average year, Des Moines has at least 10 days of maximum temperatures below freezing each December. It was also the only December on record that Des Moines did not measure a temperature of at least 14° or colder in December.
For reference, the coldest temperature all month was just 17°.
We hardly had any snow in December, either.
Des Moines recorded 0.2 inches of snow all month, which is 7.7 inches below the monthly average. It was the third least snowy December on record, only recording more snow than 1889 and 2002, respectively (there was no snow at all in Des Moines in December 2002).
Through Jan. 2, 2024, Des Moines has only measured 2.8" of snow for the entire winter season. This is close to a foot below average to date.
Moving forward, the pattern favors a more active storm track and colder temperatures near the middle of January.
Although the exact outlook is still hazy for Des Moines and central Iowa during that timeframe, it seems winter will try to make itself more obvious in the upcoming weeks.
Keep in mind, that severe drought is still widespread across central Iowa. Whether you're on "team snow" or "team dry winter," there's no denying we are in desperate need of moisture.
