The recent weather has many questioning not just around Iowa, but all over the Midwest how odd it has been lately. The biggest thing coming into conversation is the abundance of rain and the lack of snow and incredible December warmth that has been in place since fall started. Basically, we are totally lacking a start to winter and we are now well into mid-December. North Iowa should be covered in snow by now, but instead green yards can be found. Despite the lack of snow, rainfall has been extremely above normal, in fact Des Moines and Waterloo both have already set the record for wettest December in recorded history. Typical December precipitation including snowmelt is 1.43″. On top of this, to date Des Moines has had one of the warmest starts to December…ever. We’re running 15 degrees above normal currently. The normal average high is typically between 31 and 36 but we’ve been in the 40s and 50s all but 3 days, even reaching 58 one day. Nights have also been very mild with lows generally ranging around or higher than what highs are supposed to be! The warmest night around here was 44, leaving only 4 nights below freezing to date.
We’re at 3.94″ of precipitation for the month so far at my location in Cumming; officially 3.82″ at the Des Moines International Airport. Nearly all of this fell in a three day period from December 12th through the 14th with a strong low pressure system that moved through. The first night of the rain on December 12th was characterized by numerous thunderstorms, followed by all day steady rains on the 13th and a spotty rain/snow mix on the 14th that didn’t stick. I came to the realization just how odd it is that Christmas lights and thunderstorms occurred at the same time. Two to as much as five inches of rain fell across Iowa, especially from central to eastern Iowa. At Des Moines, this storm was the single most rain producing event of 2015, according to the NWS. All of the rain caused numerous rivers and creeks to experience moderate flooding, an issue more typical for spring season not the driest season of the year.
All this strange moisture and warmth has caused some plants to act out of whack! Spring bulbs everywhere across Iowa are already sprouting as if it was March. The Daffodils in the photo at the top of this post that were taken early this week. I’ve also seen Lenten Rose and Crocus popping, as well as Snowdrops just peaking below the mulch surface. This is all due to the lack of cold, which normally keeps them from breaking the soil line until spring. It’s not just the bulbs, lawns are still lush green, even as of today (17th)! With the number of cold nights below freezing, there is nothing to turn things brown. To top off this December madness off, the most extreme thing I’ve seen is that some species of shrubs haven’t totally lost all their leaves from fall – in fact in the case of this Dogwood, the leaves are still green! Something totally unheard of for the week that leads up to Christmas. Which leads one to think that if we don’t get snow next week, it could be a GREEN Christmas this year! How does “I’ve been dreaming of a green Christmas sound?”
Recent December Broken Records
Des Moines, 3.82″ precip./month (Record – Wettest December)
Waterloo, 4.12″ precip./month (Record – Wettest December)
Cedar Rapids, 62.F (12/13/15 Record – Daily High)
Moline 59.F (12/13/15 Tied Record – Warmest December Low)
Dubuque 61.F (12/13/15 Record – Daily High)