By Heidi Sonen & Roscoe Shaw
December was finally warmer than normal, thanks to a five-day stretch before Christmas of 60-plus degree weather. But 2013 will go down in the books as a cold, wet year. The average temperature for the year was 55.7, which is a full 1.5 degrees below normal.
Rain was consistent and above average all year. The big rain on December 29 pushed the yearly total in our gauge to exactly 50.00 inches. Normal is 47 inches.
January is usually the coldest month of the year even though December has the weakest sun. This happens because we still lose more heat than we gain for a while until the strong sun in February reverses the trend. The coldest day of the year (Jan 21) is about a month after the weakest sun (Dec 21). The opposite happens in summer with the strongest sun on June 21 and the hottest days averaging July 21.
Rainfall Totals
December was sloppy wet with several very rainy stretches. Four days had snow or ice, but it only added up to a messy 1.4” accumulation.
- Crozet 5.80”
- CHO airport 4.73”
- Old Trail 5.22”
- Wintergreen Summit 5.91”
- Nellysford 5.35”
- Univ. of VA 5.32”
- Waynesboro 5.90”
- Rockfish 4.14”
