BDL December Recap

Just like I've previously done for Burlington International Airport (BTV), here is my recap of this past December's weather at Bradley International Airport (BDL) in Windsor Locks, CT - close to where I was for all of the month.

Temperatures

The mean daily average temperature for the month at BDL was 33.7 °F, warmer than the normal value of 31.6 °F by 2.1 °F. The month's average maximum and minimum temperatures were 42.2 °F and 25.3 °F, respectively - both are values roughly 2 °F above normal.

The temperature graph below shows the slightly warmer-than-normal temperature trend for BDL this December, with the only true cold spell occurring after our major winter storm on Dec 17, and a few warm periods at the start of the month, the middle of the month, and on Christmas day, when the temperature reached 63 °F.

(NOAA Regional Climate Centers/xmACIS)

The Hartford area set one record high temperature this December, when we reached 61 °F on December 13, surpassing the previous Dec 13 record of 60 °F set in 1946.

The month's low of 1 °F was reached on December 19.

Precipitation

Straying from the trend of dry weather that BDL grew accustomed to over 2020, December 2020 was a wetter-than-normal month. A total of 5.30 inches of precipitation fell, which surpasses the normal monthly value of 3.44 in. by 1.86 inches.

(NOAA Regional Climate Centers/xmACIS)

As shown in the above precipitation chart, much of our precipitation fell in 3 separate events events: a small snowstorm with heavy, wet snow and some rain on December 5, our major snowstorm on December 16-17, and the large rain event on Christmas Day. On December 25, the Hartford area saw 2.12 inches of rain, breaking the old Dec 25 record of 1.39 inches set in 1979.

Snowfall

BDL had 13.3 inches of snow in December 2020, when a normal December would have 7.4 inches. There where seven days when at least a trace of snow fell. The bulk the snow fell during the Dec 16-17 storm,  when BDL received 12.3 inches over the course of those two days. The 7.8 inches of snow that fell on the 17th set a record for that date, breaking the previous record of 6.5 inches set in 2016.

While the warm 2020 trend continued at BDL, it was nice to see a wetter month with one major nor'easter. Let's hope for more major snowfalls in 2021!