It's December, the final month of the year. For many, the holiday season begins to ramp up as the temperature drops. In 2023, winter begins on Thursday, December 21. So, with the new month, what does the weather typically look like for Omaha? In this blog post, we look back at the weather in November and a preview of what to expect in December.
The prevailing theme for November was warm and dry. Many days in November were spent in the 50s and 60s for highs when the average highs range from the 40s to the low 50s. It wasn't an exceptionally warm month, November 2023 is the 36th warmest November in Omaha history, with records dating back to 1871.
Precipitation-wise, November was very dry. Omaha did not receive a drop of rain for the first 2/3rds of the month. The most rainfall came later in the month, where rainfall amounts ran over 1/4". Although it was dry, it wasn't exceptionally dry either, November 2023 was the 47th driest in Omaha where records go back to 1871. Besides rain, Thanksgiving weekend did bring our first accumulating snowfall with around 1" falling in Omaha, for details on that you can check out this blog post about it.
So, with November done, what about December? As is not surprising, December is the real transition month when we begin to look more at colder temperatures and snow events. We begin the month with highs in the 40s and lows in the 20s, and end the month with highs in the 30s and lows in the 10s. Snowfall also ticks up this time of year, with just under 6" falling in Omaha on average during December.
What do the predictions say? According to the Climate Prediction Center, we can expect a warmer December than we usually see. It is important to note that on the outlooks the darker the color does not mean the warmer it will be, but the higher the chances are at a warmer December. What this means is our chances of seeing a warmer December than average is higher.
In terms of precipitation, meaning rain or snow, we are not highlighted in either color. This means that our chances of having a drier or wetter December is about even, meaning we can expect an average month in terms of precipitation.
In terms of our forecast at KMTV, we expect a warmer December overall. Due to the warmer weather, any precipitation events could fall more as rain than snow, meaning our snowfall will probably be below average. You can see our entire winter forecast here. The first week of December does not look promising on the snow front, but we could expect a warmup into the first half of the month with highs in the 50s next week.
