Thornton wrapped up 2023 with similar weather conditions as had been seen the previous two months. Temperatures were well above normal and precipitation was scarce.
The month was a quiet one, lacking any sort of real weather drama. We started out on the cool side but then put together a string of well above normal days from the 4th to the 7th. We then turned colder and saw our first and biggest snow of the month, 1.7 inches, on the 9th. The balance of the month saw some ups and downs, mainly ups, with only three more snowfalls, all very light.
Thornton ended the month with an average temperature of 37.1 degrees. This was far above the running 17-year average for the month of 30.5 degrees. It also put December 2023 into the books as the warmest December of those 17 years, besting the previous warmest of 37.0 degrees in 2021.
The warmest temperature of 68 degrees was seen on the 19th while the coldest temperature of 11.2 degrees came on Christmas morning.
As measured at Denver International Airport, the Mile High City was similarly warm. Denver’s December 2023 average temperature was 37.4 degrees, besting Thornton’s number. That too was well above their long-term average for the month of 31.2 degrees and goes into the Denver weather history books tying December 1929 as the 17th warmest December on record.
Along with the warmth, we saw little precipitation. Thornton recorded a mere 0.26 inches in the bucket. That was only about half of the 17-year running average for December of 0.45 inches. Much of that can be attributed to the relative lack of snowfall as we only saw 3.1 inches of the white stuff. That is less than half of the 8.4 inches Thornton has averaged during December over the past 17 years and the third least snowy December over that period.
Out at the airport, it was quite dry as well. Denver recorded only 0.12 inches in their bucket, far below the long-term average of 0.35 inches. The Mile High City was also lighter on snow than us, seeing only 1.4 inches. That puts December 2023 into the books as the 18th least snowy December on record.
Click here to view Thornton’s complete December 2023 climate summary report.
