Warm and dry would the operative words as we look back on December 2024’s weather. Temperatures were stubbornly mild and precipitation of any kind was scarce.
The month started as most recent months with mild and dry conditions. The first eight days saw no precipitation and temperatures well above normal. On the 9th of the month, we finally saw a break with some light snow and a couple days of below normal mercury readings.
We then returned to the persistent pattern of above normal temperatures and dry conditions for the next two weeks. On Christmas night, it wasn’t snow that arrived but rather rain, as temperatures were just too warm for the white stuff.
Dry and mild conditions then returned until New Year’s Eve when a surprise, concentrated band of snow moved through in the evening. It brought some light snow and wreaked havoc on the roadways.
Thornton’s overall average temperature for December 2024 came in at 38.3 degrees. This was far above our 18-year running average for December of 30.9 degrees. It also was our warmest December over the same period, besting last year’s 37.1 degree average.
Temperatures ranged from a maximum of 67.4 degrees on the 20th down to a low of 17.3 degrees on the 10th. Only three days over the month saw below average high temperatures.
Out at Denver International Airport where the Mile High City’s official records are kept, it was warm as well. Their average monthly temperature came in at 39.4 degrees, well above the long term Denver average for December of 31.2 degrees. That put the month into the books as the 9th warmest December ever recorded in Denver.
Precipitation was sparse during the month to say the least. Thornton recorded 0.20 inches, most of which was the result of rain versus snow melt. That is less than half of the 0.44 inch 18-year average for December in Thornton and our third driest December over that period.
Out at the airport, Denver saw a mere 0.04 inches of precipitation in December, all of it on the last day of the month. That was well below the city’s 0.35 December average. That put December 2024 into the Denver weather books as a tie with 2004 and 1890 for the 8th driest December on record.
Snowfall was scarce as well. Thornton recorded an even 2.0 inches, most of which fell on the 31st. This was far below our 18-year December average snowfall of 8.1 inches. It was our second least snowiest December of the past 18 years.
For Denver, as measured at DIA, the month yielded 1.4 inches of the white stuff, all of which fell on the evening of New Year’s Eve. That was far below the 8.0 inch average Denver has recorded since 1882. It also put December 2024 into a tie with last year as the 18th least snowiest December on record.
Click here to view Thornton’s complete December 2024 climate summary report.
