At the beginning of 2023, snow was already up to the windowsills of my home after a major blizzard in December, and I'd beer my parka a lot.
December 2023 was a much different story.
At the South Dakota Searchlight, the staff reports in a quick read, December is historically warm in SD, echoing climate change predictions:
After a national climate report in November warned of rising temperatures, parts of South Dakota experienced record-setting warmth in December.
The National Weather Service reports that average South Dakota monthly temperatures in December ranged from 5 to 13 degrees above normal, depending on the location. Cities experiencing their warmest December on record included Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Huron, Watertown and Vermillion.
“December 2023 will be one of the warmest on record for the United States once preliminary data is calculated and compared to normal and records,” said the weather service.
Low temperatures were another indicator of historic warmth in December.
The coldest temperature last month in Sioux Falls was 11 degrees, according to the weather service. The temperature had previously dipped lower than that in every December of the city’s recorded history, dating to the late 1800s. Other cities with a higher-than-ever low temperature in December included Vermillion, Yankton, Mitchell, Gregory, Menno, De Smet, Canton, Tyndall, Howard, Huron and Brookings.
In yet another indicator, Sioux Falls experienced fewer days with a high temperature below freezing — just one — than any previous December, while Huron had its second-fewest such days days (three) and Mitchell tied its record (two).
The data echoes predictions issued in November as part of the federal government’s Fifth National Climate Assessment. The report predicted “rising temperatures across the region” with the trend “most pronounced in winter” for the Northern Great Plains, which includes South Dakota.
“For instance,” the report said, “the number of very cold days has been below the long-term average in Montana since 1985, in Nebraska since 1990, and in Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota since 2000.”
The assessment tied the trends to human-caused climate change and said reducing emissions of greenhouse gases — such as carbon dioxide and methane, which trap heat in the atmosphere — are crucial to limiting future warming.
Lower graphic image: The lowest recorded temperature last month was higher than any previous December in some cities. (Courtesy of National Weather Service, Sioux Falls office/ South Dakota Searchlight)
This South Dakota Searchlight article is republiched online under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
Related posts
Related posts
- $8.3 billion in crop insurance payouts to South Dakota farmers: A cost of climate change
- Critics allege CO2 pipelines ‘farm the government’ for climate $$ while helping oil industry; bills fuel debate over ethanol’s environmental impact, with climate implications
If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post.
Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email [email protected] as recipient.
I'm on Venmo for those who prefer to use this service: @Sally-Sorensen-6
Comments