HOUSTON – 2024 is coming to an end as we enter our twelfth month of the year! We have made it to December.
Get excited for baked goods, holiday music, and strong cold fronts! November was one of the warmest on record for Houston, but we’re actually heading into December cooler than average! Here’s what we typically see this month.
Temperature changes:
Temperatures are supposed to be chilly this month, and we actually do expect them to drop through the month. Our average high drops to 63° by the end of December. By the end of the month, our average low temperature drops to the mid-40s.
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Many people hope that December means no more 80° days... but sadly that is not a guarantee. Our record high in December is 85° and we’ve even hit the lower-80s on Christmas Day. We’ve also had snowfall before on Christmas, but it is far too early for any Santa Claus forecasts.
Remember we are never perfectly average. Last month we were above average (by quite a bit!). This month the Weather Prediction Center indicates that SE Texas will be above average for temperatures and below average for rainfall.
Daylight changes:
We see around 10 hours of sunlight a day in December. To start the month, our sunrise is at 6:58 a.m. and our sunset is at 5:21 p.m. By December 2nd our sunrise is in the 7AM hour, and by the end of the month we see daylight start about 15 minutes later.
The winter solstice this year falls on Dec 21st at 3:19 AM. This is the exact moment that the northern hemisphere is tilted it’s furthest from the sun. Our sun will appear at it’s lowest point in the sky and this lower angle means we receive less sunlight and warmth. This is around our shortest day of the year in terms of sunlight.
Look up in December:
We kick off December with a new moon! Our 1st quarter moon is on December 8th and our full moon is on December 15th.
The full moon this month falls on December 15th. This is called the “cold moon.” It’s pretty obvious why this full moon is called the cold moon (because it’s a cold time of year). This full moon is also called the Long Night Moon and the Moon before Yule.
One drawback of our full moon is that it will make the Geminids Meteor Shower harder to see. The meteor shower is estimated to peak on Saturday, December14th.
Here at KPRC we hope you have a wonderful December! If you’re celebrating by putting up holiday lights we’d love to see them! Send in your decorations to Click2Pins!
