December in Decorah was warm and wet

Winter?  What winter?

Decorah residents were treated to a significantly warmer than normal December to close out 2018.  Decorah meteorologist Richard Bernatz says temperatures averaged 28.3 degrees in Decorah in December—not too far from the warmest-ever December average temperature of 32.8 degrees set in 2015.  The temperature never dropped below zero in Decorah in December and hit 48 degrees on December 18th.

Compared with all Decembers since 1893, December of 2018 was the 16th warmest.

Decorah recorded 2.19 inches of precipitation in December, which was almost one inch more than the average of 1.21 inches.  Total snowfall was 2.1 inches, which was 6.6 inches less than average.