CHRISTMAS "WHEN THE WEATHER OUTSIDE WAS FRIGHTFUL" ...
Merry Christmas everybody! Hope Santa was extra good to you. He certainly brought "good" weather wishes true with sensational conditions prevailing both Christmas Eve and now Christmas day. Sometimes the best gifts are the ones you don't pay a dime for!
When it's as pleasant at this, it's easy to forget just how ugly the weather can be this time of year. To that point my comrade Steve Gottschalk has researched Christmas day Weather around the region and came up with the worst of the worst, when the weather outside was truly frightful. Here's his summary of Christmas's past that were nothing like we are enjoying today. Enjoy and thanks Steve. Happy holidays everyone.
Some Memorable Christmas Day Weather
Christmas Day of 1872
Very cold temperatures but the sleighing was very good.
Christmas Day of 1879
Davenport's maximum temp. was 5 and the minimum was -14.
Dubuque's Maximum temp. was 2 and the minimum was -19.
There was several inches of snow on the ground.
Christmas Day of 1887
Davenport's maximum temp. was 23 and the minimum was 11 and there was a trace of snow.
Dubuque's maximum temp. was 22 and the minimum was 8.
It was a perfect winter day, everyone was out sleighing.
Christmas Day of 1888
Davenport's maximum temp. was 35 and the minimum was 28.
Rain began during the afternoon changing over to sleet and freezing rain during the evening putting down a layer of ice. The freezing rain continued into the overnight hours and during the next morning then switched over to snow in the afternoon. The wind came up and the sound of falling tree limbs crashing to the ground was heard. One inch of precipitation fell during the storm.
Christmas Day of 1903
Davenport's maximum temp. was 23 and the minimum was -5 with 1.5" of snow falling.
Dubuque's maximum temp. was 17 and the minimum was -6 with 3.3" of snow falling.
Christmas Day of 1909
Davenport's maximum temp. was 20 and the minimum was 3 with 2.1" of snow falling and there was 12" on the ground.
Dubuque's maximum temp. was 20 and the minimum was 5 with 1.8" of snow falling and there was 11" on the ground.
Christmas Day of 1914
Davenport maximum temp. was 8 and the minimum was -10. There was 4" of snow on the ground.
Dubuque's maximum temp. was 7 and the minimum was -6. There was 4" of snow on the ground.
Christmas Day of 1924
Davenport's maximum temp. was 3 and the minimum was -4. There was 4" of snow on the ground.
Belle Plaine's maximum temp. was 6 and the minimum was -8.
Olin's maximum temp. was 3 and the minimum was -13.
Christmas Day of 1951
Quad City's maximum temp. was 28 and the minimum was 11 with 0.8" of snow falling. There was 7" of snow on the ground.
Dubuque's maximum temp. was 24 and the minimum was 9 with 3.2" of snow falling. There was 19" of snow on the ground.
Christmas Day of 1983
Quad City's maximum temp. was 2 and the minimum was -12. There was 8" of snow on the ground.
Cedar Rapid's maximum temp. was -1 and the minimum was -13. There was 6" of snow on the ground.
Le Claire's maximum temp. was -2 and the minimum was -13.
Tipton's maximum temp. was -2 and the minimum was -18.
Bitter cold embraced the area from Dec. 16th-26th. My average maximum temp. for the period was 1.5 degrees, the minimum was -15.3 with a mean temp. of -6.9. Six of those days had maximum's below 0. On Christmas Eve strong N.W. winds gusting to 51 mph created blizzard conditions and drove the wind chill down to -94. The air temps. were -20 or colder.
Christmas Day of 1985
Quad City's maximum temp. was 9 and the minimum was -7. There was 2" of snow on the ground.
Cedar Rapid's maximum temp.s was 6 and the minimum was -10. There was 4" of snow on the ground.
Iowa City's maximum temp. was 6 and the minimum was -8. There was 7" of snow on the ground.
Christmas Day of 2000
Quad City's maximum temp. was 11 and the minimum was -18. There was 11" of snow on the ground.
Cedar Rapid's maximum temp. was 8 and the minimum was -19. There was 10" of snow on the ground.
Iowa City's maximum temp. was 8 and the minimum was -19. There was 15" of snow on the ground.
Elkader's minimum temp. was -34.
Christmas Day of 2008
Quad City's maximum temp. was 30 and the minimum was -8. There was 9" of snow on the ground.
Cedar Rapid's maximum temp. was 29 and the minimum was -10.There was 8" of snow on the ground.
Iowa City's maximum temp. was 20 and the minimum was -14. There was 9" of snow on the ground.
Christmas Day of 2019
Quad City's maximum temp. of 62 was a record, the minimum was 44.
Dubuque's maximum temp. was 56 and the minimum was 36.
Some Christmas Day Weather Folklore
A green Christmas, a white Easter.
A warm Christmas, a cold Easter.
If windy on Christmas Day, trees will bring much fruit.
If Christmas night is clear and bright, it brings a blessed and rich year ahead.
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