2016 summary & December weather
The average temperature for the month of December was minus 3.8 degrees, compared to the ten year normal of minus 4.0 and the plus 2.0 recorded in 2015, which was the warmest December in fifty years.
Precipitation totaled 77 mms or 3.0 inches of rain and melted snow consisting of 28 mms of rainfall plus 46 cms of snow which melted to an additional 49 mms of water.
Ormstown had snow cover on the ground every day except the first four days of the month, and precipitation on 21 days leaving very little time for sunshine. The media reported how dry 2016 was, but in spite of a lot of variability in the timing of precipitations, Ormstown still received 982 mms or 38.7 inches for the year. Annual precipitation has not varied very much between decades with 931 mms or 36.6 inches during 1987 to 1996 and 1023 mms or 40.3 inches between 1997 and 2006 and 1035 mms or 40.7 inches between 2007 and 2016. This year marked the seventh warmest since 1967. The hottest was 2012 followed by 1998, 2006, 2010, 1999 and 2016.
I am including the statistics for the average monthly temperature by decade for the past fifty years. Using the most recent decade of 2007 to 2016 as the base for comparison, we find that the average monthly temperature increase compared to the period 1967 to 1976 was +1.05 degrees; compared to the period 1977 to 1986 was +0.91 degrees; compared to the period 1987 to 1996 was +0.88 degrees; compared to 1997 to 2006 was 0.08 degrees. It means the monthly temperature in Ormstown for the first thirty years was relatively stable followed by a spike of 0.8 degrees for the following twenty years. It also appears that the months of June/July/August have had more consistent temperatures while the winter months of December/January/February had wide variations.
Monthly temperatures by decade at Ormstown Quebec
Month | 1967-1976 | 1977-1986 | 1987-1996 | 1997-2006 | 2007-2016 | 2016-12-31 Average | 50 years change |
January | -9.9 | -10.9 | -8.7 | -9.0 | -8.6 | -9.4 | +1.3 |
February | -8.4 | -7.9 | -9.2 | -7.1 | -8.0 | -8.1 | +0.4 |
March | -2.9 | -1,5 | -2.6 | -1.9 | -1.4 | -2.1 | +1.5 |
April | 5.3 | 6.3 | 6.0 | 6.4 | 6.5 | 6.1 | +1.2 |
May | 12.3 | 13.5 | 13.1 | 13.5 | 14.3 | 13.3 | +2.0 |
June | 18.5 | 17.6 | 18.2 | 19.0 | 18.6 | 18.4 | +0.1 |
July | 21.0 | 20.8 | 20.9 | 20.9 | 21.1 | 20.9 | +0.1 |
August | 19.8 | 19.2 | 19.6 | 20.0 | 20.2 | 19.8 | +0.4 |
September | 15.1 | 14.5 | 14.5 | 16.1 | 16.2 | 15.5 | +1.1 |
October | 8.8 | 7.9 | 8.4 | 8.6 | 9.4 | 8.6 | +0.6 |
November | 1.6 | 1.9 | 1.7 | 3.3 | 2.9 | 2.3 | +1.3 |
December | -7.1 | -5.6 | -5.7 | -4.0 | -4.5 | -5.4 | +2.6 |
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| Average | +1.05 degrees |
The temperature increase between the first decade and the fifth decade averages +1.05
The temperature increase between the second decade and the fifth decade averages +0.91
The temperature increase between the third decade and the fifth decade averages +0.88
The temperature increase between the fourth decade and the fifth decade averages +0.08
(50 years temperature observations and analysis performed by Peter Finlayson)