December weather summary

Our area experienced its second-warmest December in over 125 years of record keeping, following 2015 which was the warmest. There were only two days during the month with snow of any consequence, including a few inches in Central Michigan at the beginning of the month, then 1 to 3 inches in most locations on December 18 with an isolated 7 inch total west of Kalamazoo from added lake effect snow. Otherwise, warmth was persistent and snow didn’t stay. With only 3.2 inches of total snowfall since autumn, Grand Rapids is at a record least-snowy start to the season so far.  (NWS)