The not-so-white Christmas wasn’t normal; the month was also drier than normal.

Climate change will bring warmer and wetter weather to Philadelphia. Although the increased temperatures aligned with trends, it was also a drier month.

The average December temperature was 45.3°, which was 6.7° above normal. The temperature made it the second warmest December on record since 1872, with the warmest being 2015. Winter is the fastest-warming season in Pennsylvania, according to Climate Matters.

The 1.64 inches of precipitation for December was only 41% of the normal amount compared to data from 1991-2020.

Photo by Chris Henry on Unsplash

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Julie Hancher is Editor-in-Chief of Green Philly, sharing her expertise of all things sustainable in the city of brotherly love. She enjoys long walks in the park with local beer and greening her travels, cooking & cat, Sir Floofus Drake. View all posts by Julie Hancher