Boston just had its second-coldest December in 25 years. Here’s why
Boston shivered through its second-coldest December in 25 years, with an average high temperature below freezing — and the arctic air could keep coming.
The average high temperature of 31.3 degrees for the month of December was second only to 2017 since the turn of the century. In December 2017, the city's average was 30.7 degrees.
According to the National Weather Service, Canada (and Greenland) were to blame for the frigid conditions in Massachusetts.
"We've had a lot of cold air coming down from Canada, with some higher pressure near Greenland,"Francis Tarasiewicz, a National Weather Service meteorologist working out of the Boston/Norton station, told MassLive Friday. "So that has allowed an atmospheric circulation that has pushed down much colder air from the arctic."
Boston's arctic-infused mean temperature of 24.4 degrees was actually the lowest since 2000, when the city recorded a mean of 22.5 degrees.
Central Massachusetts was a bit chillier, as Worcester recorded an average high temperature of 33.0 degrees for December.
A cold December doesn't mean a cold January is to follow, however, as Tarasiewicz said the arctic air doesn't necessarily impact the long-term forecast.
"There aren't really strong signals as to whether it's going to be really cold or really warm over the next couple of months," he said.
The combination of higher pressure over far northern areas and lower pressure below could lead to more storms in the coming months.
"Could we see a couple of storms in this pattern? Absolutely," Tarasiewicz said. "With this type of pattern and plenty of cold air in place, you could see storms, especially a little later in the winter."
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