| December at McCarthy was on the mild side, but no record high temperatures like December of 1999. January on the other hand was warm and wet. |
| The average December temperature was 5.7 (4.7 in Dec. '99 and 3.3 in Dec. '98). The high was 42 on December 5 (56 on Dec. 21, '99 and 34 on Dec. 9, '98) and the low was 26 on December 15 (31 on Dec. 26, '99 and 28 on Dec 31, '98). Twelve days had low temperatures of zero or above and only two days below a minus twenty. Two days had high temperatures of forty or above and three days zero or below. Silver Lake had an average temperature of 7.2 (2.3 in Dec. '99 and 5.7 in Dec.'98). The high temperature was 39 on December 6 (55 on Dec. 23, '99 and 36 on Dec. 5, '98) and the low was 18 on December 17 ( 36 on Dec. 16, '99 and 34 on Dec. 26, '98). Silver Lake had five days with a high of thirty or above and seven days with a low of minus ten or colder. |
| December precipitation was below average with only 0.44 inches of liquid precipitation (3.44 in Dec. '99 and 0.51 in Dec. '98). 0.03 inches fell as rain and freezing rain. Total snow fall was 5.6 inches (18.3 in Dec. '99 and 8.4 in Dec. '98). The snow depth was 16 inches at the beginning of the month, decreased to 14 inches on December 5 and ended the month with 14 inches. By comparison Silver Lake had only 0.12 inches of liquid precipitation (4.96 in Dec. '99 and 0.39 in Dec. '98). All precipitation fell as snow and total snowfall was 2.0 inches (29.0 in Dec. '99 and 18.5 in Dec. '98). The snow depth was 3 inches at the beginning of the month, decreased to 1 inch on December 6 and ended the month with 1 inch. |
| The average January temperature at McCarthy was a very warm 17.7 (0.6 in Jan. '00 and 4.5 in Jan. 99). The high was 42 on January 15 (38 on Jan. 31, '00 and 35 on Jan. 23, '99) and the low temperature was 16 on January 30 (42 on Jan. 13, '00 and 50 on Jan. 21, '99). There were thirteen days with a high of thirty or above and two days with a low of minus ten or colder. Silver Lake had an average temperature of 19.7 (0.4 in Jan. '00 and 7.7 in Jan. '99). The high was 43 on January 15 (36 on Jan. 25, '00 and 33 on Jan. 24, '99) and the low was 11 on January 31 (42 on Jan. 14. '00 and 52 on Jan . 21, '99). |
| January precipitation was above average with seven days of measurable amounts. The total liquid precipitation was 2.34 inches (1.50 in Jan. '00 and 1.06 inches in Jan.'99). Just over an inch of rain and freezing rain fell on January 7. Snowfall was 9.2 inches (18.3 in Jan. '00 and 17.7 in Jan. '99). 2001 started with a 14 inch snow cover and increased to 18 inches on January 31. Silver Lake had 0.65 inches of liquid (1.38 in Jan. '00 and 0.91 in Jan. '99) and 2.0 inches of snow (18.0 in Jan. ' 00 and 9.0 in Jan. '99). Silver Lake started 2001 with 1 inch of snow on the ground and increased to 2 inches on January 31. |
| The first half of February finally returned to normal winter weather with lows dipping to near 20. The highs, with the help of nine hours of sunshine, are making it into the twenties. The snow depth has increased to almost 30 inches. |
| February shows a steady increase in daylight and sunshine, but well below zero temperatures are still common. March is usually the beginning of the warmer temperatures with highs reaching into the 40s. |
| Finally I would like to wish Frank Moore a Happy 86th Birthday. Frank is a good friend and a subscriber who lives in Spokane, WA. |