December, a month that brings the end of Fall and the beginning of Winter, brought continued extremes between cold and warm in what is typical of dry winters in the past. December 2005 was one of the drier Decembers of record for parts of Central and South Central Texas. It was the 3rd year in a row that December has been dry, also in 2003 and 2004.

The 0.20 inches of rain at Austin Bergstrom in December 2005 made December 2005 tie with December 2004 for the 3rd driest December of record at Austin Bergstrom. The driest Decembers at Austin Bergstrom:

1. 0.01 INCHES IN DECEMBER 1950
2. 0.14 INCHES IN DECEMBER 1989
3. 0.20 INCHES IN DECEMBER 2004
3. 0.20 INCHES IN DECMEBER 2005

The 0.09 inches of rain at Austin Mabry in December 2005 made December 2005 the 6th driest December of record at Austin Mabry. The driest Decembers at Austin Mabry

1. 0.00 INCHES IN DECEMBER 1894
2. TRACE IN DECEMBER 1950
3. 0.02 INCHES IN DECEMBER 1893
3. 0.02 INCHES IN DECEMBER 1917
5. 0.06 INCHES IN DECEMBER 1901
6. 0.09 INCHES IN DECEMBER 2005

The 0.10 inches of rain at San Antonio in December 2005 made December 2005 tie with December 1992 for the 7th driest December of record at San Antonio. The driest Decembers at San Antonio

1. 0.00 INCHES IN DECEMBER 1871
2. TRACE IN DECEMBER 1917
3. 0.03 INCHES IN DECEMBER 1950
3. 0.04 INCHES IN DECEMBER 1894
5. 0.08 INCHES IN DECEMBER 2004
6. 0.09 INCHES IN DECEMBER 1905
7. 0.10 INCHES IN DECEMBER 1922
7. 0.10 INCHES IN DECEMBER 2005

The 0.06 inches of rain at Del Rio in December 2005 made December 2005 tie with December of 1916...1920...1945 and 1981 for the 15th driest December of record at Del Rio. The driest Decembers at Del Rio

1.  TRACE IN DECEMBER 1921, 1950, 1954, 1968, AND 1973
6.  0.01 INCHES IN DECEMBER 1972, 1977, 1999
9.  0.03 INCHES IN DECEMBER 1917 AND 1985
11. 0.04 INCHES IN DECEMBER 1922, 1966, AND 2003
14. 0.05 INCHES IN DECEMBER 1907
15. 0.06 INCHES IN DECEMBER 1916, 1920, 1945, 1981, 1983
                   AND DECEMBER 2005

The beginning of the month had mild afternoons, and this changed late during the day of the 3rd, when cooler air came in with a cold front in the afternoon and evening. An additional surge of cool air moved through the area December 5th. A surge of cold arctic air followed December 7th, and was accompanied by a rain making weather system aloft. This brought precipitation in the afternoon to evening of the 7th, that changed to freezing rain and sleet in the late afternoon and evening over parts of the hill country to Central Texas, in the Austin area, and south to the San Antonio area. The freezing rain continued in the early morning hours of December 8th over the eastern parts of South Central Texas. The most freezing rain affected Williamson, Travis, Comal, Hays and Lee Counties. The cold continued in the day of the 8th and Friday the 9th. The coldest early morning lows for the month came on December 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th.

Afternoons warmed up from the 10th to the 13th. Conditions cooled off again late in the day of the 14th, in wake of another cold front. Colder weather, with clouds and spotty light rain and drizzle came on the 16th and 17th. The cold continued through December 21st, before a warming trend began on December 22. Several Pacific Cool Fronts came though the area from the 23rd through the 31st. Brief periods of southerly winds and higher humidity, were quickly replaced by dry west, northwest or north winds. The airmass with these fronts was extremely modified and very dry. This made for large daily extremes between the high and low. Cool nights were followed by unseasonably warm afternoons. One of the warmer afternoons of the month, along with December 3rd, came December 27th. Afternoon highs on the 27th warmed to the 80s over the west part of South Central Texas and were from 77 to 79 over the east part of the area. December 27th record highs of 84 at Del Rio and 82 at San Antonio was observed. Hondo had a high of 88, and Laredo reached a high of 92 on December 27th.

The average December temperature was 53.0 degrees, 0.6 degrees above normal. The average high was 66.1, and the average low was 39.9. Heating degree days 372 and cooling degree days 6. The highest temperature reached 82 on the 3rd and 27th, and the lowest was 27 on the 7th and 8th. Highest wind gust was 32 mph from the northwest with a cold front on the 14th. Rainfall was 0.10 inches, 1.86 inches below normal. December 2005 was the 7th driest December of Record. Rainfall for from January 1st to December 31st, 2005... 16.54 inches or 16.38 inches below normal. Rainfall for 2004 was 45.33 inches or 12.41 inches above normal. 2005 was the 9th driest year of record, from 1871 to 2005, for San Antonio, and the driest year since 1956.