FINAL MONTH OF THE YEAR - TIME FOR YOUR DECEMBER AND WINTER CET PREDICTIONS
As usual all CET predictions to be sent to me via PM please
Deadline is 2359 on Saturday evening (1 December).
Good luck everyone - especially Darren and Steve
Historic CET summary for December
1971-2000 5.1C (30 years)
1981-2010 4.6C (30 years)
1998-2017 5.0C (last 20 years)
We have not had a cold December since 2010. There have been 4 warm years with 6C or more and three years close to average at 5C. 2015 was of course the record at 9.7C after the second lowest December CET ever of -0.7C in 2010.
Here is a chart of the December CET for all years since 1961:
Direct link to larger version of the chart CHART1
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Current model output (at 12z 27 Nov)
GFS (12z) - most ENS members suggesting generally mild conditions
http://www.wetterzentrale.de/de/show_diagrams.php?geoid=49069&model=gfs&var=2&run=12&lid=ENS&bw=
GEM (12z) - similar to GFS
http://www.wetterzentrale.de/de/show_diagrams.php?model=gem&var=2&geoid=49069&lid=ENS&bw=
Multi Op - the major models all keep it mild in the first week. ECM going colder right at the end but this does not translate to the T2M temps (see below)
http://www.wetterzentrale.de/de/show_diagrams.php?model=multi&var=2&geoid=49069&lid=OP&bw=
The ECM ENS T2m temperatures for De Bilt look very mild
http://cdn.knmi.nl/knmi/map/page/weer/waarschuwingen_verwachtingen/ensemble/detail/ensemble-verwachtingen-detail10.png
Met Office contingency planners outlook
Not yet available - will update when it appears
Temperature analogues
Looking at years with a similar temperature profile to 2018 since August we have 7 reasonable matches since 1950. We can see from this a very mixed bag as regards December temperatures. So I have tried to narrow it down using some of the standard winter forecast parameters that the legendary Gavin P applies. From this we can see that in fact the best matches are 1953 and 1984. 1953 saw a very mild December and 1984 was close to average. 1983 is also a good match and saw a slightly above average December. So I think this data strongly suggests December will not be a cold month.
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1987 is not a good temperature match for 2018 but does have a number of winter parameters that do match - early SSW (8 December - one of the earliest ever), the QBO is a match as is ENSO. Late summer and Autumn precipitation is also a good match. December 1987 saw a CET of 5.6C so similar to the figures above.
Looking at years with an average October (close to 10.5C) but a warm November (close to 8C) we have a few matches (over and above those mentioned already - 2004, 2002, 1997, 1970. The December CET figures for those years were 5.4C, 5.7C, 5.8C and 4.3C.
So overall a fairly strong signal for a figure between 5.2C and 5.8C. That would suggest (based on the tracker below) a slightly below average second half of the month. A CET maybe of around 7C for the first half and then 4C for the second half (the mean for the second half is 4.75C).
First look at December temperature tracker
Two words sum it up. Very mild. Perhaps a move back towards average by the end of the second week. But the first third of the month looks like it could be up to 3C above average. If that verifies then the rest of the month would need to be 1.5C below average just to bring the month as a whole back to average. So chances of a below average December look very slim at this point. Would take a major freeze in the second half of the month. Wouldn't rule it out though given the long range model output.
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Edited by moderator
13 January 2019 12:15:08
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Reason: Not specified