December 2017 felt like another temperature roller coaster in New York City. Highs ranged from an unseasonably warm 61°F to a frigid 18°F. But with eighteen out of thirty-one days posting below average readings, including the second coldest New Year’s Eve on record, the chill won out in the end. The city’s mean temperature for the month was 35°F, which is 2.5°F below average.

On the precipitation side of things, the city received 2.21 inches of rain. That is 1.79 inches below normal. December is now the sixth month in a row to deliver below average rainfall in NYC. As a result, the latest report from the US Drought Monitor (12/28) now lists the city as “abnormally dry.” Snowfall, on the other hand, was abundant. The month produced four separate snow events, including the city’s first snowfall of the season. In all, 7.7 inches of snow was measured in Central Park. On average, the city gets 4.8 inches of snow in December.

Credit: The Weather Gamut