A Christmas week cold snap dropped provided Crawford County with holiday snow and dropped December’s overall high temperatures to just above freezing.
Still, the cold failed to come close to setting a new record and the county remained, for the most part, warmer than during December 2021, according statistics from the National Weather Service.
The average daytime high during December was about 39.4 degrees, down from almost 50.9 degrees a year earlier.
The warmest temperature of the month was 56, reported Dec. 29 as the frigid weather released its grip on the area. Most highs during the month were in the 40s, but conditions never warmed above freezing on seven days, including Dec. 23, when the high was only 2 above zero.
Last year, the highest temperature was 67, reported Dec. 4. Most highs were in the 40s or 50s, but the mercury managed to creep into the 60s eight times.
The average overnight low in December was 26.13, compared to more than 35.7 degrees in 2021.
The coldest temperature of the month was a bitter 9 below zero on the 22nd. The low the following night was zero and fell to 5 above Christmas Eve. Most lows were in the 30s and temperatures were below freezing 21 times.
The coldest temperature during the previous December was 18 on Dec. 7. Most lows were in the 30s with the temperature dipping to freezing or colder 14 nights.
The warmest December day on record was Dec. 6, 1956. The mercury hit 71 that day. The coldest December temperature ever, 19 below, was recorded on Dec. 22, 1989. It eclipsed the 12 below record set only six days earlier, which in turn had surpassed the 9 below record of Dec. 18, 1951.
A light snow dropped .03 inch of powder here Dec. 22. Cold conditions kept it on the ground through Christmas, but strong winds often moved it around.
Measurable rainfall was recorded on eight days, with the heaviest downpour dropping 1.11 inches here Dec. 14. This was on top of .16 inch the previous day.
There may have been a stray flake or two mixed with raindrops on colder days in 2021, but for the most part, December precipitation here fell in the form of rain. A total of 5.87 inches was reported.
Most of 2021’s rainfall occurred Dec. 17 to 19, with the last day being the soggiest. A total of 1.65 inches were reported that date, following the 1.88 inches that fell during the previous two days.
Another inch fell Dec. 28 and 29.
The wettest December ever was in 1957, when Crawford County was soaked by 8.56 inches of rain. Things were dramatically different a year later when only .46 inch fell, making it the driest December in history. Record snowfall for the month, 14.1 inches, was recorded in 1935.
The earliest snowfall with accumulation on record was Oct. 18, 1989. Only a trace amount was reported.
The county was dry in November as it slipped into the early stages of a drought. Only 1.90 inch of rain was reported. The was also, however, .12 inch of snowfall reported on the 12th. The temperature never rose above freezing that day. 
November started out with temperatures in the 70s before cooling off enough to permit the first snowfall of the season.
The average daytime high in November was almost 53.6 degrees. The warmest temperature of the month was 77, reported Nov. 4. It was the last of four days with high in the 70s.
Most highs during the month were either in the 50s or the 30s, with the mercury failing to rise above freezing on the 12th and the 18th. The hottest November temperature on record is 84, set Nov. 1, 1950.
The average November low was about 33.1. The coldest temperature of the month was 14 on Nov. 19.
Most lows were in the 40s or the 20s this year, with 16 nights at freezing or below. There were two nights were the mercury dropped into the teens.
The coldest November temperature is 2 above zero, reported Nov. 13, 2019. That frosty temperature broke the record of 3 above set the previous night.
The preliminary statewide average December temperature was 29.4 degrees, .6 degrees below the 1991–2020 average and the 61st coldest on record going back to 1895, Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford said.
The preliminary statewide average total December precipitation was 2.62 inches, .21 inches above average and 43rd wettest on record statewide.
Statewide, the average December 2021 temperature was 39.4 degrees, 9.6 degrees above normal for the month.
Precipitation averaged 2.70 inches, .2 inches above normal.
The statewide average November temperature was 42.3 degrees, .6 degrees above average. Statewide average precipitation was 1.92 inches, 1.40 inches below average.