2017 year in review: Top 10 warmest

With the close of 2017, it’s time to look at just what extremes we experienced during one of the warmest years on record for Columbia. Record keeping for Columbia began back in 1889 and since then records have been broken on both ends of the spectrum.

Despite the brutally cold end to 2017, the year closes as the 6th warmest year ever recorded and only 1.7 degrees cooler than the warmest year set back in 2012. Despite the Arctic blast to close out December, the month was still slightly warmer than seasonal averages. A trend that held steady through most of the year, excluding August which was unseasonably cool for a good portion of the nation.

It was also a dry end to the year, as Mid-Missouri closed out the year with a 8.23 inch deficit since the start of June. This came following record breaking flooding across parts of Missouri during the spring. At 37.63 inches, 2017 was the driest year in Mid-Missouri since 2012.

Some notable extremes and records did occur this year and they are as follows:

– 2017 saw 254 days of high temperatures greater than or equal to 60 degrees, a first for Mid-Missouri.

– 2017 saw 80 days of low temperatures less than or equal to 32 degrees, this ties for 4th.

– At 2.3 inches of snow, it was the least snowiest ever recorded in a year.

– With only 4 days of measurable snowfall, 2017 ties for 2nd least snowiest days.

Stay with ABC 17 Stormtrack as we head through 2018 and follow us on Twitter @ABC17Stormtrack.