THUNDER BAY -- Environment Canada reports that a plunge in temperatures toward the end of the month more than countered a mild start to December in Thunder Bay.
The end result was a colder-than-average December overall.
Meteorologist Jeff Coulson has crunched the numbers and found that the average temperature was -13.6 C, a full two degrees colder than usual.
"It could have been even more than that...Since Christmas Eve, the bottom really dropped out of the temperature to finish off the month," Coulson said.
He noted that December began with an unusually mild spell.
"We had a number of days where the temperature came in above the freezing mark."
The higher temperatures that marked the start of the month also accounted for December registering more rainfall than normal and less snowfall.
Environment Canada recorded 23 millimetres of rain, far higher than the long-term average of less than 4 millimetres for the month.
The total snowfall of 35 centimetres was 9 centimetres less than normal.
