2019 gave Bloomington its warmest Christmas Day in more than a century
Based on the data now logged in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Applied Climate Information System (ACIS), 2019 delivered the warmest Christmas Day on record in Bloomington, Indiana.
The temperature hit 65 Fahrenheit degrees this year, which was one degree higher than the previous Christmas Day mark, set in 1982. It’s about 26 degrees warmer than the average high temperature for Christmas Day in Bloomington for the “period of record.”
Christmas Day records for the weather station located on the Indiana University campus go back to 1896. The high temperature for Christmas Day that year was 38 Fahrenheit degrees, right about average for all the Christmas Day highs on record. The low temperature that year was 28 F.
Three years ago, in 2016, the high temperature on Christmas Day was just a couple degrees cooler than this year. The high temperature for Christmas Day 2016 was 63 F.
Keeping track of high temperatures for calendar dates using data from ACIS reported from the IU weather station is a little tricky. The 24-hour day for the IU campus weather station starts and ends at 7 a.m.
So for any date, the maximum temperature is for the 24 hours ending at 7 a.m. on that date. For example, the high temperature of 59 F reported in the database for Dec. 25 covers the period from 7 a.m. on Dec. 24 through 7 a.m. on Dec. 25. That wouldn’t correspond to “Christmas Day” for most most purposes. So the “record” of 65 F for Christmas Day is based on Dec. 26 numbers.
The lowest Christmas Day high temperature came in 1983. The temperature peaked at 2 F degrees that year.
Here’s a chart of the distribution of temperatures for Christmas Day in Bloomington:
Here’s the data series corresponding to Christmas Day from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Applied Climate Information System (ACIS) for the Indiana University, Bloomington, weather station, sorted by “Max Temperature.”
|
Date
|
Max Temperature
|
Min Temperature
|
Precipitation
|
Snowfall
|
Snow Depth
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-12-26 | 65 | 34 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1982-12-26 | 64 | 37 | 1.05 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 2016-12-26 | 63 | 36 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1905-12-26 | 63 | 30 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1942-12-26 | 62 | 40 | 0.04 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1904-12-26 | 62 | 36 | 0.50 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1940-12-26 | 60 | 44 | 0.12 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1973-12-26 | 59 | 31 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1971-12-26 | 59 | 37 | T | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1936-12-26 | 59 | 40 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1922-12-26 | 59 | 32 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1959-12-26 | 55 | 50 | 0.05 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1955-12-26 | 55 | 31 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1954-12-26 | 55 | 29 | 0.00 | M | M |
| 1916-12-26 | 54 | 18 | T | 0.0 | 3 |
| 2015-12-26 | 53 | 42 | T | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1928-12-26 | 52 | 20 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1911-12-26 | 52 | M | 0.05 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1949-12-26 | 51 | 42 | 0.52 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1957-12-26 | 50 | 33 | 0.45 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1929-12-26 | 50 | 20 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 2009-12-26 | 49 | 26 | 0.11 | 0.3 | T |
| 1961-12-26 | 49 | 24 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1946-12-26 | 49 | 34 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 2011-12-26 | 48 | 27 | 0.00 | M | M |
| 1994-12-26 | 48 | 25 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1960-12-26 | 48 | 31 | 0.00 | 0.0 | T |
| 2007-12-26 | 46 | 25 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1991-12-26 | 46 | 26 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 2018-12-26 | 45 | 27 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1963-12-26 | 45 | 32 | 0.00 | 0.0 | M |
| 1941-12-26 | 45 | 37 | 0.37 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1932-12-26 | 45 | 30 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1923-12-26 | 45 | 32 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1976-12-26 | 44 | 23 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1931-12-26 | 44 | 30 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1979-12-26 | 43 | 31 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1958-12-26 | 43 | 18 | M | M | M |
| 1951-12-26 | 43 | 10 | 0.00 | 0.0 | M |
| 1937-12-26 | 43 | 23 | 0.30 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1915-12-26 | 43 | 22 | T | T | T |
| 1912-12-26 | 43 | 24 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 2014-12-26 | 42 | 34 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1908-12-26 | 42 | 26 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 2005-12-26 | 41 | 32 | 0.88 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1981-12-26 | 41 | 23 | 0.00 | M | M |
| 1943-12-26 | 41 | 34 | 0.40 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1934-12-26 | 41 | 15 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1901-12-26 | 41 | 32 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1900-12-26 | 41 | 18 | T | T | M |
| 1897-12-26 | 41 | 19 | M | 0.0 | M |
| 1968-12-26 | 40 | 20 | 0.01 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1927-12-26 | 40 | 18 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1988-12-26 | 39 | 26 | M | M | M |
| 1972-12-26 | 39 | 31 | 0.05 | 0.5 | 0 |
| 1964-12-26 | 39 | 27 | 0.02 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1939-12-26 | 39 | 18 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1899-12-26 | 39 | 10 | 0.00 | 0.0 | M |
| 2006-12-26 | 38 | 32 | 0.70 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1987-12-26 | 38 | 35 | 0.94 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1978-12-26 | 38 | 22 | 0.00 | M | M |
| 1965-12-26 | 38 | 18 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1953-12-26 | 38 | 28 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1906-12-26 | 38 | 11 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1896-12-26 | 38 | 28 | 0.00 | M | M |
| 2003-12-26 | 37 | 23 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1997-12-26 | 37 | 30 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1938-12-26 | 37 | 25 | 0.36 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1910-12-26 | 37 | 5 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 3 |
| 1992-12-26 | 36 | 14 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1986-12-26 | 36 | 27 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1970-12-26 | 36 | 11 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1947-12-26 | 36 | 22 | 0.02 | 0.2 | M |
| 1933-12-26 | 36 | 15 | 0.20 | 2.1 | 0 |
| 1898-12-26 | 36 | 28 | 0.00 | 0.0 | M |
| 1975-12-26 | 35 | 23 | 1.09 | T | 0 |
| 1930-12-26 | 35 | 20 | 0.40 | 4.0 | 4 |
| 1919-12-26 | 35 | 23 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1962-12-26 | 34 | 12 | T | T | 0 |
| 2008-12-26 | 33 | 15 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1989-12-26 | 33 | 15 | 0.03 | 0.0 | M |
| 1966-12-26 | 33 | 17 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1952-12-26 | 33 | 23 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1921-12-26 | 33 | 24 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1920-12-26 | 33 | 20 | 0.66 | 4.0 | 4 |
| 2012-12-26 | 32 | 28 | 0.22 | 2.5 | 3 |
| 1998-12-26 | 32 | 14 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1980-12-26 | 32 | 1 | 0.00 | M | M |
| 1945-12-26 | 32 | 26 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1913-12-26 | 32 | 29 | 0.10 | 1.0 | 1 |
| 2013-12-26 | 31 | 21 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1999-12-26 | 31 | 6 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1969-12-26 | 31 | 22 | T | M | M |
| 1917-12-26 | 31 | 14 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 2010-12-26 | 30 | 18 | 0.01 | T | 3 |
| 1990-12-26 | 30 | 9 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1984-12-26 | 30 | 8 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1944-12-26 | 29 | 4 | 0.17 | 0.5 | 0 |
| 2002-12-26 | 28 | 20 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 4 |
| 1950-12-26 | 28 | 5 | T | 0.0 | 1 |
| 2001-12-26 | 27 | 16 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1996-12-26 | 27 | 14 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1995-12-26 | 27 | 14 | 0.00 | T | 1 |
| 1993-12-26 | 27 | 12 | 0.12 | 1.5 | 3 |
| 1926-12-26 | 27 | 19 | 0.04 | 1.5 | 2 |
| 1924-12-26 | 27 | -7 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 2 |
| 1948-12-26 | 26 | 8 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1918-12-26 | 26 | 15 | T | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1974-12-26 | 25 | 19 | 0.00 | M | M |
| 1909-12-26 | 25 | 8 | 0.25 | 2.5 | 6 |
| 2017-12-26 | 24 | 15 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 1 |
| 1902-12-26 | 24 | 5 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1925-12-26 | 23 | 5 | T | T | 1 |
| 2004-12-26 | 22 | 3 | 0.01 | 0.5 | 12 |
| 1914-12-26 | 22 | -2 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 5 |
| 1903-12-26 | 22 | -1 | 0.10 | 1.0 | 1 |
| 2000-12-26 | 21 | -4 | M | 3.0 | M |
| 1977-12-26 | 20 | 5 | 0.00 | M | M |
| 1935-12-26 | 16 | -0 | T | T | 5 |
| 1985-12-26 | 12 | -1 | T | T | 0 |
| 1983-12-26 | 2 | -11 | 0.00 | 0.0 | M |
| 1967-12-26 | M | 12 | 0.01 | M | M |
| 1956-12-26 | M | M | M | M | M |
| 1907-12-26 | M | 32 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1895-12-26 | M | M | 0.00 | 0.0 | 4 |
