NWS Little Rock, AR - December, 2023 Monthly Summary

Some extremes were seen during the month of December across Arkansas, mainly in the form of temperatures. Little if any severe weather or widespread heavy rain were seen and other than some brief, light snowflakes across NW Arkansas there wasn't any winter weather. In terms of temperatures, there were some cold readings that set a few records but December heat was more noteworthy. Around December 6-8, several sites climbed into the lower to mid 80s which set daily high temperature records. Some of these daily high temperature records approached all time monthly record high levels as well. 

With that level of warmth noted in December and a strong upper level storm system approaching from the west, there was some potential for severe weather on the 8th and 9th. A few storms became severe across the state, but more widespread severe weather (including tornadoes) occurred to the east of the state. 

Fairly benign weather conditions were seen for a couple weeks after, including persistent above normal temperatures and little to no rainfall. A cold front moved across the state from the 24th into the 25th which brought some widespread rainfall, locally heavy across portions of western and central Arkansas. Also, much cooler air moved in behind the front which provided cooler temperatures for Christmas and several days after.   

After a fairly quiet, warm start to the month it looked like things would become more active on December 8th and 9th. With a warm, moist airmass in place and a strong storm system and associated cold front approaching from the west it looked like severe weather would be possible across the state. Along and just ahead of the front thunderstorms developed and moved eastward from the late evening hours of the 8th through the afternoon hours of the 9th. Cold air moved in behind the front with temperatures ranging from the 50s across N/NW Arkansas during the afternoon of the 9th while temperatures across S/SE Arkansas were in the 70s and 80s. 

While there were a few strong to severe thunderstorms that developed across Arkansas, things were much worse to the east. Several damaging tornadoes occurred across parts of Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi which led to a few fatalities. 

After the close call on December 9th, conditions were fairly quiet across the state through much of the rest of the month. Temperatures were typically above normal and there was little to no rainfall through December 24th. On the 24th a cold front approached the state and widespread rain was seen through early on the 25th. Some locations from western to central Arkansas picked up between 1-2 inches of rainfall while many other areas saw little in the way of rain. Cooler air followed the front and temperatures were closer to near or below normal values through the end of the month. 

As a slow moving upper level storm system meandered across the middle of the country before moving through the Ohio/Tennessee Valleys on its way toward the Southeast US, some light precipitation developed across northern into eastern parts of the state. From December 26th through 29th some light rain and snow was seen at times with the most widespread light snow observed early on the 29th. Other than a dusting of snow in a few spots between Mountain Home and Batesville, there wasn't really any accumulation.  

What is likely the biggest item of note for December, 2023 was how dry things were in some parts of the state. Drought conditions persisted across much of central, eastern and southern Arkansas. Near the Mississippi River from West Helena to Arkansas City, D4 drought conditions persisted at the end of the month. Area farmers and hunters continued to comment on how dry parts of E/SE Arkansas were, in some cases the driest they could recall. For the November-December timeframe, rainfall totals across southeast Arkansas were in the top 3 driest on record. Records for some of these sites go back as far as the 1870s.