December Weather in Rankin Inlet Canada

Daily high temperatures decrease by 12°F, from -1°F to -12°F, rarely falling below -31°F or exceeding 20°F.

Daily low temperatures decrease by 12°F, from -13°F to -25°F, rarely falling below -38°F or exceeding 6°F.

For reference, on July 28, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Rankin Inlet typically range from 46°F to 60°F, while on January 26, the coldest day of the year, they range from -28°F to -16°F.

The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average temperatures for the quarter of the year centered on December. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day.

Kayyerkan, Russia (3,307 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Rankin Inlet (view comparison).

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The month of December in Rankin Inlet experiences essentially constant cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy remaining about 90% throughout the month.

The clearest day of the month is December 1, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 12% of the time.

For reference, on February 11, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 93%, while on July 29, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 45%.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Rankin Inlet, the chance of a wet day over the course of December is decreasing, starting the month at 9% and ending it at 5%.

For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 27% on August 27, and its lowest chance is 4% on January 16.

Snowfall

As with rainfall, we consider the snowfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day.

The average sliding 31-day snowfall during December in Rankin Inlet is decreasing, starting the month at 4.7 inches, when it rarely exceeds 10.6 inches or falls below 0.4 inches, and ending the month at 2.2 inches, when it rarely exceeds 5.4 inches or falls below 0.1 inches.

Over the course of December in Rankin Inlet, the length of the day is decreasing. From the start to the end of the month, the length of the day decreases by 30 minutes, implying an average daily decrease of 1 minute, 1 second, and weekly decrease of 7 minutes, 4 seconds.

The shortest day of the month is December 21, with 4 hours, 48 minutes of daylight and the longest day is December 1, with 5 hours, 31 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise of the month in Rankin Inlet is 9:11 AM on December 1 and the latest sunrise is 32 minutes later at 9:43 AM on December 25.

The latest sunset is 2:42 PM on December 1 and the earliest sunset is 13 minutes earlier at 2:29 PM on December 17.

Daylight saving time is observed in Rankin Inlet during 2024, but it neither starts nor ends during December, so the entire month is in daylight saving time.

For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 3:04 AM and sets 20 hours, 12 minutes later, at 11:16 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 9:42 AM and sets 4 hours, 48 minutes later, at 2:30 PM.

The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation.

The figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for December 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon.

We base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night.

The chance that a given day will be muggy in Rankin Inlet is essentially constant during December, remaining around 0% throughout.

This section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages.

The average hourly wind speed in Rankin Inlet is gradually decreasing during December, decreasing from 14.0 miles per hour to 13.3 miles per hour over the course of the month.

For reference, on October 5, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 14.2 miles per hour, while on July 12, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 10.1 miles per hour.

The lowest daily average wind speed during December is 13.3 miles per hour on December 27.

The hourly average wind direction in Rankin Inlet throughout December is predominantly from the north, with a peak proportion of 51% on December 31.

Rankin Inlet is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). This section reports on the wide-area average surface temperature of that water.

The average surface water temperature in Rankin Inlet is essentially constant during December, remaining around 30°F throughout.

Definitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere).

The growing season in Rankin Inlet typically lasts for 3.1 months (95 days), from around June 13 to around September 17, rarely starting before May 30 or after June 28, and rarely ending before September 1 or after October 2.

The month of December in Rankin Inlet is reliably fully outside of the growing season.

Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F.

The average accumulated growing degree days in Rankin Inlet are essentially constant during December, remaining around 204°F throughout.

This section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation.

The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Rankin Inlet is essentially constant during December, remaining around 0.1 kWh throughout.

The lowest average daily incident shortwave solar energy during December is 0.1 kWh on December 20.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Rankin Inlet are 62.809 deg latitude, -92.085 deg longitude, and 69 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Rankin Inlet contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 151 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 19 feet. Within 10 miles also contains only modest variations in elevation (328 feet). Within 50 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (1,086 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Rankin Inlet is covered by water (61%), sparse vegetation (18%), and bare soil (14%), within 10 miles by water (58%) and sparse vegetation (22%), and within 50 miles by water (41%) and sparse vegetation (30%).