December Weather in Zion National Park Utah, United States

Daily high temperatures decrease by 5°F, from 54°F to 49°F, rarely falling below 39°F or exceeding 63°F. The lowest daily average high temperature is 49°F on December 24.

Daily low temperatures decrease by 4°F, from 32°F to 29°F, rarely falling below 18°F or exceeding 41°F.

For reference, on July 11, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Zion National Park typically range from 69°F to 98°F, while on January 5, the coldest day of the year, they range from 28°F to 49°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.

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The month of December in Zion National Park experiences essentially constant cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy remaining about 39% throughout the month.

The clearest day of the month is December 1, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 63% of the time.

For reference, on February 13, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 44%, while on September 19, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 85%.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Zion National Park, the chance of a wet day over the course of December is increasing, starting the month at 9% and ending it at 13%.

For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 18% on August 10, and its lowest chance is 4% on June 18.

Over the course of December in Zion National Park, the chance of a day with only rain increases from 8% to 11%, the chance of a day with mixed snow and rain remains an essentially constant 1% throughout, and the chance of a day with only snow remains an essentially constant 0% throughout.

Rainfall

To show variation within the month and not just the monthly total, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day.

The average sliding 31-day rainfall during December in Zion National Park is essentially constant, remaining about 0.8 inches throughout, and rarely exceeding 2.4 inches.

Over the course of December in Zion National Park, the length of the day is essentially constant. The shortest day of the month is December 21, with 9 hours, 36 minutes of daylight and the longest day is December 1, with 9 hours, 46 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise of the month in Zion National Park is 7:28 AM on December 1 and the latest sunrise is 18 minutes later at 7:46 AM on December 31.

The earliest sunset is 5:14 PM on December 5 and the latest sunset is 11 minutes later at 5:24 PM on December 31.

Daylight saving time is observed in Zion National Park 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 6:11 AM and sets 14 hours, 44 minutes later, at 8:55 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 7:42 AM and sets 9 hours, 36 minutes later, at 5:18 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 Zion National Park is essentially constant during December, remaining around 0% throughout.

For reference, on July 23, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time, while on January 1, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time.

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 Zion National Park is essentially constant during December, remaining within 0.1 miles per hour of 7.9 miles per hour throughout.

For reference, on April 10, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 9.1 miles per hour, while on August 2, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 6.4 miles per hour.

The hourly average wind direction in Zion National Park throughout December is predominantly from the east, with a peak proportion of 39% on December 19.

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 Zion National Park typically lasts for 7.4 months (226 days), from around March 27 to around November 8, rarely starting before March 1 or after April 17, and rarely ending before October 20 or after November 26.

The month of December in Zion National Park is very likely fully outside of the growing season, with the chance that a given day is in the growing season reaching a low of -0% on December 22.

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 Zion National Park are essentially constant during December, remaining within 9°F of 4,675°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 Zion National Park is essentially constant during December, remaining within 0.1 kWh of 2.8 kWh throughout.

The lowest average daily incident shortwave solar energy during December is 2.7 kWh on December 21.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Zion National Park are 37.298 deg latitude, -113.026 deg longitude, and 0 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Zion National Park is essentially flat, with a maximum elevation change of 0 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 0 feet. Within 10 miles is also essentially flat (0 feet). Within 50 miles is also essentially flat (0 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Zion National Park is covered by shrubs (85%) and grassland (11%), within 10 miles by shrubs (68%) and trees (28%), and within 50 miles by shrubs (76%) and trees (19%).