December Weather in Detroit Michigan, United StatesDaily high temperatures decrease by 8°F, from 41°F to 34°F, rarely falling below 20°F or exceeding 55°F. Daily low temperatures decrease by 8°F, from 31°F to 23°F, rarely falling below 8°F or exceeding 42°F. For reference, on July 18, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Detroit typically range from 67°F to 83°F, while on January 29, the coldest day of the year, they range from 20°F to 31°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. Odessa, Ukraine (5,088 miles away); Damāvand, Iran (6,353 miles); and Kakunodatemachi, Japan (6,159 miles) are the far-away foreign places with temperatures most similar to Detroit (view comparison). CloudsThe month of December in Detroit experiences gradually increasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy increasing from 57% to 63%. The clearest day of the month is December 1, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 43% of the time. For reference, on January 10, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 63%, while on August 9, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 68%. PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Detroit, the chance of a wet day over the course of December is essentially constant, remaining around 22% throughout. For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 36% on June 12, and its lowest chance is 16% on February 3. Over the course of December in Detroit, the chance of a day with only rain decreases from 18% to 12%, the chance of a day with mixed snow and rain remains an essentially constant 3% throughout, and the chance of a day with only snow increases from 2% to 7%. RainfallTo 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 Detroit is decreasing, starting the month at 1.6 inches, when it rarely exceeds 2.9 inches or falls below 0.6 inches, and ending the month at 1.0 inches, when it rarely exceeds 2.1 inches or falls below 0.1 inches. SnowfallAs 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 Detroit is increasing, starting the month at 1.7 inches, when it rarely exceeds 4.6 inches or falls below -0.0 inches, and ending the month at 4.3 inches, when it rarely exceeds 9.0 inches or falls below 0.3 inches. SunOver the course of December in Detroit, the length of the day is essentially constant. The shortest day of the month is December 21, with 9 hours, 5 minutes of daylight and the longest day is December 1, with 9 hours, 18 minutes of daylight. The earliest sunrise of the month in Detroit is 7:42 AM on December 1 and the latest sunrise is 19 minutes later at 8:01 AM on December 31. The earliest sunset is 4:59 PM on December 7 and the latest sunset is 10 minutes later at 5:09 PM on December 31. Daylight saving time is observed in Detroit during 2024, but it neither starts nor ends during December, so the entire month is in standard time. For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 5:55 AM and sets 15 hours, 17 minutes later, at 9:12 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 7:58 AM and sets 9 hours, 5 minutes later, at 5:02 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. MoonThe 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.
HumidityWe 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 Detroit is essentially constant during December, remaining around 0% throughout. For reference, on July 31, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 37% of the time, while on November 15, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time. WindThis 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 Detroit is essentially constant during December, remaining within 0.3 miles per hour of 13.2 miles per hour throughout. For reference, on January 12, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 13.6 miles per hour, while on August 3, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 8.1 miles per hour. The hourly average wind direction in Detroit throughout December is predominantly from the west, with a peak proportion of 48% on December 12. Water TemperatureDetroit 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 Detroit is decreasing during December, falling by 7°F, from 43°F to 37°F, over the course of the month. Growing SeasonDefinitions 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 Detroit typically lasts for 6.6 months (200 days), from around April 14 to around November 1, rarely starting before March 30 or after April 30, and rarely ending before October 13 or after November 19. The month of December in Detroit 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 Detroit are essentially constant during December, remaining within 4°F of 3,152°F throughout. Solar EnergyThis 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 Detroit is essentially constant during December, remaining within 0.1 kWh of 1.5 kWh throughout. The lowest average daily incident shortwave solar energy during December is 1.5 kWh on December 19. TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Detroit are 42.331 deg latitude, -83.046 deg longitude, and 597 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of Detroit is essentially flat, with a maximum elevation change of 62 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 596 feet. Within 10 miles is essentially flat (105 feet). Within 50 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (797 feet). The area within 2 miles of Detroit is covered by artificial surfaces (83%) and water (15%), within 10 miles by artificial surfaces (69%), and within 50 miles by cropland (32%) and water (26%). Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather in Detroit, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. Temperature and Dew PointThere are 4 weather stations near enough to contribute to our estimation of the temperature and dew point in Detroit. For each station, the records are corrected for the elevation difference between that station and Detroit according to the International Standard Atmosphere , and by the relative change present in the MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis between the two locations. The estimated value at Detroit is computed as the weighted average of the individual contributions from each station, with weights proportional to the inverse of the distance between Detroit and a given station. The stations contributing to this reconstruction are:
To get a sense of how much these sources agree with each other, you can view a comparison of Detroit and the stations that contribute to our estimates of its temperature history and climate. Please note that each source's contribution is adjusted for elevation and the relative change present in the MERRA-2 data. Other DataAll data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Algorithms 2nd Edition , by Jean Meeus. All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid. Land Use data comes from the Global Land Cover SHARE database , published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database . Time zones for airports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com . Maps are © OpenStreetMap contributors. DisclaimerThe information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site. We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands. We further caution that our travel scores are only as good as the data that underpin them, that weather conditions at any given location and time are unpredictable and variable, and that the definition of the scores reflects a particular set of preferences that may not agree with those of any particular reader. Please review our full terms contained on our Terms of Service page. |