Even accounting for the recent trend of experiencing warmer Decembers, this past December 2025 was warm and in fact, warmer than ever before.
Here are the figures. Particularly noticeable is the average daily low for the month — at 11 degrees when the normal low for the month is 0.8 degrees. The typical high reading for December is 35.4 degrees.
- Average daily high temperature: 47.7 degrees.
- Six days that saw a new record high temperature, including 61 degrees on Christmas Day.
- Sixteen days at 50 degrees or above.
- 28 days with above normal temperatures.
- Precipitation: 0.15 – 0.19 below normal.
Here are the years this century when the average daily high temperature exceeded 40 degrees in the month of December. Only in 2023 has the daily high stayed under 40 degrees in the past five Decembers.
- 2000 – 40.3 degrees
- 2005 – 41.7 degrees
- 2010 – 44.7 degrees
- 2017 – 47.0 degrees
- 2021 – 45.6 degrees
- 2022 – 42.3 degrees
- *2023 – 38.8 degrees
- 2024 – 45.4 degrees
- 2025 – 47.7 degrees
Now let’s take a look at the rarity of seeing double-digit overnight low temperatures in December when the low for the month is typically 0.8 degrees. In December 2025, the average daily low for the month registered at 11 degrees. In 2020, the daily low came in at 11.4 degrees. Those are the only two Decembers this century when the low temperature stayed in the double digits.
What does it mean? For one, the ground isn’t nearly as frozen for the month of January and gives reason to believe those spring gardens will come to life sooner than normal.
January 2026 opened with a 58-degree high reading on Jan. 4 to shatter the previous high for the date of 52 degrees established in 1946. Keep in mind it snowed on Easter weekend a year ago. The way this winter is shaping up, snow in the spring may be the San Luis Valley’s best bet for moisture.