This past December was the second-warmest on record in Syracuse.

To say it was an unseasonably warm finish to 2021 is an understatement.

When you average out the high and low temperatures from December, you get the mean temperature for the month. In Syracuse, this figure comes to 38 degrees.

The average mean temperature for December here in the Salt City is 30.4 degrees. That put December 2021 at 7.6 degrees above average.

So, how did we get there?

In terms of high temperatures, we spent two days in the 60s, six days in the 50s and 11 days in the 40s.

Remarkably, there was not a single day when the high was below freezing.

As far as low temperatures are concerned, while we spent plenty of nights in the 20s and 30s, our coldest low for the month was only 20 degrees.

Our warmest low occurred on the 16th, and that was an astounding 51 degrees.

Only one other year recorded a warmer December overall, and that was in 2015.

In fact, six of the top ten warmest Decembers on record here have happened just since 2000.

In addition to the mild weather, we have obviously not seen a ton of snow, either.

Only 9.5 inches of snow fell this past December in Syracuse, which was 21.1 inches below average.

Only four days featured at least an inch of new snow accumulation.

As you probably know, it wasn't just an unusually mild finish to the year, but the entirety of 2021 was rather warm overall.

The mean temperature when looking at all of last year comes out to 52 degrees.

Only one other year has seen a warmer mean temperature, and that was 2012.

Five of the 10 warmest years on record in Syracuse have happened since 2000.

Given these trends, it is clear that climate change is playing a role in fueling warmer months and even years.

As we make our way through a new year, we will probably continue to watch old records fall and climb the charts of warmth even more.