2025 December - Tennessee Monthly Climate Report

Authors

Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Description

Hi All,

December was defined by quite a bit of temperature variability (though the temperature swings resulted in near-normal monthly averages) and an overall dry pattern.

The month started out cooler than normal, with a slight moderation in the second week of the month, before a strong cold front sent temperatures tumbling into the teens or single-digits and wind chills into the single digits or below zero on December 14 and 15 - with many locations stuck in the 20’s or even teens for high temperatures. Following this cold weather, temperatures quickly rebounded into the normal and then well above normal range the following week, with temperatures the week of Christmas averaging over 20°F above normal for many parts of the state. Another strong cold front swept across Tennessee in the final days of the month, with high winds that guested to over 50mph in parts of the state, and temperatures that dropped 25-40 degrees over a 24-hour period from December 28 to December 29.

December 2025 was much drier than normal, continuing a dry pattern of the past few months for several areas of the state. Most areas recorded less than half of their normal December precipitation totals. Northern Middle Tennessee and the northeast corner of the state saw the closest to normal precipitation, though the majority of these areas were still below normal. Given the dry conditions this month, and for the previous few months in portions of the state, drought and abnormally dry conditions expanded statewide. On the last US Drought Monitor map from December there was an area of Severe Drought (D2) in southeast Tennessee, and a large area of Moderate Drought (D1) across the state. Drought has expanded further over the first two weeks of January though many areas received some relief this weekend.

For more information check out the full monthly summary AND the second edition of our monthly summary infographic. If you have not already, we'd love to hear your feedback regarding the new infographic (Infographic Survey). Initial survey responses have been positive so we plan on continuing to create these each month, though we may test a few different versions before settling on a standard layout. We hope you all are having a great start to the new year!

Andrew & Will

Tennessee Climate Office

East Tennessee State University

Department of Geosciences

Publication Date

12-2025

Recommended Citation

Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University, "2025 December - Tennessee Monthly Climate Report" (2025). Tennessee Climate Office Annual and Monthly Reports. 105.
https://dc.etsu.edu/tn-climate-monthly-reports/105