SNOW, SLEET FIZZLE OUT OVER REGION; UP AND DOWN TEMPERATURES TYPICAL DURING DECEMBER

One minute it was sleeting, the next snowing, and the next raining. Then it changed back to snow.

At least it seemed that way to Don Semancik of Midwest Weather Inc., as he observed Thursday morning's rapidly changing precipitation.

Motorists slid on slick roads in Cape Girardeau after less than a quarter of an inch of sleet mixed with rain and snow fell early Thursday. Police said the roads didn't cause any accidents, however.

Later in the morning snow fell. At first it came quickly, but it didn't accumulate.

Winter began quietly without much notice Sunday. Christmas came and went Wednesday without a bit of snow. And temperatures have seesawed over the last month.

But the weather hasn't been bizarre to Dr. Al Robertson, a climatologist at Southeast Missouri State University. "This time of year you can get most anything," Robertson said.

The sleet was caused by a combination of moist air over colder air, he said. The precipitation, often in the form of snow, freezes as it descends through the colder air, he said, forming ice pellets.

Temperatures have been only slightly above normal, Robertson said.

Thursday's changing precipitation is typical of December's weather. Fluctuating temperatures are normal for December, Semancik said. But with the coming of the new year, consistently colder conditions can be expected.

"Usually in December the warm and cold fronts move around a lot quicker, and that causes the temperatures to change faster," said Semancik.

This December was no exception. On Dec. 11, it was a record-setting 72 degrees. Temperatures dipped to below freezing the very next week.

"It does seesaw quite a bit," Semancik said. "But once you get past the first of the year, you begin to stable out with lower temperatures in January and February."

Semancik remembers one record-breaking Christmas when it was 74 degrees. That night a cold front moved in, pushing the temperature to below freezing.

"It can change just like that," he said.

He said there has been less snow this December than might be expected. Last December precipitation totaled 6.77 inches. This month there has been 2.1 inches of precipitation.

"We've had a few spits, but nothing like I've seen in the past," he said.

The National Weather Service is calling for a cloudy day today with temperatures to reach 55 degrees.