December Weather Report -- sunny, windy, and cool

December was sunny, windy, and cool. The trade winds blew almost constantly from the east-northeast, the maximum gust reaching 25 miles per hour. I don't keep statistics on sunshine, but it was the sunniest month I can remember since arriving here in July 2009. Despite the sunshine, spray-rain lashed us frequently, creating rainbows in the west in the mornings and in the east during the afternoons.

Rainfall came to 6.2 inches. We had 19 days with no measurable rainfall. The sun and high winds dessicated the soil rapidly and I had to water the vegetable garden many times. I put up a windbreak on the east side of the vegetable garden at the beginning of the month and added a second one in the middle of the garden on Christmas eve. A two-year-old cypress tree snapped off in the wind and I had to stake several small trees.

A blue-gray tanager that crashed into one of our windows. After nursing it back to health, we released it.

The average high was 74.4 degrees, the lowest this year, and down 2.2 degrees from November. The average low was 59.7, a little cooler than normal here.

Happy gardening!