Climate averages 1991–2020
Independence weather
in December.
A cold, moderately wet month: the 11th warmest and the 2nd driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
December is a cold month in Independence: daytime highs average 4.9°C and nights cool to about -3.0°C. By daytime temperature it is the 11th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 46 mm of rain on roughly 6 days, which makes December a moderately wet month (the 2nd driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 9 h 29 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Kansas City (14 km away). In December its highs average 5.2°C, about as warm as Independence, with 46 mm of rain.
Among the 498 cities listed in the United States, Independence ranks joint 364th of 498 for the warmest December highs and joint 108th of 498 for the driest December (rainfall, lowest first). The mean December high of those 498 cities is 10.5°C; Independence is 5.6°C cooler than that mean.
From December to January, average highs fall by 2.0°C to 2.9°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 46 mm to 37 mm.
The annual picture
December in context
Monthly rainfall
Average total · mmAverages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated
Every month, side by side
Independence climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2.9°C-5.7°C | -5.7°C | 37 | 5.9 | 9.810 h |
| February | 5.7°C-3.7°C | -3.7°C | 50 | 6.1 | 10.711 h |
| March | 11.8°C1.7°C | 1.7°C | 78 | 9.3 | 11.912 h |
| April | 17.5°C7.5°C | 7.5°C | 124 | 11.2 | 13.213 h |
| May | 22.9°C13.6°C | 13.6°C | 143 | 12.9 | 14.314 h |
| June | 28.1°C19.0°C | 19.0°C | 124 | 11.7 | 14.915 h |
| July | 30.4°C21.5°C | 21.5°C | 94 | 9.3 | 14.615 h |
| August | 29.6°C20.7°C | 20.7°C | 94 | 9.0 | 13.714 h |
| September | 25.2°C16.1°C | 16.1°C | 93 | 8.1 | 12.512 h |
| October | 18.3°C9.6°C | 9.6°C | 85 | 8.1 | 11.211 h |
| November | 10.9°C2.8°C | 2.8°C | 61 | 6.7 | 10.110 h |
| December, selected | 4.9°C-3.0°C | -3.0°C | 46 | 5.8 | 9.59 h |
Rainfall is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A rain day is a local calendar day with at least 1 mm of precipitation. Daylight is the calculated sunrise-to-sunset length, not measured sunshine.
Compare places
December in nearby cities
- Kansas City in DecemberUnited States · 14 kmHigh 5.2°C · Low -3.0°C · 46 mm rain
- Lee's Summit in DecemberUnited States · 20 kmHigh 5.4°C · Low -2.7°C · 46 mm rain
- Overland Park in DecemberUnited States · 25 kmHigh 5.1°C · Low -2.8°C · 45 mm rain
- Olathe in DecemberUnited States · 42 kmHigh 5.4°C · Low -2.7°C · 45 mm rain
- Lawrence (Kansas), United States in DecemberUnited States · 72 kmHigh 5.5°C · Low -2.8°C · 44 mm rain
- Saint Joseph in DecemberUnited States · 84 kmHigh 4.4°C · Low -4.0°C · 45 mm rain
- Topeka in DecemberUnited States · 109 kmHigh 5.6°C · Low -3.0°C · 41 mm rain
- Columbia (Missouri), United States in DecemberUnited States · 180 kmHigh 5.8°C · Low -2.0°C · 59 mm rain
Read the numbers correctly
Climate, not a promise.
These patterns help compare months. They cannot tell you the weather on a specific day of your trip.
Sources, method and limitsHow these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Independence) is explained once on the Independence year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.
Kansas City and Lee's Summit lie in the same rainfall cell, so their rainfall figures are identical to these; temperatures differ because they come from smaller 0.1° cells.