...1755... The "snow campaign" in the Carolinas and Georgia was marked by a 24 inch snowfall at the American camp at Reedy River, North Carolina.

...1811... A cold storm hit Long Island sound with a foot of snow, gale force winds, and temperatures near zero. During the storm many ships were wrecked, and in some cases entire crews perished.

...1896... Newport, Rhode Island received 6.2 inches of snow on this day, setting the record high for the date.

...1955... The barometric pressure dipped to 28.97 inches (981 millibars) at Boise ID, an all-time record for that location.

...1982... A major winter storm struck Colorado producing heavy snow and blizzard conditions. A record two feet of snow was reported at Stapleton Airport in Denver, which was shut down for 33 hours. Up to 44 inches of snow fell in the foothills surrounding Denver. The storm hurt the ski industry as skiers were unable to make it out of Denver to the slopes, and the closed airport became a campground for vacationers. (23rd-25th)

...1983... The temperature plunged to 50 degrees below zero at Williston ND to equal their all-time record. Minneapolis MN reported an afternoon high of 17 degrees below zero, and that evening strong northerly winds produced wind chill readings of 100 degrees below zero in North Dakota.

...1987... A winter storm brought heavy snow to the Central Rockies, and also spread a blanket of snow across the Middle Missouri Valley in time for Christmas. Snow and high winds created near blizzard conditions in Wyoming. Snowfall totals in Wyoming ranged up to 25 inches at Casper, with four feet of snow reported at the Hogadon Ski Resort on Capser Mountain. The Wolf Creek Ski Resort in Colorado received 26 inches of snow. Totals in the Middle Missouri Valley ranged up to 16 inches at Alpena SD, with 14 inches at Harrison NE. Strong winds ushered unseasonably cold air into the southwestern U.S. Canyon winds gusting to 100 mph created ground blizzards in Utah.

...1988... Low pressure in the Upper Midwest produced strong and gusty winds across the Great Lakes Region and the Ohio Valley. Winds in Ohio gusted to 47 mph at Cincinnati, and reached 51 mph at Cleveland.

...1989... An historic arctic outbreak spread to the Gulf Coast Region, and a total of 122 cities across the central and eastern U.S. reported record low temperatures for the date. Forty-one of those cities reported record lows for the month of December, with some cities breaking December records established the previous morning. Morning lows of 11 degrees at New Orleans LA and Lake Charles LA, 4 degrees below zero at San Angelo TX, and 26 degrees below zero at Topeka KS, established all-time records for those four locations. Yankton SD was the cold spot in the nation with a morning low of 31 degrees below zero. A storm system moving across the Florida peninsula and along the Southern Atlantic Coast produced high winds and record snows along the Carolina coast. Snowfall totals of 15 inches at Wilmington NC and 13.3 inches at Cape Hatteras NC were all-time records for those two locations. Gale force winds, gusting to 60 mph, produced waves thirty-four feet high off the coast of North Carolina, and whipped the heavy snow into drifts up to eight feet high. The storm resulted in the first white Christmas of record from northeastern Florida to North Carolina.

...1989... A massive arctic high pressure area (1061 millibars) set record low temperature readings from the Canadian border to central Texas and Florida. Many cities in the upper Midwest saw low temperatures below 20 degrees below zero. Austin, Texas fell to just 4 degrees and Oklahoma city fell to 8 degrees below zero. -After setting a record low temperature of 29 degrees below zero the day before, Rapid City, South Dakota saw the mercury climb to 49 degrees during the afternoon.

...1991... Recent heavy rains in Austin, Texas set a new yearly rainfall record. 51.64 inches had fallen to this date. The old record was 51.30 inches set in 1957. The monthly rainfall record for December already had been far exceeded. The rainfall total for the month to this point was 13.59 inches. The old December record was 5.91 inches set in 1944.

...1994... An intense ocean storm, known as the tropical hybrid nor'easter, lashed New England with high winds and heavy rains on this day and continued into the 24th. The storm had its origins in the western Gulf of Mexico two days before and had the characteristics of a hurricane, even as it reached 40 degrees north latitude. It dumbelled around a regular developing baroclinic low on the coast of the Carolinas, and had an extremely tight pressure pattern, with a central pressure of 969 millibars as it approached New England. High pressure to the north only enhanced the pressure gradient, and resulted in winds exceeding hurricane force over coastal areas. A wind gust of 88 mph was recorded at Walpole, Massachusetts. Sustained winds of 63 mph with a gust to 84 mph were record on Nantucket Island. Falmouth, Massachusetts recorded a 78 mph wind gust, a 74 mph gust was reported at Ashaway, Rhode Island and 61 mph gust at Newport, Rhode Island, breaking the record of 59 mph set back in 1925.. Plymouth, Massachusetts was deluged with 4.85 inches of rain and Gloucester, Massachusetts checked in with 4.72 inches.

...1997... A surprise heavy snowstorm struck eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. Dracut, Massachusetts was buried under 23.5 inches of snow. 22 inches was recorded at Pepperell, Massachusetts, 21 inches was measured at Ayer, Massachusetts (8 inches in one hour), and Nashua, New Hampshire checked in with 20.5 inches.

...2008... Exactly one inch of rain feel at St. Louis, Missouri on this day to bring the yearly rainfall total to 55.94 inches -- the city's wettest year on record.

...2009... Severe storms and heavy rainfall were associated with the same storm that brought blizzard conditions to the central parts of the U.S. on December 23rd and 24th. At least one death in Louisiana was blamed on the heavy rainfall and storms. There were 35 preliminary tornado reports and 34 hail and wind reports along the Gulf Coast over the 2-day period. The 10-year average number of tornadoes across the country in December is 36.