The winter of 2007-2008 was the coldest since 2000-2001 in South Dakota, according to a South Dakota State University specialist.

SDSU Extension climatologist Dennis Todey said climatologists consider the statistical winter to be the three-month period from the start of December through the end of February.

"For the state as a whole, almost everybody was below average for the winter," Todey said in a news release. "The eastern third of the state ranged from three to five degrees below average, depending on where you were. Much of the rest of the state was maybe two to three degrees below average."

In Rapid City, the three-month period was colder than the 30-year averages figured for 1971-2000.

December's average temperature at Rapid City Regional Airport was 22.2 degrees, 2.5 degrees below the 30-year average and 7.1 degrees below December 2006, according to figures on the National Weather Service web site.

January's average temperature was 21.4 degrees, one degree below the normal average and 4.7 degrees below the average for January 2007.

February's average temperature was 26.1 degrees, 1.2 degrees below the normal average but five degrees above last February, according to the NWS.

A few locations in the middle of the state were right at average or slightly above average, Todey noted, and the station at Kennebec recorded a winter slightly warmer than average.

Snow cover made the key difference in why the Black Hills area and the eastern third of the state were colder than elsewhere.

"Much of the northwest to middle parts of the state, even though they did get cold for periods of time, overall they weren't as cold as some of the other locations," Todey said.

The winter of 2007-2008 probably ranks among the 25 coldest winters of the past century, Todey added, but it wasn't exceptionally cold. It may have seemed so because recent winters have been mild.

"We did set a few daily low temperature records in a few locations. Sioux Falls tied one, Yankton set a low temperature record, I think Watertown and Sisseton set low temperature records on individual days. But other than that, there wasn't too much in the way of records this winter."

Natural gas consumption this winter was not much different from last winter in the Black Hills area, according to Mark Hanson, spokesman for Montana Dakota Utilities in Bismarck, N.D.

MDU measures winter gas consumption from November through February. Hanson said the average monthly use per customer was the same this winter as the winter of 2006-07: 10.6 decatherms.

But a warm November dropped the average usage sharply this winter. The mean temperature for November at the airport was 37.8 degrees, 4.4 degrees above average and 1.3 degrees warmer than November 2006.

Gas use in the Black Hills area for November 2007 was 210,534 decatherms, down from 281,956 decatherms in November 2006, Hanson said.

Total gas use for December through February this winter was up 6.8 percent from the same period last winter, according to MDU figures. Hanson noted there was about a 1 percent increase in the number of customers this winter.

From a precipitation standpoint, the state was overall quite dry, especially in the northeast to north central and northwest, Todey said.

"There are several stations in the northeastern part of the state that were in the top 10 driest winters when we compare those," Todey said.

Some areas south of Interstate 90 got a few extra storms and snowfall, as did the northern Black Hills.

At Rapid City Regional Airport, precipitation for December through February totaled 1.36 inches, 0.12 above the average of 1.24 inches for the three-month period.

Of course, the December through February period is typically among the driest times of year at the airport.

Todey cautioned that, although it's now climatological spring, there still can be snowfall throughout the state. March tends to be a month for higher snowfall as South Dakota begins transitioning from the lowest precipitation months of the year - December and January - toward the peak precipitation months of May and June.

Contact Steve Miller at 394-8417 or steve.miller@rapidcityjournal.com