January 2019
Monthly Overview - January 2019
Warm Start and Frigid End to January
January temperatures were below normal in the northern half of the Midwest and slightly above normal in the Missouri boot heel and across southern Kentucky
(Figure 1). Temperatures were as much as 5° F below normal in the northernmost reaches of the Midwest. The monthly average hides the extreme temperature swing from the very warm start to the month to the record-breaking Arctic freeze in the last few days of January. Temperatures were 9° to 12° F above normal in the first ten days of January across the majority of the region (Figure 2). As the month progressed, temperatures dropped with much below normal temperatures for the last 10 days of the month. Temperatures were 10° to 20° F below normal for a majority of the region
(Figure 3). The Arctic outbreak on January 30th through February 1st dropped temperatures to values not seen since the 1990s in many locations (Figure 4). Daily record low temperatures were recorded at more than 400 stations on January 30th and another 600 stations on the 31st. All-time station record for low maximum and low minimum were also set at dozens of stations in the Midwest. Several stations, including Beloit, Wisconsin, Moline, Illinois, and Rockwell City, Iowa, broke all-time record low minimum temperatures on January 30th only to break the day-old record again on the 31st. Notable all-time records were set at long-term stations (127 period of record) with -30° F at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, -32° F at Iowa City, Iowa (tied record), and -31° F at Rockford, Illinois. Although not yet certified, it appears that the Illinois statewide minimum temperature record was also broken with -38° F recorded at Mount Carroll, breaking the 1999 record of -36° F at Congerville.
Wet and Snowy
January precipitation was above normal (Figure 5) for much of the Midwest (131 percent of normal). Statewide numbers put precipitation even higher in Illinois (157 percent), Missouri (150 percent), Iowa (140 percent), and Indiana (134 percent). Four additional states had between 118 and 129 percent of normal. Only Minnesota was drier than normal with just 73 percent of normal in January. The driest areas of the region were in western Iowa where precipitation was less than 25 percent of normal and from central Minnesota into northwestern Wisconsin where a large area was less than 75 percent of normal and smaller areas had less than 50 percent of normal. The wettest area stretched from northern Missouri, through eastern Iowa and northwestern Illinois, into southern Wisconsin where precipitation totals where two to three times normal.
January brought heavy snows to the region. There were four major snowstorms affecting the Midwest in January. Monthly snowfall totals topped 12 inches from the Iowa-Missouri border to northern Michigan where totals topping 3 to 4 feet were common (Figure 6). Snowfall totals in northern Missouri, southeastern Iowa, west central Illinois and southern Illinois had more than three times their normal snowfall in January
(Figure 7). A much larger area had more than twice normal and another area in southeastern Indiana, southwestern Ohio, and extreme northern Kentucky also had twice normal snowfall. On the other hand, large parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin had less than 75 percent of normal and a small pocket of northwestern Iowa and some locations along the southern edge of the region had less than 25 percent of normal.
Arctic Outbreak Impacts
At least ten deaths in the Midwest were attributed to the weather in the last couple days of January. State of emergency were declared in Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan. More than 1000 flights were cancelled at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, Amtrak service to and from Chicago was cancelled on the 30th, classes were cancelled at schools and universities on the 30th and 31st, and even postal service was suspended on the 30th in parts of Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin to limit postal carrier’s exposure due to the dangerous cold and wind chills. In Michigan and Minnesota there were calls to lower thermostats due to the enormous natural gas demand for heating. Wind chills dropped to the -50s and -60s in °F in the upper Midwest (Figure 8).
Drought Free Month
Drought was completely removed from the Midwest as of the January 1st release of the US Drought Monitor
(Figure 9) and the region remained drought free throughout the month. The abundant rains that led to 2018 setting a new region wide record (1895-2018 period) for precipitation and then a wet January for much of the region provided ample wetness for the region.
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