January 2005 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

Winter Arrives....Sort of

     Despite the intense cold at times, January 2005 ended up being the 5th consecutive month with above normal temperatures. The average temperature at the Saint Cloud Regional Airport was 11.0°F, 2.3°F above normal. This came despite 14 days with a low of 0°F or colder and 4 consecutive days without the temperature climbing above zero. How warm was the rest of January? Without those 4 below-zero days, the average temperature for January would have been 14.8°F, 6.1°F above normal.

    In fact, the cold blast of January 13-18, which included those 4 consecutive days with the temperature at or below zero, brought an end to the third longest gap between 4-day below zero streaks. The last time we had four consecutive sub-zero days was January 25-28, 1997. The gap of 7 years, 349 days is the third longest time gap between streaks. The longest streak of consecutive sub-zero days was 7 days, last done in Jan. 13-19, 1994. Despite the intensity of the cold period, Saint Cloud did not stay colder than -10 for a high or -30 for a low. Both were accomplished last January (10 Warmest/Coldest Januarys)

    The January 2005 total snowfall varied widely between the Saint Cloud Airport and Saint Cloud State University. The Airport total was 15.0 inches, including daily record snowfalls of 6.2 inches on the 12th and 5.1 inches on the 21st. However, the SCSU January snowfall total was 21.9 inches. This snowfall total would have been enough to tie 1996 for the 5th snowiest January in Saint Cloud history. (10 Snowiest Januaries) The January snowfall did help bring the snow pack to a more normal appearance. The storm of January 21 (7.0 inches in SCSU; 5.1 inches at Saint Cloud Airport) produced widespread snowfall throughout the state. In contrast, the storm of January 12 (8.3 inches in SCSU; 6.2 inches at Saint Cloud Airport) produced a heavy snowfall along the Hwy. 23 corridor from Willmar through the Saint Cloud area to Mora. The Minnesota state snowdepth map from the Minnesota State Climatology Office shows near normal snow depth from Willmar and Litchfield northward through west central Minnesota. However, to the east of the Mississippi River in central Minnesota and from the Twin Cities to Lac Qui Parles and all of southern Minnesota, snow depth remains far below normal with no snow in much of southwestern Minnesota. Meanwhile, snow pack remains far above normal from Duluth and Saint Louis County to the north and east with near record snowpack in much of the Arrowhead.

   The January 2005 melted precipitation total at the Saint Cloud Municipal Airport was 1.80 inch, more than an inch above normal. In fact, this total precipitation was the 9th highest in Saint Cloud recorded history and the wettest since 1975. (10 Wettest Januaries).

    January 2005 Statistics