January 2009 Saint Cloud Weather Summary

   It was a bitterly cold January 2009 and the St. Cloud average temperature reflected that. According to statistics taken at the St. Cloud Regional Airport, the January 2009 average temperature was 3.3°F, -5.5°F colder than normal. That's the coldest January average temperature we've seen since January 1996. However, it only ranks as the 25th coldest January out of 129 Januaries on record. It would have required an average temperature below zero to crack the 10 Coldest Januaries in Saint Cloud.

Six days cost January 2009 a shot at one of the 10 coldest Januaries. A return to seasonable January temperatures took place during January 17-22. During that period, temperatures did not drop below zero and highs were at least 19°F each day. The other warm day was the last day of the month. The high temperature climbed to 45°F on the 31st, one degree short of the record high. That was also only the first day of the month with an above freezing temperature. Without that day, St. Cloud would have had its first January since 1979 without at least one day with a high above freezing. The other 24 days of January averaged -0.4°F, cold enough to crack the 10 Coldest Januaries in Saint Cloud if it had lasted the whole month.

January 2009 had the most number of benchmark cold temperatures in several years. There were 4 days with a high of 0°F or colder, the most since 2005. So far this winter, there have been 5 days with such cold highs, the most since 1996-1997. There were 20 days with a low of 0°F or colder, the most in January since January 1996 (22). There were 6 days with a low of at least -20°F, including 4 straight days during January 13-16. That's the most January -20°F lows since 1996. The 11 days with a low of at least -20°F so far this winter is the most since...you guessed it...1996. On the night of January 15-16, temperatures dropped to -30°F by midnight and to -36°F on the morning of January 16, setting a new record cold low for the date. That counts as two -30°F lows, the first in St. Cloud since January 30, 2004 and the most -30 lows since.....1996. That low of -36°F was the coldest low seen in St. Cloud since February 2, 1996. That was the coldest day in St. Cloud records with a high of -20°F (coldest high in St. Cloud records) and a low of -40°F. Tower, Minnesota, also set a record cold low for the state of Minnesota on that day with a low of -60°F.

The reason that it has been so long since January has been this cold is not so much the extreme cold of January 2009, but our recent streak of mild winters. From 1998 through 2008, only one of the Januaries (2004) has been considerably colder than normal. In fact, two of those Januaries rank among the 10 warmest Januaries in St. Cloud records. Still, this means that few people who have moved to Minnesota during the past decade have experienced such cold weather before.

The persistent cold of January 2009 was reminiscent of December 2000 in St. Cloud. Like this past month, there were 20 days with a low of 0 or colder in December 2000. The average December 2000 temperature (3.8°F) was within half a degree as this past month, but that month ranks as the 3rd coldest December in St. Cloud records.

The colder weather was also accompanied by drier conditions. After the 4th snowiest December, snow tapered off by mid-January. Another 5.8 inches fell by January 14, running the total between December 4 and January 14 to 33.8 inches. However, during the last 17 days of January, only 0.8 inches of snow fell as the deep cold pushed all the way to the Gulf Coast, keeping significant moisture out of any storm that came along. For the month, St. Cloud had 6.6 inches of snow, nearly 4 inches less than normal. For the season, St. Cloud has picked up 30.9 inches, 2.1 inches above normal. That snow contained only 0.54 inch of liquid water, 0.22 inch below normal.

The key to the cold was the flow of air out of north central Canada for most of the month, continuing to push arctic air masses southward. Despite having below normal snowfall, the deep snow cover that was a foot or more all month, helped keep these cold air masses cold by reflecting most of the sun's rays back to space. The only warm-ups came when the Canadian Arctic Coast ran out of the cold air, so the temperature had nowhere to go but up. Only during the last few days of the month did the persistent upper-air flow change to a more west-to-east pattern, allowing milder air pulled down the east slopes of the Rockies to occasionally make it into Minnesota. It appears that this milder pattern will hold its own during the first 10 days of February, alternating arctic cold with some above normal temperatures at times.