January 2022 St. Cloud Weather Summary

For most of the fall and early winter, Minnesota has been subject to wild temperature swings between milder than average and colder than average temperatures (see NWS graph of December 2021 St. Cloud temperatures for the biggest example; most of the temperature bar not along the green, average temperature). While January had some of those temperature swings, more of them collected in the colder than average category (see NWS graph of January 2022 St. Cloud temperatures). That made the January 2022 St. Cloud average temperature 6.7 degrees (avg. high: 18.5 degrees; avg. low: -5.1 degrees), 5.1 degrees colder than normal. In the recent series of relatively mild winters since 1996, only two Januaries, 2009 (3.3 degrees) and 2014 (4.7 degrees), were colder than this January.

Nearly a Season's Worth of Zero Highs, -20 Lows

There were 20 days with a low of zero or colder, more than 4 days above the January average. This brings the 2021-2022 cold season total to 31 days, less than 12 days short of the 42.7 day average. There were 3 January days with a high of zero or colder, with the coldest being New Year's Day (high of -7). That day and the previous night featured wind chills near -40, the coldest of the winter season thus far. The average number of days with a high of zero or colder is 4.3. There were 4 nights with a low of -20 or colder, including the -28 degree low on January 7. That tied last winter's coldest temperature of the season, set February 15. The last temperature colder than -28 degrees in St. Cloud was January 29-31, 2019. The three lows during the period were -29 on the 29th, -31 on the 30th, and -34 on the 31st. The average number of -20 or colder lows for the entire cold season is 5.4 days.

Large Temperature Swings Between Mild and Frigid....

But, January 2022 still had periods when the arctic flow from northern Canada was replaced by air pulled down the slope of the eastern Rockies. While there were six January days with a temperature of at least 20 degrees colder than average, there were also 4 days with a temperature at least 10 degrees warmer than average. The biggest swing came on January 26. At 4 AM, the St. Cloud temperature reached -23 degrees on the last clear, calm night in that arctic outbreak. Much milder air began blowing in on strong southeast winds later on, producing a 57 degree rise all the way to a 34 degree high at midnight. Hibbing ended up with a larger swing of 60 degrees from a low of -34 to a high of 26 degrees. The largest 24-hour temperature swing in the state of Minnesota, according to Pete Boulay, assistant state climatologist, was 71 degrees at Lamberton, MN, on April 2, 1982. In that case, the temperature dropped from 78 degrees to 7 degrees.

...But No Record in Minnesota or Otherwise

These type of shifts are possible when arctic air is either leaving or coming, with the other air mass being air that has been warmed by being pulled down the east slope of the Rockies. They happen more frequently and over a shorter period closer to the Rockies. The largest US 24-hour temperature change was set in Loma, MT on January 14-15, 1972 when the temperature rose from -54 to 49. A notable achievement was in Spearfish, SD, when the temperature jumped from -4 to 45 degrees in 2 minutes on January 22, 1943. The temperature continued to rise to 54 degrees at 9 AM, then fell back to -4 in the next 27 minutes. The 2-minute temperature rise is the world record for fastest extreme temperature change.

Persistent Deep Snow Cover, Not Major Snow Events, Allowed the Cold Air to Maintain Itself in Minnesota

There weren't any large snowstorms during the month of January. But, one factor in allowing the cold to pass relatively as is over northern and central Minnesota has been the deep snow cover over northern and much of central Minnesota. The storm of December 26 and 27 put down a swath of over 10 inches to our north from Wadena through Brainerd to Moose Lake. While the snow amounts were smaller to the south, the combination of 3-inch snowfalls on January 4-5, and 14, and three consecutive nights of small snowfalls on January 21-23 have pushed the St. Cloud snowpack over 8 inches, despite not seeing a day with at least 5 inches. The largest January snowfall was 3.3 inches on January 14. That modest snowfall missed the January 14 record snowfall by 0.1 inch. The January total snowfall of 10.8 inches was 2.0 inches above average.

For the entire snow season so far, the St. Cloud total is 30.8 inches, 4.8 inches above average. Even though the long-term snowpack has remained an inch or greater only from December 17 on (St. Cloud averages 86 consecutive days with at least an inch of snow on the ground in a typical cold season), the frequent topping of the powdery snow base has allowed better cross-country ski and snowmobiling conditions than during several recent years.

Still, the total seasonal snowfall has been spread over 27 days with measurable snow. Note that the past 10 cold seasons have each had at least 27 days with measurable snowfall, even though the total snow accumulation has ranged from 30.3 inches in 2015-2016 to 78.5 inches in 2012-2013. 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 had the least amount of snow per snowstorm (a bit more than 0.9 inch per storm) while 2012-2013 had the most (1.6 inches per storm). So far in 2021-2022, St. Cloud has seen 1.14 inches per storm, among the lowest averages.

Updated February 2, 2022