Fluctuation in temperatures is nothing new to Minnesotans, but the month of January has seen some very extreme …
By Per Peterson
If you’re feeling more sick and tired of winter this year than any other year, you’re probably not alone.
While snowfall amounts so far this winter are anything but record-setting, the fluctuation in temperatures has made it feel like a very long winter season already. And it’s only February.
The average high temperature in January was 24 degrees — not bad for January in Minnesota. However, that number can be a bit misleading because of the ups and downs on your thermometer.
Weather extremes hit the area hard in January, even from one day to the next. To wit: The high the first day of the year was -8 degrees. The next day, it was 17. That’s a 25-degree difference. The following two days saw highs in the lower 30s; then a day later, the high was in the single digits. The day after that, it was -5. Then, another rebound, up to 17 degrees, then to 32 on Jan. 8.
The next week, the area reveled in 40-degree temps on Jan. 11-12, but by that Saturday, the high was 13, with a low of -10. By Jan. 17, the mercury rose to near 40 degrees and we did break the 40-degree barrier on Jan. 18. However, we awoke to -5 degrees on Jan. 19, with a high of just 7. Two days after that, the mercury climbed back to 30 degrees, and after three more “nice” days, the high last Tuesday failed to get above zero. Then, once again, we bounced back with a high of 36 degrees on Jan. 26 — that’s a 37-degree difference from one day to the next. In fact, in January alone, there have been nine days where the temperature either rose or fell by at least 18 degrees from one day to the next.
See this week’s Headlight Herald for more on this article.