January

1 1942: On Dec. 31, 1941, a mass of cold polar air covered an area extending from extreme NW Canada SEward to Oklahoma. The front separating this cold mass from the surrounding air masses in the U.S. reached from Lake Michigan SW to Oklahoma, and then curved westward to Mexico from which point it again moved northward to southern Wyoming and NW Oregon. mT air over the southern states flowed northward along the eastern side of the front and resulted in a deep barometric disturbance that moved NEward along the edge of the cold air mass and caused heavy snow over Iowa the night of New Year’s Eve, and during most of New Year’s Day. As the cold air moved eastward it underran the warmer gulf air and caused the moisture to be precipitated mostly in the form of heavy snow. High surface winds caused drifting with the result that all roads were blocked and traffic brought to a halt. The line of heaviest snow extended from SW to NE, and ranged up to almost 20 inches in 24 hours (19.8” fell at DSM, their 24-hour snowfall record) at the DSM Airport. In an area from Page County (far SW IA) NEward to Black Hawk County there were many points where the total depth of old and new snow on the ground amounted to 2 feet, with deep drifts in many sections. At some points, including DSM, new records were set for the greatest amount of snow in 24 hours. All highways were blocked and it was not until the 3^rd of the month that most of the principal arteries were open to even one way traffic. Many side roads were made impassable for a week or more. During the height of the storm rail traffic was brought to a halt in many sections, but normal operation of trains was resumed by the 3^rd of the month. Bus traffic was resumed as soon as the roads were cleared, but both trains and busses ran behind schedule in some sections until the cold weather abated. (This is from the Jan. 1942 issue of Climatological Data.) In an email to me, Harry Hillaker pointed out that “The 19.8 inch amount was at the Des Moines Airport while the old downtown WB station had 17.7 inches from the same storm. Most of the snow apparently fell on the 1st. Interestingly, there was no measurable snow for the remainder of January. This remains as the DSM record.”

3 2007: Earth reaches perihelion at 2 p.m., the point in its orbit that is closest to the sun (147.1 million kilometers or 91.2 million miles).

4-6 2005: Heavy snow event began the evening of Jan. 4 and continued until the early morning of Jan. 6. Over those 3 days, MCW received 9.2”, DBQ had 9.6”, DSM had 10.1”, ALO had 11.0”, and CID received 11.9”!

5 1884: all time record low set in DSM: -30 F (records began in 1878)

7 2008: Tornado in WI; had previously been only 1 tornado in January in WI back through 1844. From Jeff Craven’s presentation at the 2008 NWA annual meeting in Louisville.

9 ...1977...The lowest temperature ever recorded in St. Cloud, MN was recorded on this day. At 8:00 AM CST, the temperature dropped to 43 degrees below zero! Between 3 January and 19 January of this year, the low temperature was 15 degrees below zero or lower on 14 out of 17 days (Intellicast).

...1992...An unbelievable 14 consecutive days of cloudy skies finally ended at Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN. Every single weather observation during this time period showed overcast conditions -- 350 consecutive hours of cloudy skies! There was not even a "mostly cloudy" -- all observations were completely cloudy. During this cloudy period, it was very mild. The average temperature from 26 December to 8 January was 19 degrees above normal. (Intellicast) (Used this in 2006.)

10 - 12 1975: This is the Minnesota “Storm of the Century” that I remember (I was in 7^th grade). A strong low pressure system over NW Missouri at sunrise on the 10^th intensified rapidly as it moved across Iowa that day. It reached Rochester by 7 pm where it set a new low pressure record. The storm passed just east of MSP at 10:15 pm and reached near Duluth by 2:05 am on Saturday the 11^th. The storm center reached the Canadian border at about 5:30 am on Saturday the 11^th. The storm produced a severe blizzard over the NW one-third of IA and all of MN. 8 to 15” of snow fell in IA with 12 to 23” in MN. Winds gusting to 80 mph produced 20’ drifts in both states. 14 people died in MN and there were 2 fatalities in IA. IA Governor Robert Ray requested that 40 NW counties be declared Federal disaster areas. (This info comes from Storm Data, January 1975. See also the info I have in a folder on this and the Armistice blizzard.) I used a version of this in 2005 and in 2006, though I had to edit out some of the above.

12 1912: Iowa’s coldest recorded temperature of –47 F was first set in Washta (Cherokee county, NW IA). This was tied on Feb. 3, 1996 in Elkader (Clayton county, NE IA). ALO set its record low for the date: -32 F, as did DSM: -29 F. See how I used this in 2006.

14 - 15 1969: From Waterloo Courier: An overnight storm covers the metro area in one-half inch of ice. Waterloo cancels school for the first time since March 23, 1966. Cedar Falls cancels for the first time since March 17, 1965. From Storm Data: Ice storm. Slickest in years, nearly statewide. Power and communication outages. Most schools closed.

15 The 14^th/15^th mark the coldest time of the year in ALO’s climate record (using 1971 - 2000 averaging period). Average temperature on this date during the period 1971-2000 is 15 F. This is the coldest daily average temperature.

20 ...1954...The temperature at Rogers Pass, MT plunged to 69.7 degrees below zero to establish a new record for the continental U.S. (David Ludlum)

1994: the temperature dropped to –33 F (a daily record), only 1 degree warmer than ALO’s all-time record low of –34 F set on March 1, 1962. This also tied the coldest January temperature recorded in Waterloo since records began in 1895 (first recorded on Jan. 22, 1930). The day before (Jan. 19, 1994): An extremely cold arctic airmass set 67 new record temperature lows from Minnesota to Virginia, including 10 cities that recorded their lowest temperatures ever. The following cities set all-time record lows: Indianapolis, IN (27 below), Akron, OH, Clarksburg, WV, and Zanesville, OH (25 below), Pittsburgh, PA, Louisville, KY, Columbus, OH and Youngstown, OH (22 below), Cleveland, OH (20 below), and Erie, PA (18 below). The mercury plunged to 36 below zero at New Whiteland, IN to set a new record low temperature for the Hoosier State. In Kentucky, a statewide record low temperature was set at Shelbyville with a reading of 37 degrees below zero. A low of 52 degrees below zero was reported in the community of Amasa -- the state's lowest temperature on record. In the bitter cold, intense lake effect snow squalls continued in the lee of Lake Ontario. Parish, NY reported 42 inches of new snow accompanied by several hours of lightning and thunder. (Intellicast) (Used a version of this in 2005; when used again, add “Forty years earlier on Jan. 20, 1954 the all time record low for the continental U.S. was set at Rogers Pass, MT when the temperature bottomed out at 69.7 degrees below zero.”)

21 2008: A surface weather system brought notable snowfall to much of IA, producing difficult travel conditions. Snowfall from the storm began on the evening of the 20th and ended on the 22^nd . Locations with notable snowfall in that time period included CID with 5.2”, DBQ with 5.4”, and ALO with 6.8”. (These amounts were posted at KWWL; check again Iowa climate summary.)

1982: see entry below for Jan. 21-24

22 1930: daily and monthly record low set in ALO: –33 F (later tied on Jan. 20, 1994)

1943: world’s fastest recorded temperature change occurred in Spearfish, SD when Chinook wind raised temperature from –4 F to 45 F in 2 minutes. From DataStreme...Chinook winds during the early morning hours caused the temperature at Spearfish, SD to rise 49 Fahrenheit degrees from 4 degrees below zero to 45 degrees above zero in just two minutes (between 7:30 and 7:32 AM), the most dramatic temperature rise in world weather records. An hour and a half later the mercury plunged from 54 degrees above zero to 4 degrees below zero in twenty-seven minutes. Plate glass windows cracked as a result of the quick thermal expansion and contraction. (David Ludlum)

23 ...1982...A blizzard struck the upper Midwest. Winds gusting up to 60 mph created snowdrifts 15 to 20 feet. 18.5 inches was recorded at Minneapolis St. Paul, MN and 18 inches piled up at Sioux City, IA. (Intellicast)

21-24 1982: Version of Jan. 23 item from Storm Data info: From Jan. 21^st through the 24^th, a winter storm struck IA for the third weekend in a row. Heavy snow fell over northern IA while rain and freezing rain hit the southwest. 14 inches of snow fell at MCW and SUX received 18 inches. Strong winds produced snow drifts of 15 to 20 feet.

24 2008: Locations that set or tied record lows on this date X years ago included Iowa City with -12 F, DBQ with -16, CID with -23, and ALO which set a new daily record low of -29! (also noted lows of -30 and -36 near Decorah) (This info was posted at KWWL; confirm)

...1922...The all-time record low temperature for the state of Wisconsin was set at Danbury when the temperature dipped to 54 degrees below zero. (Intellicast) (This record has been broken by one degree in February, 1996)
...1956...Thirty-eight inches of rain deluged the Kilauea Sugar Plantation of Hawaii in 24 hours, including twelve inches in just one hour. The 38.00 inches remains the Aloha State's 24-hour maximum precipitation record. (David Ludlum)
...1967...An outbreak of 32 tornadoes struck the central U.S. with 14 tornadoes in Iowa, nine in Missouri, eight in Illinois, and one in Wisconsin. Never had a tornado been recorded in Iowa or Wisconsin in January until this day. Seven people were killed in this outbreak. This was the farthest north tornado outbreak ever recorded for the winter season. (Intellicast) Used in 2008: On this date in 1967, an outbreak of 32 tornadoes struck the central U.S. with 14 tornadoes in southeastern and far eastern Iowa, nine in Missouri, eight in Illinois, and one in Wisconsin.  A tornado had never been recorded in Iowa or Wisconsin in January until this date.  One of the 7 deaths in the outbreak occurred near Fort Madison. (used Storm Data to confirm number of IA tornadoes and the IA death info came from there, too)
...1988...A blizzard rapidly developed in the north central U.S. In just one hour weather conditions in eastern North Dakota switched from sunny skies, light winds and temperature readings in the 20s, to rapidly falling temperatures and near zero visibility in snow and blowing snow. High winds in Wyoming, gusting to 72 mph at Gillette, produced snowdrifts sixteen feet high. Northwestern Iowa experienced its second blizzard in just 24 hours. High winds in Iowa produced wind chill readings as cold as 65 degrees below zero. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

25 2010: Snowfall overnight was followed by very strong, gusty winds and blizzard conditions across much of IA. I35 was closed in north central IA and authorities opened 4 emergency shelters. Near zero visibility resulted in pileups on I35 (40 vehicles near Latimer; one person was killed), Hwy 65 (one mile south of MCW; there was picture of this one in the Courier on Jan. 26), and on Hudson Road in Cedar Falls (5 cars at the intersection of Erik Road; 2 injuries). UNI cancelled evening classes; many schools closed in the afternoon.

...1990...Low pressure developed explosively over east central Missouri and moved into Lower Michigan producing high winds and heavy snow across parts of Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin. Wind gusts to 60 mph and up to a foot of snow created near blizzard conditions in southeastern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Wind gusts in Indiana reached 76 mph at Wabash. Thunderstorms associated with the storm produced wind gusts to 54 mph at Fort Madison, IA. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

25-27 2002: ALO set or tied record highs on 3 consecutive days: 61, 65, and 60 (tied for date). DSM also set records of 65 on the 26^th and 63 on the 27^th. ALO’s reading of 65 on Jan. 26, 2002 is the warmest temperature ever observed in ALO during the month of January since record keeping began in 1895.

26 1996... A major storm system dumped heavy snow across the central U.S. 13.7 inches fell at Des Moines, the city's biggest snowstorm in nearly 23 years. 10.4” of snow fell in Waterloo. (13 inches of snow fell in 24 hours at La Crosse, WI, the city's greatest 24-hour snowfall total ever in January.) 3 days later, the mercury would drop below 0 F and stay below 0 for 139 consecutive hours, an all-time record for ALO. DSM would also go on to set a record of 132 consecutive hours below zero.

2002: record high for date and month set in Waterloo: 65 F. ALO daily record high of 61 set on the 25^th and daily record high of 60 tied on the 27^th that same month.

29 2008: Blizzard and near-blizzard conditions hit all of the listening area. Midnight to midnight temperature drops that day ranged from 40 to 55 degrees over northeast IA according to info posted by the LSE NWS. http://www.crh.noaa.gov/arx/?n=jan2908 ADD INFO.

30 1947: On this date in 1947, a large and strong surface low pressure system dominated the weather pattern over all of the US east of the Rockies. Locations reporting notable snowfall amounts that day included SUX with 3 inches (2.9”), MCW with 6, and ALO with 10 inches of new snow!

31 2002: The winter season of 2001-2002 in ALO finally saw its first one inch snowfall! (see some info I have for Nov. 30)