After a month where temperature averaged more than 10°F below normal, NOAA now tells me that it was just our state and Maine that were cold... for the most part the U.S. was warmer than normal.
Excuse me if I find that just a little hard to believe with utility bills about 50% higher than last year. All of that snow must have melted upon contact west of the Mississippi.NOAA: January Temperature Slightly Above Average for U.S.
February 9, 2009
Temperatures for the contiguous United States last month were slightly above the long-term average, based on records going back to 1895, according to a preliminary analysis by scientists at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. The average January temperature of 31.2 degrees F was 0.4 degree above the 20th Century average.
High resolution (Credit: NOAA)
U.S. Temperature Highlights
- January temperatures were below average across much of the eastern United States, while the western half of the nation experienced warmer-than-average temperatures.
- California had its sixth warmest January on record. Maine and Michigan had their eighth and ninth coldest January on record, respectively.
- Based on NOAA's Residential Energy Demand Temperature Index, the contiguous U.S. temperature-related energy demand was 3.0 percent above average in January.
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