(WGHP) – While January was off to a frigid start, the last week of the month has given us a taste of spring.
With a high temperature of 69 degrees on January 29, we saw our warmest day since mid-December and we’re not done with the 60s just yet.
Despite being nearly 20 degrees warmer than normal for January, it’s not super rare to see temperatures in the upper 60s or even the 70s this time of year.
In fact, the last time we were warmer in January was just last year on January 26, 2024 with a high of 73 degrees.
In our period of record, since 1928, we’ve seen high temperatures of 69 degrees or warmer in January a total of 92 times and 34 times in the last 30 years.Â
While we’re certainly glad to see temperatures warming up, a high of 69 is not even close to the warmest we’ve ever seen temperatures reach in the first month of the year. The warmest January temperature on record is 78 degrees and it’s occurred three times: 1944, 1975, 2002.
As we approach the last two days of the month and even early February, the FOX 8 7-day forecast features another six days with temperatures in the 60s.
In the near term though, let’s focus on the end of January. High temperatures remain in the low to mid 60s, approximately 10 to 15 degrees above normal for this time of year.
While the last week of January may have given us warmer temperatures, let’s not forget that the majority of the month was spent with temperatures well below normal.
As of January 14, the Triad was sitting at the 4th coldest January on record with an average monthly temperature of 32.6 degrees. While that in itself was already frigid, we only got colder as the weeks went on.
By January 23, we were averaging a monthly temperature of 30.4 degrees which put us in the number three spot for coldest Januarys on record, behind 1977 and 1940.
When we reached 3rd place for coldest Januarys on record we had just seen the coldest day in the last 10 years. Not to mention, temperatures that have only been seen five other times in the last 30 years, with both the high temperature below 23 degrees and the low below 15 degrees.
However, by January 24 as we entered the last week of the month, our temperatures entered a gradual warming trend. This warming trend took us from the 3rd coldest January on record to the 11th coldest on record.
No matter where we end up on the coldest January list, this month will certainly be one to remember with temperatures remaining below freezing for 88 hours straight and two bouts of winter weather.
