The New Winter Color in Saint Cloud: Brown
3rd Lowest Seasonal Snowfall in Saint Cloud Records
Saint Cloud's snow drought that began at the start of 2006 continued through the first month in January of 2007. Only 2.0 inches of snow fell during January at the Saint Cloud Reformatory. Normally, January is the snowiest month of the year with an average of 10.5 inches. The low January snowfall total tied with 1903 and 1959 for the 8th lowest January snowfall total in the 104 years of Saint Cloud snowfall records. Note that the least amount of January snow in Saint Cloud records was 0.1 inch in 1990. The last above normal snow month was December 2005. The last storm of that month (5.6 inches on December 29 and 30) was the last snowfall of 2 inches or more in Saint Cloud.
For the entire season, the winter of 2006-2007 ranks as one of the brownest on record. The seasonal snowfall through January 31 is now 4.7 inches. The normal snowfall to this point in the winter is 28.8 inches. This is the 3rd lowest seasonal snowfall through Jan in Saint Cloud history. The last season with such little snowfall through January was 1959-1960. Note, however, that only half of the brownest seasons through January (1899-1900, 1901-1902, 1914-1915, 1958-1959, 1980-1981) ended up among the lowest snowfalls for the entire season. However, both 1901-1902 (6.0 inches) and 1958-1959 (14.1 inches) continued to be snowless enough to make the two brownest seasons in Saint Cloud records.
While central Minnesota has avoided snow better than any other part of the state, the state report on snow drought from Minnesota State Climatology Office shows well below normal snowfall statewide. Just to put into perspective how far the primary storm track has dropped to our south, here is a list of cities that have had more snow than Saint Cloud and other area cities through the end of January:
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2006-2007 Seasonal Snowfall through January 31
|
|
|
City
|
Snowfall
|
|
Saint Cloud, MN
|
4.7 inches
|
|
Kansas City, MO
|
6.4 inches
|
|
Oklahoma City, OK
|
7.4 inches
|
|
Saint Louis, MO |
8.1 inches
|
|
Minneapolis/St. Paul (Chanhassen), MN
|
10.0 inches
|
|
Fargo, ND
|
10.7 inches
|
|
Sioux Falls, SD
|
12.2 inches
|
|
Grand Forks, ND
|
13.4 inches
|
|
Tulsa, OK
|
15.1 inches
|
|
Wichita, KS
|
16.3 inches
|
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Amarillo, TX
|
17.9 inches
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International Falls, MN
|
21.4 inches
|
|
Duluth, MN
|
22.7 inches
|
|
Denver, CO
|
59.5 inches
|
Unlike December, a lack of snowfall meant a lack of precipitation in January. The liquid equivalent precipitation in Saint Cloud totalled only 0.16 inch, 0.60 inch below normal. This made January 2007 the 9th driest January in St Cloud records and the driest since 1990 (0.06 inches).
Usually, the snow that falls during the winter doesn't affect overall water supplies. However, the dry winter conditions are contributing to drought problems, as noted by the state report on overall northern Minnesota drought through January from Minnesota State Climatology Office. As of this week, the moisture conditions in the northern half of Stearns County; all of Benton County; southern Todd County including Long Prairie, and eastern Douglas County including Alexandria are now rated as a moderate drought. Little Falls and most of Morrison County, Mora, and Onamia are ranked in severe drough, while Brainerd and points north and east are still in extreme drought. Snowfall doesn't usually get into the ground water (it melts and runs off before the ground thaws), but the low snow pack will continue to contribute to below normal stream and river flow in the northern half of the state and below normal lake levels, including Lake Superior. Lake Superior will be aided to some extent by the heavy lake effect snow that will be generated as arctic moves across the area this weekend, but we need a lot more snow to be able to improve moisture conditions.
It took this long to get to the January temperature statistics, not because they weren't way above normal, but because we've experienced far warmer conditions in recent months. The Saint Cloud average temperature was 17.1°F, 8.4°F above normal. That makes January 2007 the 19th warmest January of the 127 Januaries in Saint Cloud weather records. However, we are coming off a December that was the warmest state-wide in recorded history (ranked as the 7th warmest December in Saint Cloud records). And, last January was more than 8 degrees warmer than this January. January 2006 averaged 25.5°F, the warmest January in St. Cloud records and the month that was the most above normal of any month in recorded St. Cloud history.
Only 7 days in January had below normal temperatures. In fact, January 1-11 finished a streak of 35 consecutive days with above average temperatures that began on December 8. The longest streak in Saint Cloud history is 51 days in 1900 and we had streaks of at least 34 straight days during the cold seasons of 1999, 2001, and 2006 (41 straight days). Still, this tied for the 12th longest streak of above-average days in Saint Cloud records.
The combination of the first two warm months means that we are all but guaranteed to have our 9th warm winter out of the past 10 years. In fact, if temperatures during February end up being merely normal, the average winter temperature would end up being 19.6°F, which would rank as the 8th warmest winter in Saint Cloud records. Even though we are in the grip of the coldest arctic air outbreak of the season and will remain so through the middle of next week, this outbreak will use up the coldest air on the continent. Since air has to sit over the area with deep snow cover and no sunlight for 3-4 weeks to make that kind of arctic, the odds favor major moderation for quite a while once the core of the cold air goes by mid-week next week.
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Temperatures (°F)
|
January 2007
|
Normal
|
|
| January Average High Temperature (°F) |
24.7
|
18.6
|
|
| January Average Low Temperature (°F) |
9.5
|
-1.2
|
|
| Mean Temperature for January (°F) |
17.1
|
8.7
|
|
| 10 Warmest Januaries in Saint Cloud | |||
|
January Extremes |
Temperature(°F)
|
Date
|
|
| Warmest High Temperature for January 2007 (°F) |
38
|
January 4th
|
|
| Coldest High Temperature for January 2007 (°F) |
5
|
January 12th
|
|
| Warmest Low Temperature for January 2007 (°F) |
29 |
January 3rd
|
|
| Coldest Low Temperature for January 2007 (°F) |
-10
|
January 16th
|
|
|
Record Temperatures in January 2007
|
Temperature(°F)
|
Date
|
Old Record
|
|
Record Warm Daily Mean Temperature
|
34
|
January 4
|
33 set in 1987
|
|
Record Warm Daily Mean Temperature
|
32 (tie)
|
January 3
|
Record set in 1992
|
|
Temperature Thresholds
|
Number of Days
|
Normal
|
|
| January 2007 Days with High Temperatures <= 32°F |
24
|
23.5
|
|
| January 2007 Days with High Temperatures <= 0°F |
0
|
2.6
|
|
| January 2007 Days with High Temperatures <= -10°F |
0
|
0.5
|
|
| January 2007 Days with Low Temperatures <= 32°F |
31
|
30.9
|
|
| January 2007 Days with Low Temperatures <= 0°F |
8
|
15.9
|
|
| Cold-Season 2007 Days with Low Temperatures <= 0°F |
11
|
27.3
|
|
| January 2007 Days with Low Temperatures <= -20°F |
0
|
2.9
|
|
| January 2007 Days with Low Temperatures <= -30°F |
0
|
0.4
|
|
|
Precipitation (in)
|
January 2007
|
Normal
|
|
|
January 2007 Precipitation (in)
|
0.16**
|
0.76
|
|
| **9th driest January in Saint Cloud records | Top 10 Driest Januaries | ||
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Precipitation Thresholds
|
Number of Days
|
Normal
|
|
| January 2007 Days with Measurable (>= 0.01 inch) Precipitation |
3
|
7.1
|
|
| January 2007 Days with >= 0.10 inch Precipitation |
0
|
2.4
|
|
| January 2007 Days with >= 0.25 inch Precipitation |
0
|
0.8
|
|
| January 2007 Days with >= 0.50 inch Precipitation |
0
|
0.2
|
|
| January 2007 Days with >= 1.00 inch Precipitation |
0
|
0.0
|
|
|
January Extremes
|
Precipitation (in)
|
Date
|
|
|
Most Daily Precipitation in January 2007
|
0.07 inch
|
January 21st
|
|
|
Record Precipitation in January 2007
|
Precipitation (in)
|
Date
|
Old Record
|
|
No precipitation records set
|
|||
|
Snowfall (in)
|
January 2007
|
Normal
|
|
|
January 2007 Saint Cloud Airport Snowfall (in)
|
2.0&
|
10.5
|
|
|
2006-2007 Seasonal Saint Cloud Airport Snowfall (1 Oct 2005 - 31 Jan 2007)
|
4.7+
|
28.8
|
|
|
Snowfall Thresholds
|
Number of Days
|
Normal
|
|
| January 2007 Days with Measurable (>= 0.1 inch) Snowfall |
6
|
8.7
|
|
| January 2007 Days with >= 1.0 inch Snowfall |
0
|
3.7
|
|
| January 2007 Days with >= 2.0 inch Snowfall |
0
|
1.7
|
|
| January 2007 Days with >= 5.0 inch Snowfall |
0
|
0.3
|
|
|
January Extremes
|
Snowfall (in)
|
Date
|
|
|
Most Daily Snowfall in January 2007
|
0.6
|
January 21st
|
|
|
Record Snowfall in January 2007
|
Snowfall (in)
|
Date
|
Old Record
|
|
No Snowfall Records Set
|
|||
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&Tied for 8th lowest January snowfall total +3rd lowest October-January snowfall total |
|||
|
Rank
|
Inches
|
Season
|
|
1
|
3.0
|
1899-1900
|
|
2
|
4.1
|
1958-1959
|
|
3
|
4.7
|
2006-2007
|
|
4(tie)
|
5.8
|
1907-1908
|
|
4(tie)
|
5.8
|
1923-1924
|
|
6
|
6.0
|
1901-1902
|
|
7
|
6.9
|
1960-1961
|
|
8
|
8.7
|
1941-1942
|
|
9
|
9.1
|
1980-1981
|
|
10
|
9.3
|
1914-1915
|
|
Rank |
Number of Days |
Dates |
|
1 |
51
|
July 27-September 15, 1900
|
|
2 |
43 |
June 7-August 19, 1921 |
|
3(tie) |
42 |
January 26-March 8, 1987 |
|
3(tie) |
42 |
November 4-December 15, 1999 |
|
5 |
41 |
December 22, 2005-January 31, 2006 |
|
6(tie) |
39 |
November 16-December 24, 1913 |
|
6(tie) |
39 |
February 27-April 6, 1973 |
|
8(tie) |
36 |
January 11-February 15, 1942 |
|
8(tie) |
36 |
December 11, 1954-January 15, 1955 |
|
8(tie) |
36 |
November 25-December 30, 1997 |
|
8(tie)
|
36
|
December 27, 1989-January 31, 1990
|
|
12(tie)
|
35
|
July 8-August 11, 1935
|
|
12(tie)
|
35
|
December 8, 2006-January 11, 2007
|
|
14
|
34
|
October 28-November 30, 2001
|
|
15(tie)
|
32
|
July 10-August 10, 1916
|
|
15(tie)
|
32
|
December 14, 1986-January 14, 1987
|
|
15(tie)
|
32
|
May 19-June 19, 1991
|
|
15(tie)
|
32
|
February 5-March 8, 1998
|
