Weather

January 2008 Saint Cloud Weather Summary


Plenty of Snow on The Ground; Not Much in the Air

7th Lowest January Snowfall in Saint Cloud Records

While St. Cloud spent the entire January under snow cover, there was very little snow added to the snow pack. At the St. Cloud Reformatory, the January 2008 total snowfall was 1.8 inches, 8.7 inches below normal. So, January 2008 had the 7th lowest January snowfall of the 108 Januaries in St. Cloud records. The lack of snow since the first week of December (4.8 inches; normal 17.8 inches since December 6) has pushed the season snowfall to 16.2 inches, 12.6 inches below normal.

Still, St. Cloud has had constant snow cover since those two snowstorms in early December (61 straight days). While having continuous snow cover in December and January isn't that unusual in central Minnesota, it is unusual during our streak of mild winters. In the past 7 winters, there have been only 2 winters (2000-2001 and 2005-2006) which have had longer streaks of continuous snow cover.

Cold Season Most Consecutive Days of Snow Cover
2000-2001 131 days
2001-2002 33 days
2002-2003 25 days
2003-2004 38 days
2004-2005 37 days
2005-2006 102 days
2006-2007 37 days
2007-2008 61 days and counting

The lack of snowfall extended to the lack of melted precipitation. Only 0.17 inches of liquid equivalent precipitation fell in January 2008, 0.59 inch below normal. Thus, January 2008 tied for the 10th driest January out of 115 years in St. Cloud records. Ironically, January 2007 was drier with only 0.16 inch falling. There was only one day (January 10) in which the light snow contained enough moisture to amount to at least .01 inch. That's the least number of January days with measurable precipitation since 1942. Despite that, the 6 inches of snow pack in St. Cloud still contains 1.6 inches of water, waiting for a thaw to be released.

It may have felt horribly cold in St. Cloud in January 2008, but temperatures were actually within a degree of normal. The average January temperature was 9.3°F, 0.5°F warmer than normal. However, this temperature was colder than 7 of the past 8 Januaries, reflecting how mild our recent winters have been. In contrast, only three of Januaries in the 1990's had milder temperatures than this month.

There were 2 days with a high of 0°F or colder in January; in the previous two winters, there were only two days with a high no higher than 0. There were three mornings with a low of at least -20°F in January, more than we've had in the previous two winters combined. The coldest low so far was -24°F on January, the coldest low temperature since -28°F on January 17, 2005 (that was the last of 4 straight days without reaching a temperature above zero). Saint Cloud still hasn't hit -30°F since: January 30, 2004. St. Cloud hasn't had a high of 10°F or colder since January 29, 2004 and hasn't had a low of at least -40°F since February 2, 1996 (date of state record low: -60°F in Tower).   

    January 2008 Statistics

Temperatures (°F)
January 2008
Normal
January Average High Temperature (°F)
18.8
18.6
January Average Low Temperature (°F)
-0.2
-1.2
Mean Temperature for January (°F)
9.3
8.7
  10 Warmest Januaries in Saint Cloud

January Extremes

Temperature(°F)
Date
Warmest High Temperature for January 2008 (°F)
42
January 6th,7th
Coldest High Temperature for January 2008 (°F)
-4
January 19th,30th
Warmest Low Temperature for January 2008 (°F)

26

January 6th
Coldest Low Temperature for January 2008 (°F)
-24
January 24th
Record Temperatures in January 2008
Temperature(°F)
Date
Old Record
No Record Temperatures Set
Temperature Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
January 2008 Days with High Temperatures <= 32°F
25
23.5
January 2008 Days with High Temperatures <= 0°F
3
2.6
January 2008 Days with High Temperatures <= -10°F
0
0.5
January 2008 Days with Low Temperatures <= 32°F
31
30.9
January 2008 Days with Low Temperatures <= 0°F
16
15.9
Cold-Season 2007-2008 Days with Low Temperatures <= 0°F
31
27.3
January 2008 Days with Low Temperatures <= -20°F
2
2.9
January 2008 Days with Low Temperatures <= -30°F
0
0.4
Precipitation (in)
January 2008
Normal
January 2008 Precipitation (in)
0.17**
0.76
**Tied for 10th driest January in Saint Cloud records Top 10 Driest Januaries
Precipitation Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
January 2008 Days with Measurable (>= 0.01 inch) Precipitation
1
7.1
January 2008 Days with >= 0.10 inch Precipitation
1
2.4
January 2008 Days with >= 0.25 inch Precipitation
0
0.8
January 2008 Days with >= 0.50 inch Precipitation
0
0.2
January 2008 Days with >= 1.00 inch Precipitation
0
0.0
January Extremes
Precipitation (in)
Date
Most Daily Precipitation in January 2008
0.17 inch
January 10th
Record Precipitation in January 2008
Precipitation (in)
Date
Old Record
No precipitation records set
Snowfall (in)
January 2008
Normal
January 2008 Saint Cloud Reformatory Snowfall (in)
1.8&
10.5
December 7, 2007-January 31, 2008 Snowfall
4.8
17.8
2007-2008 Seasonal Saint Cloud Reformatory Snowfall (1 Oct 2007 - 31 Jan 2008)
16.2
28.8
Snowfall Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
January 2008 Days with Measurable (>= 0.1 inch) Snowfall
4
8.7
January 2008 Days with >= 1.0 inch Snowfall
1
3.7
January 2008 Days with >= 2.0 inch Snowfall
0
1.7
January 2008 Days with >= 5.0 inch Snowfall
0
0.3
January Extremes
Snowfall (in)
Date
Most Daily Snowfall in January 2008
1.3
January 10th
Record Snowfall in January 2008
Snowfall (in)
Date
Old Record
No Snowfall Records Set

&7th lowest January snowfall total

10 Brownest Januaries

Historic temperature data provided courtesy of the Saint Cloud National Weather Service Office, and NOAA/NWS
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Send comments to: raweisman@stcloudstate.edu