...10TH WARMEST AND 24TH WETTEST JANUARY ON RECORD...
...7TH WARMEST JANUARY AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE ON RECORD...

AN UNSETTLED WEATHER PATTERN DOMINATED THE MONTH OF JANUARY WHERE
STORMS SYSTEMS FROM THE GULF OF ALASKA AND BAJA CALIFORNIA AFFECTED
THE AREA. THIS RESULTED IN THE FIRST ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL JANUARY
SINCE 2001 AND ONLY THEN SECOND SINCE 1995.

THE MONTH STARTED OFF AS DECEMBER ENDED WITH STORMS MOVING OUT OF THE
ALASKA...DOWN THE WEST COAST...AND SWINGING ACROSS THE DESERT
SOUTHWEST. DURING THE FIRST WEEK OF JANUARY...RAINFALL ACROSS THE
METRO AREA RANGED FROM FOUR-TENTHS OF AN INCH TO ONE AND ONE QUARTER
OF AN INCH WITH THE HIGHER TERRAIN RECORDING OVER AN INCH AND A HALF.
SNOWFALL AMOUNTS ON THE MOUNTAINS WERE OVER ONE FOOT. HIGH PRESSURE
BEGAN TO BUILD OVER THE AREA BY MID-MONTH WITH AFTERNOON HIGH
TEMPERATURES IN THE 70S FROM THE 15TH TO THE 20TH.

THE LAST 10 DAYS OF JANUARY WERE UNSETTLED...BUT THIS TIME THE STORM
SYSTEMS WERE DEVELOPING OVER/MOVING FROM BAJA CALIFORNIA. THESE STORMS
WERE ABLE TO PICK UP SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE AND THUS WERE WARMER STORMS
THAN THE ONES THAT HIT THE AREA DURING THE FIRST WEEK OF JANUARY.
RAINFALL AMOUNTS ACROSS THE METRO AREA DURING THE LAST 10 DAYS OF THE
MONTH RANGED FROM THREE-QUARTERS OF AN INCH TO ONE AND A HALF INCHES
WITH THE SURROUNDING MOUNTAINS RECORDING OVER TWO INCHES. BECAUSE OF
THE WARM NATURE OF THE STORMS...THE SNOW LEVEL WAS VERY HIGH...WITH
LITTLE ACCUMULATION ON THE PEAKS.
				
OVERALL JANUARY WAS WARM WITH AN AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE OF 54.5
DEGREES WHICH RANKS AS THE 10TH WARMEST JANUARY ON RECORD. THE AVERAGE
MONTHLY LOW TEMPERATURE OF 42.9 DEGREES WAS FOUR DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL.
THREE RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE RECORDS (54 DEGREES ON THE
19TH...50 DEGREES ON THE 24TH AND 53 DEGREES ON THE 26TH) WERE SET
DURING JANUARY WHICH HELPED MAKE THE AVERAGE MONTHLY LOW TEMPERATURE
RANK AS THE 7TH WARMEST ON RECORD. TEMPERATURE EXTREMES FOR JANUARY
RANGED FROM A HIGH OF 79 DEGREES ON THE 19TH TO A LOW OF 32 DEGREES
ON 6TH AND 13TH.

RAINFALL ACROSS THE METRO AREA RANGED FROM ONE TO TWO INCHES WITH THE
SURROUNDING MOUNTAINS RECORDING BETWEEN TWO AND FOUR INCHES. THE
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT OFFICIALLY RECORDED SLIGHTLY OVER AN INCH AND A
THIRD /1.35"/ WHICH RANKS AS THE 24TH WETTEST JANUARY ON RECORD.

...JANUARY 2005 STATS...       MONTH     NORMAL     DEPARTURE
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE        66.0      64.5        + 1.5
AVERAGE LOW  TEMPERATURE        42.9      38.9        + 4.0
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE             54.5      51.7        + 2.8
RAINFALL                        1.35"     0.99"      + 0.36"
2004-05 WATER YEAR (OCT-JAN)    3.12"     3.90"      - 0.78"

... LOOKING AHEAD INTO FEBRUARY ...
THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER PREDICTS NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND
RAINFALL. 

AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE ......... 68.4 DEGREES
AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE........... 41.6 DEGREES
AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE ...... 55.0 DEGREES
RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE ..........   92 DEGREES ON FEBRUARY 14 1957
RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE ...........   17 DEGREES ON FEBRUARY  7 1899
WARMEST FEBRUARY (AVG) ........... 61.1 DEGREES IN 1957
COLDEST FEBRUARY (AVG) ........... 45.3 DEGREES IN 1903
NORMAL RAINFALL .................. 0.88 INCHES
WETTEST FEBRUARY DAY ............. 1.26 INCHES ON FEBRUARY 7 1966
WETTEST FEBRUARY ................. 4.15 INCHES IN 1905
DRIEST FEBRUARY .................. ZERO INCHES IN 1984/1972/1898
RECORD FEBRUARY SNOWFALL .........  4.9 INCHES IN 1903

THE NUMBER OF DAYLIGHT HOURS WILL INCREASE FROM 10 HOURS 41 MINUTES
ON THE FIRST TO 11 HOURS 29 MINUTES ON THE 28TH...A GAIN OF 48
MINUTES.

GLUECK