January 2019 Climate Summary

Overview and Graphics

January 2019 Climate Review: Temperatures ended up slightly above normal, due to the warm first 2 to 3 weeks. Through January 19th, Paducah was tied for the 10th warmest start to January on record. Only 3 of the first 19 days registered a daily average temperature below normal. But then the pattern changed and colder temperatures became common during the last 10 to 12 days. An arctic airmass paid the region a visit between January 29-31 with lows down in the single digits and teens, and even some subzero readings in portions of southern Illinois and southwest Indiana on January 30th. Wind chill values were as cold as 15 to 20 below zero along the I-64 corridor. The -19 wind chill in Evansville was only the 2nd time in the past 22 years wind chills have been that cold. The other occurrence happened on January 6, 2014, when wind chills dipped to -22.

Precipitation was generally above normal across the majority of the area. Many locations ended up 0.5” to 2” wetter than normal. The exception was across portions of the Pennryrile of western Kentucky, which finished near to slightly drier than normal. Snowfall was also above normal for much of southeast Missouri, southern Illinois, and southwest Indiana. The highest amounts ended up over southern Illinois, where some locations observed around a foot of snow (13.8" at a CoCoRaHS station in Marion, IL and 11.3" at a CoCoRaHS station southwest of Mount Vernon, IL). Portions of western Kentucky near the Tennessee border observed the least snowfall, not even reaching 2 inches in some locales. The majority of the snow fell during two events: January 11-12th and 19th.

The graphic below is an interpolated rainfall map using actual observations. Please note that there are likely discrepancies in between observations, since the values are estimated based on nearest reports.

January 2019 Review: Precipitation and Temperature Maps (Click on image to enlarge)

Climate Maps are from the Northeast Regional Climate Center

Monthly Summary Listings of normals and records for Paducah, Evansville, and Cape Girardeau

Monthly Climate Report: Paducah | Evansville | Cape Girardeau

Records Listing of records for Paducah, Evansville, and Cape Girardaeu

Record Event Reports: Paducah | Evansville | Cape Girardeau

Events

January 19, 2019: Combination of accumulating snow, strong winds, and rapidly falling temperatures produces high travel impacts
January 11-12,2019: Snow and sleet impact travel with amounts as high as 4-7 inches in portions of southern IL.