January 2021 was warmer-than-normal across the Upper Mississippi River Valley. Both precipitation and snowfall were close normal. Here are more details for La Crosse, WI and Rochester, MN.
...Month Highlights...
During January 2021, the average temperature was 23.4 degrees at La Crosse Regional Airport. This was 6 degrees warmer than 1981-2010 normal of 17.4 degrees. 8 out of the last 10 Januaries have been warmer-than-normal.
20 out of the first 21 days of January 2021 were warmer-than-normal. The only day in that stretch to be colder-than-normal was the 19th and that was only by 1 degree. 9 days in this stretch were above normal by double digits.
The average high temperature was 30.3 degrees which was 4.4 degrees warmer than the 1981-2010 normal of 25.9 degrees.
The average low temperature was 16.5 degrees which was 7.6 degrees warmer than the 1981-2010 normal of 8.9 degrees. This was the 18th warmest January average low temperature.
The warmest temperature was 40 degrees on the 13th.
The coldest temperature was 0 degrees on the 25th, 27th, and 28th.
There were 0 days with sub-zero low temperatures. Normally, there are 9 days with sub-zero low temperatures.
A total of 0.89 inches of precipitation fell. This was 0.23 inches below the 1981-2010 normal of 1.12 inches. All of the precipitation fell after the 13th. The wettest day was the 14th when 0.30 inches of precipitation fell.
A total of 9.0 inches of snow fell. This was 1.7 inches below the 1981-2010 normal of 10.7 inches. The snowiest day was the 14th when 3 inches of snow fell.
The average snow depth was 4 inches. The deepest snow depth was 6 inches from January 24 to January 27 and on January 31.
...Records...
None.
...Looking ahead to February...
On average, February is the 3rd coldest month of the year in La Crosse. The average temperature is 22.5 degrees, with an average high of 31.4 degrees and an average low of 13.6 degrees. On average, February has 5.4 days when the temperature falls to zero
or lower, and 13.7 days when the high temperature stays at or below freezing. Temperatures slowly warm through the month with the average daily temperature increasing from 19 degrees on the 1st, to 28 degrees on the 28th.
February is normally a dry month with 1.05 inches of liquid precipitation on average. A typical February will have around 8.2 inches of snow, with 2.6 days seeing an inch or more.
...Month Highlights...
During January 2021, the average temperature was 20.7 degrees at Rochester International Airport. This was 5 degrees warmer than 1981-2010 normal of 15.7 degrees. This was the 15th warmest January. It was the warmest January since 2012 (average temperature of 22.8 degrees - 8th warmest).
17 out of the first 18 days of January 2021 were warmer-than-normal. The 1 day that was not warmer-than-normal was normal and that was on January 1.
The average high temperature was 27.3 degrees which was 3.7 degrees warmer than the 1981-2010 normal of 23.6 degrees. This was the 20th warmest January average high temperature.
The average low temperature was 14.1 degrees which was 6.4 degrees warmer than the 1981-2010 normal of 7.7 degrees. This was tied with 1958 for the 10th warmest January average low temperature.
The warmest temperature was 43 degrees on the 13th.
The coldest temperature was -8 degrees on the 20th.
There were 4 days with sub-zero low temperatures. Normally, there are 10 days with sub-zero low temperatures.
A total of 1.14 inches of precipitation fell. This was 0.28 inches wetter than the 1981-2010 normal of 0.86 inches. The wettest day was the 14th when 0.52 inches of precipitation fell.
A total of 11.6 inches of snow fell. This was 0.4 inches below the 1981-2010 normal of 12 inches. The snowiest day was the 14th when 4.1 inches of snow fell.
The average snow depth was 3 inches. The deepest snow depth was 7 inches on January 31.
...Records...
None.
...Looking ahead to February...
On average, February is the third coldest month of the year in Rochester with an average temperature of 20.3 degrees. The average high for the month is 28.1 degrees and the average low is 12.4 degrees. Even though February is quite cold, temperatures slowly warm during the month as the average daily temperature increases from 17 degrees on the 1st, to 25 degrees on the 29th.
February is the driest month of the year with Rochester only averaging 0.83 inches of precipitation during the month. A typical February will have around 8.5 inches of snow, with 2.5 days seeing 1 inch or more.
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