Snowy and Cold January 2009...How did it rank?

Cold and Snowy January 2009

The month ended up 5.5 to 7.5 degrees below normal. Cleveland had 21 days this month when the high didn't top 32 degrees. Toledo had 25 such days. There were 6 days with sub-zero lows at Toledo and Mansfield. Youngstown had the fewest of these nights with only three. Snow covered the ground for at least 3 of the 4 weeks at all of our climate locations this month.

Coldest Temperatures Recorded this Month (in degrees F):

Toledo	-14 (1/16 & 1/17)
Cleveland	-13 (1/16)
Mansfield	-14 (1/17)
Akron-Canton	-14 (1/16 & 1/17)
Youngstown	-10 (1/16)
Erie, PA	-6 (1/16)

Snowfall for the Month and for the Season Running Above Normal (in inches):

	Jan 2009	Inches Above Normal (for Jan)	'08-'09 Season So Far	Normal for Season So Far	Normal Seasonal Snowfall
Toledo	30.7	19.9	40.1	21.9	37.4
Cleveland	40.5	23.4	59.3	35.7	63.1
Mansfield	43.8	30.7	56.0	26.2	45.0
Akron-Canton	29.0	15.8	45.2	27.0	47.4
Youngstown	35.8	21.9	69.4	31.3	54.4
Erie, PA	59.2	32.9	129.5	60.9	91.7

Mansfield was the only station that broke their snowfall record for the month. With 43.8 inches, this broke the previous record of 42.1 inches from January 1978.

Toledo was 0.2 inches away from breaking their record snowiest January. The record remains 30.8 inches, also from January 1978.

Cleveland's record of 42.8 inches from January 1978 still holds as January 2009 came up short with 40.5 inches.

While still experiencing above average snowfall this month, the records for Akron-Canton, Youngstown, and Erie, PA were not threatened.

For the season thus far, Erie, PA already ranks #5 for the snowiest season on record. The record snowiest season was 2000-2001 with 149.1 inches.

Mansfield had the 4th coldest January on record with an average temperature of 17.5 degrees. Akron-Canton tied for the 5th coldest January on record (with Jan. 1994). Their average temperature was 18.4 degrees. Toledo and Youngstown both ranked 8th with an average temperature of 16.5 degrees and 18.8 degrees, respectively.

All of these monthly statistics for our climate stations can be found year round by going to the following link and selecting your station. Data each month are updated within a week if data for the previous month made the "top ten."

NWS Cleveland Unique Local Climate Data

Records date back to 1874 for Erie
                                  1897 for Youngstown
                                  1871 for Canton-Akron, Cleveland, and Toledo
                                  1916 for Mansfield

Normals run from 1971-2000.