Maybe this winter hasn't quite been as bad as you thought it has been!

Yes, it's been a bad winter!  Decorah weather observer Richard Bernatz says we had 12 inches of snow in January--2.6 inches more than average.  The average temperature in January was 10.4 degrees--5.7 degrees lower than average.  And 21 out of 31 days in January has below average minimum temperatures. 

Furthermore, 24 days from November 1st through January 31st had high temperatures less than 20 degrees--ten days more than normal.  28 days during that time had lows below zero (the average is 15 or 16 days).

Yet despite all those figures, Bernatz has compared the winter of 2013-2014 to past winters--and has discovered that 22 of them were more severe.

So, in conclusion, "It could be worse."

Of course, we're not through February yet!