January was cold and snowy in Decorah

January in Decorah was on track to be a warmer than normal January--and then came the Polar Vortex!

One week of frigid weather--including a low of --37 degrees on January 31st--meant the month ended with an average temperature of 15.8 degrees in Decorah.  That was just 0.4 degrees cooler than the average for the month, thanks to the first two-thirds of the month, which included a high of 49 degrees on January 5th.

Decorah meteorologist Richard Bernatz says there were seven days of snowfall in Decorah in January.  Total snowfall was 16.6 inches, which was 7.5 inches more than average.  However, January of 2019 did not set any records for snowfall--it fell well short of the record of 34.7 inches of snow which fell in 1996.

For more information about Decorah weather statistics, visit http://faculty.luther.edu/~bernatzr/DecWx/