January in Decorah hardly seemed like winter at all

In the past 127 years of recorded weather temperatures in Decorah, there has not been a winter like this one.

Decorah Weather Statistician Richard Bernatz says temperatures averaged 30.0 degrees from December 19th through January 17th, the highest ever for that 30-day period.

Looking at temperatures from January 1st through January 31st, the average temperature of 25.2 degrees was 9.0 degrees higher than the 127-year average.  High temperatures were 6.7 degrees warmer than average, while low temperatures were 11.2 degrees warmer.

Temperatures did sink to 5 below zero on January 21st, but that was 38 degrees off from tying the record of 43 degrees below zero on January 30th, 1951.

There were 12 days with precipitation in Decorah in January, but none of them recorded more than one-quarter of an inch of precipitation.  That gave Decorah a monthly total of 1.05 inches--just 0.01 inches more than the average.  Decorah still has a precipitation surplus of 13.31 inches over the last 12 months.