Mitchell, South Dakota

January 2006 was a record warm month for Mitchell, South Dakota.  Below is a graph showing the daily maximum and minimum temperature for Mitchell.  Also shown is the normal high and low temperature for Mitchell.  There were 19 days when the observed low temperature was warmer than the normal high temperature for the date. 

Click on image to see table of values shown in graph.

The warmest temperature of the month was 63 degrees on January 26 which was a record for the day.  Mitchell also had a low of 33 on January 26 which was the record high minimum for the date. 

The average January temperature in Mitchell was 31.1 degrees.  This set a record for the warmest average temperature in January and broke the old record by 3.5 degrees.  The graph below shows the top 10 warmest Januarys in Mitchell.

Red indicates 2006 average and yellow is normal.  Click on image to see table of values shown in graph.

Mitchell also set a record for the warmest average minimum temperature in January.  The average minimum temperature was 25.4 degrees and broke the old record of 20.1 degrees set in 1990. January 2006 was 21.8 degrees above the normal low of 3.6 degrees in January.  The average low temperature for January 2006 was comparable to the normal low temperature for March 23.

Red indicates 2006 average and yellow is normal.  Click on image to see table of values shown in graph.

Mitchell also had the 3rd warmest average maximum temperature in January.  The average maximum temperature was 41.8 degrees while the record for January is 43.6 degrees set in 1931.  An average temperature of 41.8 degrees is 16.7 degrees above normal and would be the normal high temperature on March 14.

Red indicates 2006 and yellow is normal.  Click on image to see table of values shown in graph.

There are several other interesting facts associated with January 2006.  This was the third January on record where the low temperature did not fall below zero.   Normally, there are 11 days in January when the low temperature is below zero.

Dark blue indicates 2006 and grey is normal.  Click on image to see table of values shown in graph.

January 2006 also the first time the daily minimum temperature was not less than 10 degrees.  Prior to 2006, the fewest number of days with a minimum temperature below 10 degrees was 3 which occurred in 1990.  Normally, Mitchell has a minimum temperature less than 10 degrees on 17 days.

Dark blue indicates 2006 and grey is normal.  Click on image to see table of values shown in graph.

Mitchell had the most days in recorded history when the low temperature remained above 19 degrees.  For 27 of the 31 days in January, the low temperature was at least 20 degrees.  This is 7 more days than in 1942 when 20 days had a minimum temperature of at least 20 degrees.  Mitchell normally has 6 days in January with a minimum temperature of at least 20 degrees.

Dark blue indicates 2006 and grey is normal.  Click on image to see table of values shown in graph.

Mitchell also saw the most number of days in January above freezing.  There were 28 days above freezing in January.  This is one more than the previous record of 27 set in 1933.  On average, there are 12 days in January when the temperature rises above freezing.

Dark blue indicates 2006 and grey is normal.  Click on image to see table of values shown in graph.

Table 1. Daily observed high and low temperature and normal high and low
temperature for January 2006 in Mitchell, South Dakota.

Date

Observed High

Observed Low 

Normal Low

Normal High

January 1

33

29

4

25

January 2

30

28

4

25

January 3

34

28

4

25

January 4

40

28

4

25

January 5

35

23

4

25

January 6

43

21

3

25

January 7

42

27

3

25

January 8

34

28

3

24

January 9

35

29

3

24

January 10

42

26

3

24

January 11

51

27

3

24

January 12

40

30

3

24

January 13

39

27

3

24

January 14

46

26

3

25

January 15

56

29

3

25

January 16

35

21

3

25

January 17

29

21

3

25

January 18

45

19

3

25

January 19

36

27

3

25

January 20

39

23

3

25

January 21

49

21

3

25

January 22

32

14

4

25

January 23

51

17

4

25

January 24

42

22

4

25

January 25

49

18

4

26

January 26

63

33

4

26

January 27

56

31

4

26

January 28

48

31

5

26

January 29

41

26

5

26

January 30

40

28

5

27

January 31

42

28

5

27

Table II. Top Ten Warmest Average Temperature
 for Mitchell, South Dakota

Year Average Temperature
2006 33.6
1990 30.1
1931 30.0
1933 29.5
1944 28.5
1919 27.8
1992 27.6
1989 26.8
1939 26.8
1987 26.1
1947 26.1
1921 26.1
Normal 14.3

Table III. Top Ten Warmest Minimum Temperature for
Mitchell, South Dakota

Year Average Temperature
2006 25.6
1990 20.1
1933 17.1
1919 17.1
1939 17.1
1992 16.8
1944 16.8
1921 16.6
1931 16.5
1987 15.5
Normal 3.6

 

Table IV. Top Ten Warmest Maximum Temperature for
Mitchell, South Dakota

Year Average Temperature
1931 43.6
1933 41.9
2006 41.8
1944 40.3
1990 40.1
1919 38.5
1992 38.4
1989 38.2
1958 38.0
1947 37.1
1934 37.1
Normal 25.1

 

Table V. Fewest Number of January Days
Below Zero in Mitchell, South Dakota

Year Average Temperature
2002 0
2006 0
1990 0
1933 1
1983 1
1898 2
1921 2
1923 2
1931 2
1939 2
1953 2
1958 2
1992 2
2002 2
Normal 11

 

Table VI. Fewest Number of Days with a
Minimum Temperature of Less Than 10 Degrees
in Mitchell, South Dakota

Year Average Temperature
2006 0
1990 3
1933 4
1931 5
1983 5
1919 6
1921 6
1939 6
1944 6
1987 6
Normal 17

 

Table VII. Greatest Number of Days with a
Minimum Temperature Greater Than 19 Degrees
in Mitchell, South Dakota

Year Average Temperature
2006 27
1942 20
1919 19
1990 17
1939 16
1947 16
1900 14
1931 14
1944 14
1986 13
1992 13
Normal 6

Table VIII. Greatest Number of Days with a
Maximum Temperature of Greater Than 32 Degrees
in Mitchell, South Dakota

Year Average Temperature
2006 28
1933 27
1919 26
1931 26
1939 23
1944 23
1990 23
1992 22
1898 21
1921 21
1942 21
Normal 12

 

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