Cold and Snowy January

The weather pattern remained unchanged throughout January with one Alberta Clipper after another followed by pushes of Arctic air. This pattern again brought much below normal temperatures and above normal snowfall for January across central and northeast South Dakota as well as west central Minnesota. Average monthly temperatures across the region were from 3.5 to 5.4 degrees below normal while snowfall was anywhere from 5 to 14 inches above normal. Snowfall amounts ranged from 12.9 inches at Pierre to 20.4 inches at Watertown. All of the monthly snowfall totals for January were in the top ten snowiest for all eight locations. Mobridge and Kennebec had their third snowiest Januarys on record with 18 and 19 inches, respectively. Watertown had its fourth snowiest January with 20.4 inches. Pierre and Timber Lake had their fifth snowiest January with 12.9 and 17 inches, respectively. Aberdeen had its 8^th snowiest January, while Sisseton and Wheaton both had their 9^th snowiest January on record. The water equivalent of 1.54 inches at Watertown was their seventh wettest January on record.

*JANUARY 2011*
Temperature Data	Aberdeen	Sisseton	Wheaton	Watertown
Warmest Temperature / Date	40 / 28^th	39 / 28^th	35 / 29^th	35 / 28^th
Coldest Temperature / Date	-24 / 19^th	-24 / 21^st	-23 / 21^st	-23 / 19^th
Average High / Departure from Normal	15.8 / -5.6	15.1 / -5.8	N/A	14.8 / -5.2
Average Low / Departure from Normal	-4.1 / -4.7	-3.1 / -5.0	N/A	-4.4 / -4.3
Monthly Average / Departure from Normal	5.8 / -5.2	6.0 / -5.4	N/A	5.2 / -4.8
Precipitation Data
Monthly Precipitation / Departure from Normal	1.17 / +0.69	0.86 / +0.13	1.33 / +0.41	1.54 / +0.97
Monthly Snowfall / Departure from Normal	16.5 / +9.2	17.0 / +6.9	16.9 / +5.5	20.4 / +14.1
Most Precipitation in 24 hours / Date	0.26 / 10^th	0.29 / 31^st	0.38 / 1^st	0.62 / 31^st
Most Snow in 24 hours / Date	4.8 / 10^th	5.2 / 31^st	3.4 / 11^th	7.2 / 31^st

Temperature Data	Pierre	Kennebec	Mobridge	Timber Lake
Warmest Temperature / Date	43 / 28^th	43 / 28^th	41 / 28^th	39 / 28^th
Coldest Temperature / Date	-17 / 19^th	-20 / 19^th	-24 / 12^th	-19 / 11-12^th
Average High / Departure from Normal	22.8 / -5.1	24.5 / -5.9	20.2 / -3.7	20.7 / -4.3
Average Low / Departure from Normal	2.9 / -4.8	3.1 / -4.0	-0.9 / -4.3	2.0 / -2.7
Monthly Average / Departure from Normal	12.9 / -4.9	13.8 / -5.0	9.7 / -4.0	11.4 / -3.5
Precipitation Data
Monthly Precipitation / Departure from Normal	0.93 / +0.41	1.01 / +0.68	0.62 / +0.29	0.93 / +0.52
Monthly Snowfall / Departure from Normal	12.9 / +7.5	19.0 / +14.3	18.0 / +12.8	17.0 / +11.4
Most Precipitation in 24 hours / Date	0.27 / 9^th	0.26 / 9^th	0.22 / 31^st	0.25 / 9^th
Most Snow in 24 hours / Date	3.0 / 9^th	5.0 / 31^st	6.0 / 9^th	4.3 / 9^th

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Cold and Snowy January