January Thaw in the Twin Cities – Almost Always in the Cards

As we anticipate an early January thaw this year in the Twin Cities, the question occurs to me why do we always seem to expect this?

The Twin Cities climate statistics certainly support it. There have been only three years since 1891 when the January temperature did not rise above the 32 degrees F mark at least once. Those years, 1912, 1978, and 1979 host some of the coldest Januarys in history. In 1912 we set a record for the longest time below zero F and it marked the coldest January of the modern record. 1978 brought the 12th coldest January, while 1979 brought the 6th coldest. Even 1977 was the 2nd coldest January on record, but we crept above freezing on one day during that month.

On average there are 8 January days that reach above the freezing mark in the Twin Cities. In 1944 the daily high climbed above 32 degrees F 21 days during the month - remarkable. Will the upcoming January thaw repeat itself later this month? I think at least once.....