Ithaca Climate Summary for January 2000

Temperature

• With a monthly average temperature of 20.7 degrees, the first month of the new year averaged 0.8 degrees cooler than normal.
• This was the coolest January since 1994 and the second coolest in the last twelve years.
• This was the first cooler-than-normal winter month (Dec, Jan, Feb) since February 1996.
• The first thirteen days of the month averaged 13.2 degrees warmer than normal, but the last eighteen days of the month averaged 10.8 degrees cooler than normal.
• The first two weeks of the year were the 2nd warmest in the last fifty years, while the next two weeks were in the 3rd coolest during that same period.
• There were 13 consecutive days when the temperature never got above freezing (17th-29th). This tied as the longest such string since 23 days in December 1989.
• There were 8 sub-zero days ­ the most in a month since February 1995.
• The warmest temperature of the month was 61 degrees on the 4th.
• The coldest temperature of the month was -11 degree on the 29th.
• New daily maximum temperature records were set for the 2nd with 56 degrees (old record 53 degrees in 1891) and 3rd with 60 degrees (old record 58 degrees in 1950).

Precipitation

• January precipitation totalled 2.91 inches, which represented 160% of normal.
• This January, however, had less precipitation than the previous two Januarys.
• This was only the 4th out of the last eighteen months with above normal precipitation.

Snowfall

• January snowfall more than made up the the lack of snow during the first part of the 1999-2000 snow season. The monthly snowfall total of 31 inches was 14.1 inches greater than normal.
• This was the snowiest January since 1994 and the 9th snowiest on record.
• The heaviest snowfall was measured on the 26th-27th. A significant portion of the two-day total of 13 inches was attributed to Cayuga Lake-effect snow.
• A snow cover that was established on the 13th persisted through the end of the month, reaching a maximum depth of 16 inches on the 27th.
• The seasonal snowfall total at month¹s end stood at 41.2 inches, 3.1 inches greater than normal.