Ithaca Climate Summary for January 2004

Temperature

• With an average temperature of 15.8 degrees, the month averaged 6.8 degrees colder than normal.
• This was the coldest January since 1994 and the 14th coldest on record (adjusted records dating back to 1873).
• The first six days of the month averaged 13 degrees warmer than normal, but the pattern changed abruptly, as the remainder of the month averaged 11.4 degrees colder than normal.
• The temperature failed to reach beyond the single digits on four days this month. This had only happened on four days in the last six winters combined.
• There were eight days with below-zero temperatures. The last time there were more in any month was January 1994 with 10 days.
• The warmest temperature of the month was 59 degrees on the 3rd.
• The coldest temperature of the month was -17 degrees on the 10th. This set a record for the day. The previous record was -13 degrees set in 1943.
• The -17 degree temperature was the coldest reading of any month since -24 degrees on January 27, 1994.
• The last above-freezing temperature of the month was 33 degrees on the 13th.

Precipitation

• The January precipitation total was 1.71 inches, which was 81% of normal.
• This was 0.99 inches drier than last January.
• This month broke a string of seven consecutive wetter-than-normal months.

Snowfall

• Despite the below normal precipitation (rain plus melted snow), the total snowfall for January of 22.5 inches, which was 4.6 inches more than normal.
• Snowfall this month was 7.5 inches less than last January.
• There was no snow on the first four days of the month, but at least a trace of snow fell on twenty-four out of the next twenty-seven days. This included fifteen consecutive days from the 11th through the 25th.
• After the 4th, there was at least 2 inches of snow cover for everyday for the rest of the month. The maximum snow depth was 14 inches on the 28th.
• In some of the surrounding communities, Groton had 35.2 inches of snow and Freeville had 37.1 inches.
• Seasonal snowfall for Ithaca now stands at 51.8 inches, 13.6 inches above normal.