January 2004 one of coldest on record

MILLPORT, Ohio – The precipitation keeps right on coming, making January rainfall 1.46 inches above normal and making twice as much snow as normal for the month, according to Edwin R. Copeland, U.S. weather observer, reporting from his post in southern Columbiana County.

Old-fashioned. Copeland marked 10 days of rain and snow last month. Winter set in around Jan. 6., and provided an old-fashioned winter, he said.

We were lucky that the wind didn’t blow much, and we had very little drifting, Copeland said.

On record. The weather station recorded 25 days with temperatures below freezing. The month had five nights with below-zero temperatures.

The first three days of the month were the warmest.

Copeland said last month was one of his coldest Januarys on record. The coldest was January 1977, and it averaged 9.8 degrees. That year also had 16 inches of snow.

Highs and lows. The high temperature for the month was 59 degrees recorded Jan. 3. The low temperature was minus 15 degrees recorded Jan. 23.

The 111-year averages for January are: 27.6 degrees, 2.90 inches of rain and 8.3 inches of snow.

Averages for January 2004 are: 20.6 degrees, 4.26 inches of rain and 16 inches of snow.