After a record breaking December temperature-wise we were waiting to see what January would bring. Would El Nino kick in? Well, it did.
We had many rounds of rain, strong to severe thunderstorms, and bouts with cooler weather.
From a temperature standpoint, January was very “normal.” Often times we speak of normal temperatures, but that usually means average temps over a 30 year period.
December was so unusual, not because there was warm weather, but because it never got balanced out with bouts of cooler weather.
Well, January averaged out just about normal to slightly below normal but had some big swings in weather throughout the month.
From the 1st to the 31st we saw a few days of warm followed by a few days of cold. This pattern repeated basically through the month.
In between we were hit with rounds of rain, some heavy, and some rounds of severe weather. When you look at the whole state, there were several tornado events during the month of January and in our area there were two people killed in an early morning tornado in Manatee County on January 17th.
With several rounds of rain through the month, January (normally a dry month) ended up rather wet with most locations reporting several inches above normal.
Here is a look at the numbers:
Tampa
Average Temperature 60.2 (0.6 degrees below average)
Rainfall 6.18” (3.95 inches above average)
Lakeland
Average Temperature 60.5 (0.2 degrees below average)
Rainfall 6.77” (4.13 inches above average)
Bradenton (Sarasota-Bradenton Airport)
Average Temperature 60.3 (1.1 degrees below average)
Rainfall 4.41” (1.92 inches above average)
Brooksville
Average Temperature 57.0 (0.3 degrees above average)
Rainfall 4.44” (1.22 inches above average)
Clearwater (St Pete/Clearwater Airport)
Average Temperature 60.2 (1.2 degrees below average)
Rainfall 4.57” (1.64 inches above average)
St Petersburg
Average Temperature 61.0 (0.6 degrees below average)
Rainfall 7.13” (4.56 inches above average)
Winter Haven
Average Temperature 59.7 (1.1 degrees below average)
Rainfall 5.88” (3.40 inches above average)
So, looking forward to February, it is usually a very dry month, as we finish meteorological winter, but we do see a trend toward some warming by the end of the month as Spring approaches.
We begin the month with average temperatures in the low 70s for highs and low 50s for lows, but by the 29th those numbers increase to the mid-70s for highs and mid 50s for lows.
Rainfall at all stations averages less than 3 inches during Februrary. This year, however, it looks as though our active weather pattern will remain over the first half of the month. Stay tuned….