That hot mess of January: Very wet, very cold, very warm

January’s weather was full of extremes and records. There were four record lows for the day of the month: 10.4 degrees Jan. 12, 9.8 degrees Jan. 13, 14 degrees Jan. 15 and 16.4 degrees Jan. 16. The average daily temperature was below 20 degrees Jan. 12-14 and below 16 degrees Jan. 12-13.

The month ended with three record highs for the day, Jan. 28-30, with 61.3 degrees Jan. 28, 64.3 degrees Jan 29 and 61.1 degrees Jan. 30. Jan. 27-31 the daily temperature averaged at least 54.4 degrees and was 58.6 degrees Jan. 29, when the high hit its record 64.3 degrees.

Yes, it was wet. Rainfall totaled 4.6 inches, as in December. It was by far the wettest January since 5.9 inches came down in 2020. Four of the nine wettest Januarys have been since 2015. Eleven times since 2000 4 or more inches have fallen at the start of the year. Only three years saw less than 2 inches of precipitation, all recently: 2017, 2019 and 2023.

Almost two-thirds of the wet came down Jan. 16-28, 13 days in a row totaling 3 inches. An inch fell Jan. 18-19. Earlier, there was 1.1 inches Jan. 8-10 and 1.6 inches fell Jan. 1-11.

Snow came with the cold Jan. 17 but for the first time in recent memory there was no sledding on Washington Street between Third and Whatcom streets in La Conner as neighbor complaints and liability concerns combined into a decision to plow that street.

January was colder than normal with the 34.7-degree average daily low 0.7 degrees below the century average. The daily average temperature of 40.2 was 0.8 degrees lower for these 25 years and the average daily high of 45.4 degrees was 1.5 degrees below the century’s daily high average temperature.

December and January’s rains offer a precipitation surplus of over 2.1 inches. For now, there is standing water in fields in the western Skagit Valley around La Conner.

Measurements and data are at Washington State University’s Mount Vernon weather station on Memorial Highway.

Rain Report: January

Rain last week: Jan. 28-Feb. 3: 0.3”

January rainfall: 4.6”

Number of rain days: 23

Least rain, one day: 0.01”, 3 days

Most rain, one day: 0.57”, Jan.19

Least rain: 1.6”, 2017

Most rain: 6.5”, 2006

Average rainfall, 2000-2024: 3.98” *

December rainfall: 4.6”

* 23 years: no data 2003, 2005.

Data from WSU Mount Vernon.