MONTHLY CLIMATOLOGICAL SUMMARY for JAN. 2006 NAME: Charleswood CITY: Winnipeg STATE: MB ELEV: 235 m LAT: 49° 54' 00" N LONG: 97° 18' 00" W TEMPERATURE (°C), RAIN (mm), SNOW/SOG (cm), WIND SPEED (km/h) HEAT AVG MEAN DEG WIND DOM DAY TEMP HIGH TIME LOW TIME DAYS RAIN SNOW SPEED HIGH TIME DIR SOG ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 -4.6 -3.8 12:15a -5.7 12:00m 22.9 0.0 0.0 1.4 17.7 8:30a E 15 2 -5.0 -2.8 11:15p -7.4 5:30a 23.3 0.0 0.0 7.9 40.2 9:45p S 15 3 -2.1 -1.4 2:15p -2.9 12:15a 20.3 0.0 0.0 5.8 33.8 12:30a SSW 15 4 -1.8 -1.1 2:15p -2.8 10:45p 20.1 0.0 0.0 3.7 25.7 1:30p N 15 5 -4.4 -2.8 12:15a -5.5 12:15p 22.8 0.0 0.0 1.1 19.3 11:30a WNW 15 6 -2.4 3.1 2:15p -6.9 9:15a 20.7 0.0 0.0 6.8 40.2 7:30a SSW 15 7 -4.0 -2.5 12:15a -4.3 8:15a 22.3 0.0 2.0E 1.9 27.4 12:15a N 15 8 -5.1 -3.7 2:00p -8.2 11:45p 23.4 0.0 0.0 3.2 29.0 7:30p N 16 9 -9.6 -5.0 4:15p -17.8 6:45a 27.9 0.0 0.0 8.5 41.8 3:45p SSW 16 10 -1.2 2.9 1:15p -5.7 12:15a 19.5 T 1.6 4.0 33.8 2:30a SSW 15 11 -0.7 0.3 1:45p -2.3 12:15a 19.0 T 3.6 0.6 16.1 12:15a NNE 16 12 -7.1 -1.1 3:45a -13.7 6:15p 25.4 T 0.4 4.8 33.8 11:15a N 19 13 -5.5 -2.0 11:00a -11.1 11:30p 23.8 0.0 0.4 2.1 20.9 12:45p N 19 14 -5.8 -1.9 2:00p -11.1 12:15a 24.1 0.0 0.0 1.9 32.2 10:45a E 19 15 -2.5 -0.1 3:30p -4.7 2:30a 20.8 0.6 0.0 2.3 16.1 12:30a ENE 18 16 -7.1 -1.8 12:30a -10.6 9:45p 25.3 0.0 7.0 3.7 43.5 12:30p N 24 17 -10.1 -9.1 7:15a -11.7 12:00m 28.3 0.0 1.0 4.0 35.4 12:30p N 23 18 -14.4 -11.7 12:15a -19.3 11:00p 32.7 0.0 0.0 1.3 22.5 3:15a N 23 19 -10.7 -5.4 2:15p -18.8 12:15a 29.0 T 3.2 2.4 25.7 10:30a N 22 20 -13.0 -10.4 12:45a -15.8 5:45p 31.3 0.0 0.0 1.0 17.7 11:30a N 23 21 -14.0 -10.5 12:15p -18.6 12:00m 32.3 0.0 5.6 5.0 38.6 7:30p N 26 22 -20.1 -15.2 12:00m -27.8 10:00a 38.4 0.0 0.0 4.2 25.7 9:45p N 26 23 -6.7 2.6 5:45p -15.3 12:15a 25.0 1.0 2.0 8.7 46.7 8:30p SSW 25 24 -3.0 -0.8 6:30a -7.6 12:00m 21.3 0.0 T 7.7 46.7 8:45a N 22 25 -7.8 -2.8 4:30p -13.9 4:00a 26.1 0.0 0.0 6.4 38.6 11:15p S 22 26 -2.1 2.4 4:30p -6.1 2:00a 20.3 0.0 0.0 15.8 43.5 10:00a SSW 22 27 -2.1 0.4 12:00p -5.0 3:30a 20.4 0.0 0.0 3.4 32.2 6:45a N 21 28 -6.5 -4.0 3:00p -9.7 9:45a 24.8 0.0 0.0 2.4 16.1 5:00p NNE 21 29 -5.6 -4.7 12:15a -7.0 6:00p 23.9 0.0 4.2 5.0 25.7 2:15p N 23 30 -10.0 -5.5 12:00m -15.3 8:30a 28.3 0.0 0.0 2.3 20.9 11:45p N 24 31 -1.7 1.1 3:45p -5.5 12:15a 16.1 0.0 0.0 8.4 49.9 8:15a SSW 23 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -6.3 3.1 6 -27.8 22 760.0 1.6 30.8 4.4 49.9 31 N 2006 NORMAL DEPARTURE MEAN MAX...... -3.1C -12.7C + 9.6c MEAN MIN...... -10.3C -22.8C +12.5c MEAN ......... -6.3C -17.8C +11.5C JANUARY 2006 HIGHLIGHTS ..WARMEST JANUARY IN 133 YEARS OF RECORDS AT WINNIPEG.. January 2006 will go down in the history books as Winnipeg’s mildest January since records began in 1873. With a mean monthly temperature of -7.4C at Winnipeg airport January 2006 will finish over 10 degrees above normal (normal -17.8C), easily beating the previous warmest January of 1944 which finished at -10.6C. Thus, January 2006 will beat the 1944 record by a full 3 degrees C - an extraordinary margin when talking about mean monthly temperatures. This shows how unusual the weather pattern has been this winter, not only in its deviation from normal, but in its persistence. Since Dec 21st, Winnipeg daily temperatures have been above normal every day but one (22nd), and most of those days have been 10 to 15 degrees above normal. In effect, southern Manitoba has been stuck in perpetual March like weather since the official start of winter, with plenty of cloud, melting snow, occasional freezing rain, and messy roads. Interestingly however, no record daily highs were established during January. Instead, it was the absence of cold rather than record warmth that was the main story during the month. There was only 1 day that dropped below -20C at my station (3 at Winnipeg airport) when a normal January would see at least 20 days of -20C or lower. The coldest day of the month was a moderate -27.8C reading on the 22nd, (-32.9 at the airport). Last January saw 10 days of -30C or lower. There were 7 days during the month with above freezing temperatures, with a monthly maximum of +3.1C on January 6th. Heating degree days for the month totalled only 760 units at my site, some 30% lower than the normal 1100 during January resulting in a considerable savings on heating bills for the month. Snowfall during January was a little above normal with about 31 cm for the month at my site with generally minor snowfalls interspersed throughout the month. There were also several days with freezing rain or freezing drizzle that caused poor driving conditions at times. Cloud cover was frequent, with many cloudy days and only a few days with sun. This was one of the main reasons why temperatures stayed so mild for the month especially at night. The main cause for the unusual stretch of mild weather has been the displacement of the Arctic vortex which normally sits over the Canadian high Arctic or Hudson Bay. This year, for some unknown reason, the cold pool of air has been displaced over Siberia, giving eastern Europe one of its severest winters in decades. This has allowed a mild Pacific flow to sweep over much of Canada, maintaining mild conditions for weeks on end, and keeping any cold air from surging south. The net result has been one of the mildest Januarys on record in many parts of the country, particularly over the eastern Prairies which were over 10 degrees above normal for the month. Winnipeg's top ten warmest Januarys since 1873 are as follows.. 1. 2006..... - 7.4C 2. 1944..... -10.6C 3. 1942..... -11.4C (would have been warmest if not for very cold first week) 4. 1992..... -11.5C 5. 1990..... -11.6C 6. 1987..... -11.8C 6. 1919..... -11.8C 8. 1958..... -11.9C 9. 1931..... -12.2C 10. 1983..... -12.4C