January Thaw Follows Brief Cold Snap...

Often in late December into January, you'll see week after week of bitterly cold temps cover the northern Plains & Great Lakes.  Almost like clockwork, the late week in January would bring a warm up that northern folks called the "January Thaw" since it might have been the first time above freezing in over a month.  We haven't seen those long stretches of cold weather so far this Winter.

The center of the surface high over Illinois & Indiana is shifting to the east allowing for milder air to stream up behind it.  Note both Denver & Rapid City are above 50, the same temp as us.   We have one more cold night before clouds and a warming trends settle in for this weekend into next week.  I'm keeping my plants inside my "HE Shed" for another night.  

Cold air clouds develop just off the Gulf coast making for an interesting cloud pattern with the next system already making its way into the Rockies.  That will increase our clouds for Wednesday with some showers on Thursday.  The recent cold snap has had a dramatic effect on coastal water temps. dropping Shell Beach from 70 last Friday down to 55 this afternoon.  In addition, the latest surge on the Mississippi has reached Memphis and our Carrollton gage will top 15 feet by the weekend.

Hopefully we won't see any heavy rains across the plains and Ohio Valley for the next 2-3 weeks which should allow our river heights to drop back down several feet.  Right now, the River is high and the current is fast. 

Finally I show you a satellite view across northern Iowa through Illinois into northern Indiana.  You can pick out the snow cover by seeing the rivers, but note Chicago & NW Indiana (Whiting/Hammond) have very little snow cover.   They, like us, have not had to endure much of a Winter so far.   The start of February looks to stay mild with a colder last 3 weeks of that month.  It figures since that's when the parades & Mardi Gras happen!  Stay tuned!