For the third straight month the Junction City, Geary County area was warmer and wetter than normal. Unlike the previous two months we weren´t as warm and certainly not as wet, but still above average in both respects!

The average daily high for January was 38.2, which was 1.3 degrees below normal. Average overnight low, however, was 23.2, 4.9 degrees above normal. This gave us a monthly mean temperature of 30.7, 1.8 degrees above normal. The highest temperature for the month was 66 degrees on the 29th. The coldest temperature during January was the morning low of 1 degree on the 9th. The high of 66 on the 29th tied the record high for that date. The record was set just two years ago in 2013. The warmest January on record was in 2006 with an astounding monthly mean temperature of 43.9 degrees. The coldest January on record was in 1979, during what has become known as the mini ice age, when we had a frigid monthly mean
temperature of 12.1. The second and third coldest Januarys were 1978 and 1977 with monthly mean temperatures of 14.4 and 17.0.

January is our driest month of the year yet one of our snowiest months of the year. Average monthly precipitation is 0.65 inches of liquid equivalent. A rain event earlier in January and a snow event later in January gave us total precipitation for the month of 0.73 inches at Milford Lake and 0.76 inches for Junction City. The wettest January on record was January 1949 when 4.28 inches was recorded. The driest January was the very dry and dusty January of 1986 when no precipitation was recorded for the month. January and
February are our snowiest months of the season with 4.7 inches of snow falling on average. We were slightly over that with 5.7 inches of snow recorded during January. Season to date we have had 6.4 inches of snow, somewhat below the seasonal average of 9.4 inches through the end of Janaury.

February starts to bring us warmer weather as the sun is staying up longer. Average daily highs start the month at 39 and by leap day on the 29th we should be near 50. Overnight lows don´t show quite as impressive of an increase ranging from 17 on the 1st to 26 on the 29th. Average snowfall in February is 4.7 inches and precipitation average for the month is 1.12 inches.

–
Chuck Otte
County Extension Agent, Ag & Natural Resources
Geary County Extension Office, PO BOX 28