Sheldon, Iowa — The first month of the 2020’s was just a touch warmer than normal and we had a little more snow than normal.
According to the official records for Sheldon, this January, the average high was 26, and the low was 11. Normal averages are 25 and 4, so the highs were pretty close to normal, but the lows were a little warmer. The average temperature for the month as a whole was 18 as compared to a normal of 14. Last year was a little closer to normal with the average temperature for the month of 15.
The high temperature for the whole month was 39 degrees, on January 5th. The lowest temperature recorded during January 2020 was -15 on January 16th. The record high for the month is 69 degrees, which was recorded in 2002. The record low for the month is -42 in 1912.
Precip for the month was 0.92 inches. Normal is 0.65 inches, so we ended the month 0.27 inches above normal. Total snowfall for the month ended up at an even 10 inches. Normal is 6.4 inches, so we ended the month 3.6 inches above normal for the month. Total season snowfall since September first has been 21.55 inches, which is 2.85 inches above normal.
And the days continue to get longer. At the beginning of the month, we had nine hours and three minutes of daylight. By the last day of the month, that had increased to nine hours and fifty-seven minutes — 54 more minutes of daylight.
