Preliminary Climate Summary for January: January 2015 started out much like last year with a spell of much colder than normal temperatures. At least five communities saw temperatures plummet to -30 F or colder during the first half of the month. But unlike last year, the second half of the month brought a long stretch of warmer than normal temperatures to the state, more than offsetting the earlier cold spell. Most observers report a mean January temperature that ranges from 3 to 5 degrees F warmer than normal, marking this month among the top 20 warmest months of January in state history. Extremes for the month ranged from -35F on the 13th at Cook (St Louis County) to 49F at Milan on the 19th and at Wells on the 26th. Most observers reported a drier than normal month of January. In fact a number of locations reported less than half of normal precipitation. On a statewide basis it was the driest January since that of 2008. For most climate stations the monthly total snowfa