Clouds dominate skies for first week of January; Mild pattern expected to continue for much of the United States
CLOUD COVER HELPS KEEP OVERNIGHT TEMPERATURES MILD FOR EARLY JANUARY – SO MUCH SO A RECORD WAS BROKEN
The 9 a.m. observation Friday at O’Hare Airport recorded a temperature of 31 degrees – the first time the temperature dropped below 32 in 2023
This is the first time on record (since 1871) that the temperature did not go below 32 degrees in Chicago during the first 5 days of the year
Only 4 years have had only one day of the first 5 days of the year that dropped below 32—1955, 1992, 1997, 1998
59% of all years have had all 5 of the first five days of the year with temperatures below 32
A CLOUDY START TO 2023
Friday was the 4th day of the first 6 days of the year that no sunshine was recorded in Chicago
Through Friday, January 6th, only 90 minutes of sunshine have been recorded in Chicago so far in 2023
90 minutes of sunshine out of a possible 3,328 minutes through the first 6 days of the month produced 3% of the possible sunshine to date for the month
Normal sunshine for Chicago for January is 40% of the possible sunshine. December and January are on average the cloudiest months of the year.
JANUARY’S ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS
8 – 14 Day temperature outlook for January 14 – 20, 2023
WARMER THAN NORMAL PATTERN LOCKED IN PLACE THROUGH AT LEAST MID-MONTH
Full-day temperature departures from normal
Weekly temperatures (average of high and low)
WHILE HARDLY BARBARIC BY JAN. STANDARDS, THE COLDEST FRIDAY EVENING TEMPERATURES COINCIDE WITH DEEPEST SNOWPACK
Snow covered areas can be at least 10 degrees colder vs. bare ground thanks to the higher albedo (the amount of energy reflected by the surface)
