Coldest January in 8 years for Minnesota, but nowhere near record

We close the weather books on January 2022 at midnight. This month has delivered the coldest January in 8 years to Minnesota.

We certainly had our share of bitter arctic air intrusions and subzero mornings. But when you look back at cold weather records for January, this month doesn’t even crack the top 15 coldest Januarys on record.

Here’s are some preliminary temperature numbers for January 2022:

• 10.4 degrees average temperature at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport through Sunday

• Minus 5.8 degrees vs. average in the Twin Cities (through Sunday)

• 14 subzero nights in the Twin Cities

• 16 nights at or below zero so far this winter (seasonal average is 23)

• 7 nights at or below minus 10 in the Twin Cities

• Minus 17 degrees, coldest temperature recorded at MSP airport (Jan. 7)

Most of Minnesota is running between 5 and 10 degrees colder than average.

For snowfall, the state has received slightly below to above-average snowfall this month.

Not even close to record cold

It was respectably cold this month in Minnesota. But we still would have needed to be about 6 degrees colder to match the No. 15 spot back in 1994.

February outlook

Another arctic front arrives Tuesday to open the month of February. This brings more subzero air to Minnesota, but it does not look quite as extreme as the air mass that brought minus 16 degrees to the Twin Cities last week.

It looks like the Twin Cities will bottom out around minus 10 degrees Thursday morning, with minus 20s to minus 30 up north.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s latest 30-day temperature outlook favors equal chances for above and below-average temperatures and snowfall for February.

Stay tuned.