The Number Crunchers Confirm: U.S. Had A Very Warm January

Most of the United States was warmer than average
compared to the 20th century average in January, 2023.
All six New England states, plus New Jersey, 
reported their warmest January on record, 

 New numbers are in from NOAA, and they confirm that January was among the warmest on record in the United States. 

Officially, January was the nation's sixth warmest on record, according to NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information. 

Six states - New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey and Maine each had its warmest January on record.

It is unusual to have that many states record their hottest month. True, each of these states are geographically small, but it's still impressive.  Overall, 27 states had one of their Top 5 warmest Januaries. 

The map of temperature departures in the Lower 48 is also remarkable.  The entire nation was either warmer than normal or close to average, aside from isolated areas in the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada range in California.

Five out of the six warmest Januaries in the United States since 18??? have occurred since 1990.  Winters have been warming faster than other seasons under the force of climate change, so the January, 2023 data from NOAA is definitely consistent with that. 

Not only was the station warm, it was also stormy.  

Nine atmospheric river events hit California between December 26 and January 17, causing major flooding and mudslides. The storms resulted in 21 deaths, 1,400 rescues and 700 landslides, as the report from the National Centers for Environmental Information indicates.  

Overall, the nation had average precipitation of 2.85 inches ranking it among the wettest third of the historical record. That's a good indication a lot of storms affected much of the nation.  

The only areas that were drier than normal were a stripe from the Pacific Northwest, through Montana, North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota; much of Texas and Florida.

Also, for only the third time since 1950, more than 100 tornadoes were confirmed in the United States in January. As the Washington Post reports, the springlike warmth and active storminess contributed to the 123 confirmed tornadoes during January, 2023,. Only 2017, with 137 tornadoes, and 1999, with 212 twisters, had more.

That tornado trend is continuing into February.  We already have reports of 12 tornadoes in the U.S. through February Saturday, February 11. The average for the entire month is 21, and forecasters are watching a potential tornado outbreak in the South this week,. 

Complete data for January has just come in, and I'll have a report on that tomorrow. Spoiler: Early ndications are it was yet another very warm month for the globe, It was likely among the top five warmest Januaries in Europe, though there was some intense cold in parts of China, Japan and the Koreas late in the month.