1. At Topeka, KS a maximum temperature record for the month of January was tied at 74°F on January 8, 2003. The previous record was set on January 2, 1939.
2. Des Moines, IA set a new maximum temperature record for the entire month of January on January 8, 2003. A new record was established at 67°F, breaking the old record of 65°F set on January 26, 2002.
3. The following two cities in Kansas experienced their second highest maximum January temperature on January 8, 2003.
- Lamoni hit a high temperature of 66°F, breaking the previous record of 62°F set in 2002. The all-time January maximum temperature occurred on January 31, 1989.
- Ottumwa reached 69 °F, breaking the previous record of 64°F set in 1939. The all-time January maximum temperature occurred on January 31, 1989 with a high temperature of 71°F.
4. Lake Charles, LA broke the latest first freeze record on January 14, 2003. The previous latest first freeze record was established on January 9, 1942.
5. Columbia, SC tied an all-time record low temperature record on January 24, 2003. A low of 13°F was reported. The previous record was set in 1970.
6. Salt Lake City, Utah set a new warmest temperature record for the month of January on January 31, 2003. A high temperature of 63°F was set, breaking the previous record of 62°F set on the 26th in 1982. January 2003 will also go down as the second warmest January on record with a mean temperature of 38.3°F, breaking the previous record of 37.9°F set in 1998. The warmest January on record occurred in 1953 with a mean temperature of 39.5°F. The normal mean temperature is 29.2°F.
7. Pleasant Grove and Springville, UT also set all-time January records for the highest temperature.
- Pleasant Grove tied the 62°F record that was set on the 27th in 1987.
- Springville set a new record of 64°F breaking the previous record of 62°F which was set on the 23rd in 2003.
8. Provo, UT set a new record of 40.1°F for the mean temperature of January, breaking the previous record of 38.2°F that was set in 1953.
9. Reno, NV set a new all-time monthly temperature record of 71°F on January 31, 2003. The previous record high for the month was 70°F and was set on the 15th in 1967.
10. Pocatello, ID set a highest January temperature record on January 31, 2003. A temperature of 60°F was recorded breaking the previous record of 57°F which was set on January 16, 1974.
11. Phoenix, AZ set a new second warmest high temperature record on January 31, 2003 with a maximum high of 86°F. The warmest temperature record for January was set in 1971 on the 19th at 88°F.
12. Battle Mountain, Elko and Wells, NV set new all-time record highs for the month of January on January 31, 2003.
- Battle Mountain had a high temperature of 70°F, breaking the previous record of 67°F which was set in 1977.
- Elko set a new record at 65°F, breaking the previous record of 64°F that was set in 1990.
- Wells set a new record at 67°F breaking the previous record of 62°F set in 1990.
13. Several areas in Southwest CA experienced the highest temperature ever record in the month of January on January 31, 2003, they include the following:
- Los Angeles airport reached a high temperature of 91°F.
- Long Beach airport reached 93°F.
- Mount Wilson reached a high temperature of 77°F, breaking the previous record of 75°F which was set on January 30, 2003.
- Oxnard reached the high temperature of 94°F.
14. The following Southern CA areas set new all-time high temperatures for January on January 31, 2003.
- Chula Vista reached 90°F breaking a previous record of 88°F which was set on the 18th, 1971; the 16th, 1976 and the 11th, 1996.
- El Cajon hit 92°F breaking a previous record of 86°F set on the 29th in 1984 and the 26th 1987.
- Escondido set a new record at 92°F breaking the previous record of 87°F which was set on the 13th, 2000.
- Santa Ana hit 96°F breaking a record of 92°F which was set on the 16th, 1976.
- Thermal reached a high of 94°F breaking the previous record of 92°F that was set on the 19th, 1971 and the 7th, 1962.
- Riverside hit 97°F breaking the previous high of 89°F set on the 18th, 1976.
- San Pasqual Animal Park reached a high of 95°F breaking the previous record of 88°F that occurred on the 12th, 1996.
15. San Jose, CA had the warmest January on record for January 2003. An average temperature of 55.6°F was reported breaking the previous record of 54.5°F set in 1986. The normal average January high temperature is 50.5°F.
16. San Francisco, CA had the second warmest January on record in 2003. The average temperature for the month was 56.3°F with the warmest January record being 56.6°F, which occurred in 1986.
17. Las Vegas, NV had the warmest January ever recorded with an average temperature of 54.2°F. The previous warmest January occurred in 1986 with an average temperature of 51.7°F. The normal average January temperature is 47°F.
1. At Des Moines, IA a 53 day record dry spell, that spanned from 11/12/02 to 01/03/03, ended when freezing rain was measured at 0.01 of a inch January 4, 2003. This breaks the previous record for a dry spell in Des Moines of 45 days from October 2 - November 15, 1952.
2. Lead, SD experienced the greatest rainfall event ever recorded without measurable snowfall for the month of January on January 5, 2003. A total of 0.31of an inch of rain fell, breaking the previous record of 0.15 of an inch that occurred in 1984 on January 3rd.
3. Little Rock, AR had its driest January on record in 2003. The total precipitation measured was 0.31 of an inch. The previous record was set in 1986 with a total of 0.55 of an inch.
4. Amarillo, TX had its second driest January on record in 2003. The total precipitation for the month was a trace. The driest January occurred in 1923 and 1986 when no precipitation fell at all.
5. New Orleans and Baton Rouge, LA had its driest January on record in 2003.
- New Orleans only had 0.19 of an inch of rain breaking the previous driest record of 0.54 of an inch in 1968. Normal rainfall totals for January is 5.87 inches.
- Baton Rouge reported a total of 0.52 of an inch of rain breaking the previous record of 0.60 of an inch that was set in 1928. Normal rainfall totals for January is 6.19 inches.
1. Binghamton, NY experienced the second snowiest day on record January 3, 2003, with a total amount of 17.3 inches of snowfall. The snowiest day ever recorded in Binghamton history occurred on January 13, 1964 when 18.4 inches of snow fell.
2. At Burlington, VT 17.4 inches of snow fell on January 4, 2003, making it the second highest one day total in Burlington history. The greatest one day total occurred on January 14, 1934 when 23.1 inches of snow fell.
3. At Albany, NY several new records were established on January 4, 2003.
- The two day total for January 3-4 reached 20.8 inches making it the second greatest January snowstorm since records began in 1885. The greatest January snowstorm occurred in 1983 when 24.5 inches of snow fell from the 15th to the 16th.
- This recent event is also the 10th greatest snowstorm of all-time in Albany. The greatest snowstorm to ever hit Albany occurred in 1888 with a total of 46.7 inches.
- Including the totals from this storm, Albany has reached 67.5 inches of snow this season. This is the most snowfall ever received by this date in any snow season.
4. Pierre, SD tied a monthly snowfall record on January 15, 2003, with a total of 10 inches. The previous record was set on January 5, 1997.
5. The Outer Banks, NC received 10 inches of snow January 23, 2003. This is the most snow that has fallen on the Outer Banks since December of 1989 when 13.3 inches of snow fell over a two day period (8.2 inches on the 23rd and 5.1 inches on the 24th).
6. Salt Lake City, UT set a new record for the least amount of snowfall for the month of January, 2003. Only a trace of snow fell breaking the previous record of 0.10 of an inch set in 1961. Normal snowfall for January is 14.5 inches.
