(Des Moines) January 2024 is coming off the third warmest December on record at .9.7 degrees above average. State Climatologist Justin Glisan says sandwiched between warmer-than-normal temperatures at the beginning and end of the month were bitterly cold temperatures and two low-pressure systems bringing widespread snowfall across the state.
Glisan says the snowfall average was 17.6 inches across the state, nine inches above average for January. Glisan says this ties 1929 as Iowa’s third snowiest January on record.
Glisan says it might be surprising that the temperature fell one-half a degree above average.
Glisan says the snowpack insulated the subsurface and kept the soil temperatures above freezing. The melting snow has helped remove some drought conditions in eastern and southern Iowa.
