February 5, 2009
Janauary doesn’t set record but is 16th coldest January since 1870
It has been cold! In fact, according to the National Weather Service, January 2009 ranks amongst the coldest January’s recorded in this area. But have heart, this January is not “the coldest” January ever recorded. It is merely the 16th coldest of the 139 years that have been recorded by the National Weather Service.
The average daily temperature for the month of January was 18.5 degrees F., recorded at the Buffalo Airport. This was a full six degrees colder than normal for the month. The coldest day of the month recorded at the airport was -3 degrees on January 21 which was the coldest reading in any month for five years. At this reporter’s house in Sardinia, the thermometer on the porch hit -14 that morning. The warmest day of the month was January 23 when the airport thermometer briefly hit 45 degrees. No other day went above 35 degrees. The good news is that we did not experience much other than moderate winds. The NWS also reports that 43 percent of possible sunshine was recorded at the airport during January which beats the January average of 31 percent. At the Standard offices in Chaffee we are pretty sure that sunshine was in the 5-6% range during January but perhaps we are being to cynical.
There were no major snowstorms in January just “relentless and daily nickel and dime snowfalls that kept roadways almost constantly slick and tested the patience of area residents” according to the National Weather Service. Snowfall for the month at the airport was 30.6 inches which beats the January average of 26.1 inches. Those familiar with the microclimates and the hills of the Tri-County and Sardinia area know that there was much more on snow during the month of January, depending on where you measure it...
The coldest January in the record books took place in 1977 when the average daily temperature was 13.8 degrees. That was the winter of the Blizzard that shut down WNY for months and caused President Carter to declare Buffalo and parts of WNY a disaster area, the first Federal disaster area ever caused by snow. The warmest January on record occurred in 1932 when the average January temperature was 37.2 degrees. December (2008) was the 74th coldest during the 139 years, making it a more or less average month.
During the month of January, not one day hit a record low. For instance, when the temperature hit -3 on January 21, the record cold for that date was -10, recorded in 1985.
Old timers may think of this January as relatively mild, despite its placement in the top 20 coldest of all time. Those of us under the age of 30 have never experienced a January this cold. Five of the coldest recorded months occurred more than 60 years ago. The coldest temperature ever recorded by the weather service in Buffalo occurred in January of 1961 when the thermometer hit -21. Hard to say what the temperature was in Sardinia. Those that have witnessed many WNY winters know that there have certainly been worse, certainly been better, and that each year brings with it new surprises.
Back then it was tough to even travel in the winter. The train was the more reliable source of transportation and the roads to Olean, Springville, and Buffalo were often not open at all during the winter, prior to the 1930’s.
