January 2012 Weather Stats for Grand Rapids Michigan | News

Grand Rapids (WZZM) -

The month of January was an above-average and rather unusual month to start the year as it was warmer than average, wetter than average, snowier than a typical January (believe it or not), and sunnier than usual!

Temperatures for the month averaged 29.7°F, 5.3°F above average and 8.6°F warmer than last year (21.1°F).  Twenty-three days were warmer than usual, seven were cooler and one was considered average.  The highest temperature occurred on January 6 with 54°F while the lowest temperature occurred on January 19 with 3°F. 

Precipitation was above average last month with 3.20", 1.11" more than usual and 1.89" more than last year (1.31").  There were thirteen days with measurable precipitation, which is three days less than usual (16).

Snowfall in January amounted to 27.0", 6.2" more than usual and 5.8" more than last year (21.2").

There was 31.0% of the possible sunshine last month, 6.0% more than usual and 14.4% more than last year (16.6%).  There was one clear day - two less than average (3), seventeen partly cloudy days - twelve more than usual (5), and thirteen cloudy days - ten fewer than average (23).

Temperature records:  Low temperature of 41° on January 31 set a new record high minimum temperature (warmest low); previous record was 36° set in 1988.

Precipitation records:  0.81" of rain on January 23 breaks the previous record of 0.80" set in 1895.