Thus far, winter is sixth warmest recorded

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. —  January is over, and still the weather is mild.

Two-thirds of the way into the season, Illinois is enjoying its sixth warmest winter since 1895, according to State Climatologist Jim Angel of the Illinois State Water Survey.

For January 2012, the statewide average temperature for Illinois was 31.4 degrees, which is 6.6 degrees above normal and the 13th warmest January on record. Locally, it was not quite as warm, with the average temperature coming in at 30 degrees, according the Weather Data Division of the Grundy County Emergency Management Agency.

The warmest reading in the state for the month was 69 degrees at Belleville and Kaskaskia on Jan. 6, and at Cairo on Jan. 18. The coldest reading for the month was -6 degrees at Elizabeth and Galena on Jan. 12.

At Morris, the highest temperature was the 56 degrees recorded on Jan. 6, while the coldest was 3 degrees on Jan. 20. The temperature dipped below the freezing mark on 29 of January's 31 days.

The statewide average precipitation for January was 1.87 inches, which is 97 percent of normal. The wettest areas were in eastern Illinois. Flora reported a monthly total of 4.21 inches of rainfall. Meanwhile, western Illinois was dry. For example, Macomb reported only 0.75 inches of precipitation for the month.

Grundy County came in above Macomb's total, but still significantly below the state average of the first month of 2012 with a recorded precipitation of just 1.33 inches. The largest amount of liquid precipitation to fall at one time was the .42 inches received in the 24 hours preceding 8 a.m. on Jan. 13.

The snowfall for January in Illinois was generally below normal south of Interstate 74, with amounts in the range of 1 to 3 inches common. Snowfall was above normal north of Interstate 74, with amounts in the range of 3 to 15 inches.

The largest monthly snowfall total for the state was at Monee with 17.8 inches.

In Morris, a total of 10.7 inches of snow raised the total for the season to 11.2 inches. Snowfall was recorded on five days during the month, while rain fell on another five days in January.