It wasn’t long ago that many residents were asking what happened to winter. We don’t have to ask that question any more. After starting out the winter with temperatures that averaged some 10 to 15 degrees above normal, things have cooled down in a big way in recent weeks across Kentuckiana.

Despite a chilly start to December, high temperatures averaged out to roughly 52 degrees for the month, a full 10 degrees above normal. January started off even warmer as temperatures reached the 60’s on six different occasions including a record high of 68 degrees set on the 5th. The first 15 days of January brought high temperatures that averaged nearly 55 degrees. That is 15 degrees above normal for what is supposed to be the coldest part of the year!

My how things have changed… We haven’t seen a single 60 degree temperature in the three plus weeks since January 15th. In fact, we’ve only seen 50 once since the extraordinarily mild start to the winter, a 53 degree high set on January 27th. In total, as of this writing, high temperatures have average 35.9 degrees since the mid way point of January.

As cold as January ended, February has started off even colder. Including an 18 degree high temperature set on February 5th, high temperatures have averaged out to a very chilly 27.5 degrees since the start of the month. That is about 17 degrees below normal for this time of the year! Low temperatures have been even colder. Including a 5 degree reading on the morning of the 5th, low temps have averaged out to a bone chilling 13.8 degrees!

So how much longer will we have to deal with the cold weather? We’ll despite the recent warm prognostications of a famous groundhog, it looks like we will be dealing with the chilly conditions for a while longer. Current long range computer models still indicate quite a bit of cold air coming our way over the next week or two. Along with the cold conditions, we are also currently tracking a couple systems that could bring some measurable snow to the area next week. On a warmer note, the climatologically coldest part of the winter season is behind us and May is only a few months away!