How Normal Is Rain In January For Duluth?

It has been a very odd January thus far in terms of the weather in the Twin Ports and that was really evident this week as we saw rain falling for most of the afternoon. I wasn't complaining that it wasn't snow but it was definitely odd.

The rain wasn't all good news though. It did create some major havoc on roads as temperatures dropped and the rain turned to freezing drizzle and ice. Roads became insanely slick with extra time needed for us all to get to our destination.

We are used to all the slick roads and slippery conditions in the Northland but what was odd was the fact that we had rain falling for a good portion of the day! It was rain like you'd see on a summer day, which was out of place in January.

It made sense with the way temperatures were that day, hovering above freezing before dropping later in the day. It was one of a long string of above-average days we've had in the Twin Ports this month.

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We've had warm January months before but I do not remember a time that we saw rain rather than snow during the month. I could be wrong but I was pretty surprised by it on Monday (January 16th).

To see if this was normal or if I was mistaken, I reached out to WDIO Meteorologist Brandon Weatherz. I asked if he could provide insight into how rare this was in the Duluth area. He said there isn't a ton of data to look into because while precipitation is often recorded, the type is not. This means it could have rained in past January months but we wouldn't know if it was rain or snow on any given day.

He continued that despite this fact, the rain did have a bit of significance in the area, writing;

Wintry mix and rain in January isn’t something we haven’t seen before, but it’s certainly a mark of unseasonable warmth. So, warm enough temperatures for rain and wintry mix in mid-January is certainly the mark of above normal temperatures, but it isn’t entirely abnormal.

There you have it! We may not have broken any major weather records with the rainy start to the week but we are still seeing warm temperatures for this time of the year, which is fine with me for now. (Sorry, anglers!)

We all know it won't last forever, with temperatures expected to dip back to normal soon in the Twin Ports. It sure is fun for now though to be able to go outside with the wind hurting your face.