PADUCAH, KY - The National Weather Service summary of January showed the month to be colder than normal, and one of the snowiest ever.

During January, Barkley Field recorded 12.4 inches of snow. It was the highest January total in more than 30 years, since 16.8 inches fell in 1985. Average snowfall for the entire season is usually between 9 and 10 inches.

The snow came in two large storms during the same week, on January 12th with 4.3 inches, and 8.1 inches on the 15th. Barkley Field saw a rare occurence for our region when there was measurable snow on the ground for 8 consecutive days.

The snows occurred during the 5th-coldest first half of any January in Paducah, including a record low of 2 degrees on January 2nd. That same day records were also set in Evansville (-2) and Cape Girardeau (-3).

Temperatures recovered during the rest of January, with a few days over 60 degrees, but the monthly average highs stayed almost 3 degrees below normal. Average lows were nearly 4 degrees below normal.

Overall precipitation was not uniformly distributed across the tri-state. Paducah had a surplus of rain and snow, but deficits for January were recorded in Evansville and Cape Girardeau. Virtually all of southeast Missouri has experienced mild drought conditions since early last year.