January 2010 Revisited
Compared to historical averages, January in Hood River was way warmer, with less precipitation, and not nearly as windy.
The average temperature (39.4°) was much warmer than long term averages (33.5°), and warmer than more recent averages of 36.4° (2000-2008). There was 3.67" of precipitation, compared to an average January total of 5.12". The 24 hour avg wind speed was way lower than average (0.7 mph vs 1.8 mph), continuing the trend of lower average wind speeds for the past 5 months.
January started out unseasonably warm, and never looked back. Every single day had a warmer than average low temperature, and 22 out of 31 days had warmer than average high temperatures. Grey skies were the norm, mostly from inversions, but also from minor brushes with storms. Most of the precipitation that would normally have hit us went south into California. Split jet stream flows; typical El Nino stuff. There was also an unusually long stretch of low barometric pressure from Jan 17th to 22nd, culminating in a low of 29.04" Hg. Not a record, but unusual none the less.
As warm as it was, this was not the warmest January on record, or even in recent years. 2006 averaged 39.6°, and 2003 hit 40.6°. The warmest January on record in Hood River was 44.3° in 1953.
There were no local weather records set in January.
The data below is from my home weather station. To view its January 2010 monthly summary and graphs at Weather Underground, click here.
The "historical average" numbers for temperature and rainfall are from the Hood River MCAREC data. Historical wind average is from my station's 2000 to 2008 data. Note that average wind speeds include all 24 hours of the day and night, which is why they are way lower than daytime peak winds. In addition, the wind speed at this station is considerably lower than on the Columbia River.
| High | Low | Average | Historical Average | |
| Temperature (F) | 54 | 30 | 39.4 | 33.5 |
| Wind (mph) | 24 | 0.7 | 1.8 | |
| Rainfall (in) | 1.09 | 3.67 (total) | 5.12 |
