January was one of the warmest, windiest Tri-Cities on record. What’s coming next?

This winter is shaping up to be a mild one for the Tri-Cities, with last month ranking among the warmest— but windiest— Januaries on record in the Mid-Columbia.

The National Weather Service forecasts that temperatures and precipitation should be near normal for the Tri-Cities in February.

Normal highs in February averaged about 48 degrees and normal lows were about 29.

The Hanford Meteorology Station, which has daily data back to the mid ‘40s, says January 2020 was the the fifth warmest on record.

Both at Hanford and in the Tri-Cities temperatures averaged a little more than 5 degrees above normal, with a high as warm as 66 degrees recorded on the last day of the month at the Tri-Cities Airport.

Unusually warm weather at the start and end of the month raised the average temperature to well above normal, despite a cold snap mid month. A low of 8 degrees was recorded at the airport in Pasco on Jan. 14 and 17.

Two temperature records were set and one tied at the Hanford Meteorology Station, both for warmer than usual weather.

New Year’s Day set records for warm highs and lows.

The high of 59 beat the previous record of 57, recorded most recently in 1998. The low of 45 was well above the previous record war low of 38, recorded most recently in 1981.

On Jan. 6 a high of 59 tied the record of 59 degrees recorded most recently in 1990.

3rd windiest January

Precipitation was close to usual in January, and snowfall totaled 2.5 inches in the Tri-Cities, according to the National Weather Service.

Usually Hanford has 12.5 inches of snow by the end of January. But this year just 1.8 inches has been recorded at the meteorology station there, with most of that falling in January.

It was an unusually windy January, as drivers and property owners in the Mid-Columbia who battled windblown tumbleweeds can attest.

It was the third windiest January on record at the Hanford Meteorology Station, according to the meteorological service there.

On 11 days in January wind gusts of at least 40 mph were recorded.

The peak gust was 49 mph on the last day of the month.

In the Tri-Cities, the peak wind gust recorded was 46 mph on Jan. 11.