January 2023 in Houston currently trending warmest on record
Wednesday afternoon weather forecast with Meteorologist Lena Maria
Wednesday will be warm and breezy, then a cool front will bring a thin line of showers/storms through overnight. As high pressure builds in behind that, we'll enjoy several quiet sunny days with near-normal temperatures. Warmth quickly returns though, toward the tail-end of the weekend. Marathoners can expect great starting conditions, followed by a warm and breezy finish. Showers look to return on Monday for Martin Luther King Day, with another shot at record breaking warmth on Tuesday.
HOUSTON - Eleven days into the new year and January 2023 is trending among Houston's warmest on record with a monthly average temperature currently sitting at 64.4 degrees. This is including temperatures through Jan. 10 at IAH. Granted, this now beats out the number one record-holding spot by nearly two degrees. However, only one-third of the month has occurred so far.
Reliable records date back to the 1800s for Bush Intercontinental, so we're talking about 134 years worth of data here.
Also, worth noting that monthly average temperatures do factor in both daytime highs and overnight lows.
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Breaking them down individually, our monthly average high temperature currently sits at 75.1 degrees, our average low temperature currently sits at 53.6 degrees, and the overall monthly average temperature currently sits at 64.4 degrees.
All of these categories are at least 10 degrees above where we should be, respectively, if not more.
Normal averages for January are as follows: 63.8 degrees as a high, 43.7 degrees as a low, and 53.8 degrees as the overall average.
On average, one 80-degree day occurs within the month of January. The most to have ever occurred was six in 1975, and interestingly enough that year didn't make it to the top five. The warmest January temperature to ever occur on record was last year when we hit 85 degrees on the first day of the month.
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Eighty-four degrees have happened twice during January 1975 and 1911. Also, 83-degree days have happened three times in 2009, 1989, and 1972 and 82 degrees have happened five times in 1996, 1971, 1963, 1943, and 1909. There were 14 occurrences of 81-degree temps in January, including once already this year on Jan. 7 and likely again Wednesday which would tie the record at IAH.
The record at Hobby for today is 80 degrees.
Long-range temperature outlooks, both the 6-10 day and the 8-14 day have consistently kept us above average as we continue through the month. In fact, the monthly temperature outlook for January does as well.
While this does not rule out outliers, so a couple of cool and even below-average days can certainly find themselves in the mix the overwhelming majority has been and looks to continue to be above average. Four days so far this month have even been significantly above average, by as much as 15-20° above what is considered normal.
Data analyzed by Climate Central shows not only a nearly 4-degree increase in these averages over the last 50 years but an increase in the frequency at which they are occurring during the winter months.
While summer is Houston's fastest-warming season, for 75% of the 238 locations Climate Central surveyed winter is the fastest-warming season and that can lead to problems that impact everyone.
They say everything is bigger in Texas and that includes mosquitos. While we thought they may have gotten axed during the Christmas freeze, that turned out to not be the case. Winter warming also creates pollen concerns which not only impacts those who suffer from allergies but throws off the growing season.
Impacts on snowpack include tourism but can also exacerbate drought. Something that California is currently getting big-time assistance with.
While relentless atmospheric rivers have been slamming the west, creating a variety of problems they have boosted the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada's by as much as +257% with more on the way this weekend. This will help substantially from a drought perspective because spring-time melting replenishes reservoirs.