Last Month Was Hottest January On Record

Given this week’s snowstorm and frigid cold, there’s no doubt winter has finally arrived.

But think back to a month ago, when the mercury was often above the freezing mark and in the southwestern portions of the province there wasn’t a white flake to be seen. Kids were playing jacket-less street hockey and golfers were teeing off at city courses.

A report out of the U.S. has found that last month was officially the hottest January on record worldwide, with temperatures on average 1.9 degrees Celsius above what they should be in the first month of the year.

The U.S. National Climatic Data Center also noted that January 2007 smashed the previous record, set in 2002, by four-tenths of a degree.

That might not sound like much, but it is – consider that weather records are usually only broken by several hundredths of a degree at a time.

Many blamed the balmy January on global warming and a fading El Nino, which is warming the Pacific Ocean.

Canada helped drive the new record, as well as other land masses in the north including Siberia, northern Asia and Europe, although this past January wasn’t the warmest in Ontario.

Scientists have recorded temperatures on the planet since 1880.

Former U.S. vice president Al Gore, who’s partially responsible for bringing the issue of global warming to the fore, has organized a 24-hour worldwide concert to continue to raise awareness about the climate crisis.

So far February has been more seasonable, in terms of temperatures – at least in this part of the world – but a thaw is on the way next week, as the GTA is expected to rise to 3 degrees Celsius next week.

For the latest weather forecast, click here.

To read CityNews meteorologist Michael Kuss‘s blog, click here.

The average January maximum temperature in this city is -1C.

The figures show we surpassed that number a total of 14 times out of the 31 days in the month – including on the 4th and 5th, when we hit 11C and broke the existing record of 10C set back in 1997.

Here’s a look at the maximum heights we reached last month.

January 2007

(Avg. January Maximum: -1C)

January 1: 9.2C
January 2: 5.8
January 3: 8.0
January 4: 11.9
January 5: 11.1

January 6: 9.0
January 7: 4.7
January 8: 4.1
January 9: 1.2
January 10: -2.6

January 11: 6.7
January 12: 7.6
January 13: 3.8
January 14: -0.8
January 15: -1.1

January 16: -6.5
January 17: -3.2
January 18: 0.8
January 19: 0.3
January 20: -5.8

January 21: -3.8
January 22: -3.8
January 23: -0.2
January 24: -2.1
January 25: -10.7

January 26: -5.1
January 27: -1.0
January 28: -2.6
January 29: -5.9
January 30: -5.8
January 31: -5.0

Other readings from across the province: