Feb 01, 2006 - 07:24:53 CST
It's warm. It's warm. It's w ... Sound like a broken record? Sure is. For the first time since 1875, when they started officially recording temperatures in Bismarck, there were no below-zero days in January. That's big news (as you may have heard again and again) in a state known for its frigid winters.It certainly was big news at the National Weather Service office here.
"Oh yeah, when you get a record-breaking month like this, it's exciting," meteorologist Nathan Heinert said.
Newspaper weather geeks feel the same way. You can only imagine the frivolity that ensues upon achieving a weather record. Or, hopefully for you, you can't.
Anyway, the first month of 2006 has gone down in the books. It was the warmest January on record in Bismarck. The average daily temperature (a combination of the high and low) was 27 degrees, breaking the mark of 24.6 degrees, set in 1931. The normal average temperature for January is 8.8 degrees.
In 2005, the average January temperature was 9.8 degrees. The March average was 32. One could certainly make the argument, then, that this January felt relatively springlike.
"I feel bad for all the people who are moving here now," Heinert said. "They're not going to be prepared when it does get cold."
When that will be, exactly, is anyone's guess.
It hit 42 degrees Tuesday, and the weather service expects a high near 40 today. Highs should dip to the upper 20s or lower 30s through next Tuesday, Heinert said.
"On the West Coast, there's an upper-level ridge moving in, which may spell some warmer weather for the first or second week of February,"Heinert said.
Meanwhile, native North Dakotans are waiting for the other shoe to drop - along with a couple feet of snow.
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