January in the Icebox of the Nation is known for being cold and snowy.

But such was not the case in 2012.

“This year ties 2001 for the fourth warmest January we’ve had on record,” said Steve Gohde, observing program leader with the National Weather Service in Duluth.

The average temperature for the month was at 14 degrees — up from the normal average of 4.4 degrees.

But, don’t get Mother Nature wrong, Borderland has experienced its notorious cold — just in small doses.

“The cold snaps in the area haven’t been prolonged,” Gohde noted.

The coldest day came Jan. 19 when temperatures dipped down to -25 degrees. That frigid day was a 71-degree difference from the warmest day of Jan. 5 reaching a record-breaking 46 degrees.

“... International Falls started (January) out above normal” Gohde said “The area really didn’t go below normal until the middle of the month, but even then, it’s not the record-breaking -40 degree cold we typically experience. It makes people wonder if winter in January really ever came.”

The pattern of above-normal temperatures can be attributed to a persistent westerly air flow off the Rocky Mountains, Gohde said. The air from the Pacific region generated warmer, dryer winds that swept across the Plains and brought warm temperatures to the Midwest. Last month, 22 days had thermometers reaching temperatures greater than or equal to 32 degrees.

Feeding off the lack of freezing temperatures experienced in the area, Gohde explained this year’s La Niña weather pattern doesn’t match up with the typical definition of the ocean-atmosphere phenomenon. “More often than not, La Niña brings cooler temperatures and a lot of precipitation,” he said. “This year, we can’t really look at La Niña by itself, there are a lot of other global circulations going on.”

One circulation he highlighted is Arctic oscillation. This weather trend, according to the meteorologist, has been keeping colder air well to the north. Borderland and the rest of the lower 48 states have been under the high pressure ridge rather than stuck in the middle of the “cold trough.”

Lack of snow

Cold wasn’t the only thing missing from January’s weather ingredients. The normal snowfall has been down by about four inches, Gohde noted.

“The normal snowfall for January is 15 inches,” he said. “Right now, we’re at about 11 inches.”

The lack of snow has put much of the state in a moderate, short-term drought.

“The drought is one thing meteorologists have our eyes peeled for,” Gohde said. “March and April will hopefully put us into a wetter pattern.”

Snow lovers have been feeling the impacts of less of the white stuff and Minnesota Public Radio News reports that while there is a chance that cold and snow may come into the area in late February and March, the odds are getting slimmer with each passing week.

“It looks pretty quiet in terms of snowfall and cold when I look at the 10-day trend,” Gohde said.

Yet, a popular folklore predicts Gohde and MPR news are wrong. At 7:25 a.m. Thursday, The Washington Post reported Punxsutawney Phil, the famous groundhog, saw his shadow to signal six more weeks of winter.

If Phil’s forecast is right, The Post wrote that there will be a dramatic reversal from the mild winter most of the country has experienced. Gohde agreed, “Maybe, maybe winter will really start in March.”