Coldest January in 35 years possible

Thursday, January 23, 2014

The average temperature reported at Indianapolis for first 22 days of January is 22.1 degrees -- the coldest since 1994.

The latest arctic plunge and the one due to arrive next week are expected to drop that average temperature even more, the National Weather Service reports.

Based on the latest forecast, the average temperature for January may fall below 20 degrees, which would make this January the coldest since 1979.

For the record, January 1977 is the coldest month ever recorded at Indianapolis since weather records began in 1871. The average temperature was only 10.2 degrees. That was the year the Ohio River in southern Indiana froze over.

As a point of reference, the central Indiana average temperature for January is 28.1 degrees.

The coldest Januarys on record at Indianapolis from 1872 through 2013 are:

1. 10.2 degrees, January 1977.

2. 14.6, January 1918.

3. 16.7, January 1940.

4. 17.2, January 1912.

5. 17.9, January 1970, 1979 and 1983.

8. 18.2, January 1978.

9. 19.5, January 1963.

10. 19.8, January 1875.

11. 20.1, January 1982.

12. 20.4, January 1985.

13. 21.0, January 1948.

14. 21.1, January 1884.

15. 21.6, January 2003.

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