January was another very mild month with rainfall close to average. It was also a month that featured a few storms including one that didn’t officially exist. This one being the strongest windiest part of the winter as well.   The month started on a very mild note and this continued until the 12th when temperatures finally dropped below normal. Another mild spell started on the 18th lasting until the 26th. A cold spell started to develop bringing the first of the months snow to lower regions of Sheffield. The first 12 days resulted in eight days getting into double figures before abrupt change on the 13th brought cold dry weather to the region. By the 18th Mild weather returned with the warmest day of the month being on the 20th with 11c reached. The warmest night was on the 12th with 8.2C being the overnight low. The coldest day was on the 15th with a high off 2c and the night dropped to -3.7c the coldest of the month. From the 26th it slowly cooled down becoming cold by the 29th.    Rainfall finally came in just below normal despite being a wet start to the year. 34 mm fell in three days on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th. The 4th being the wettest of the month with 15.3mm falling. 10.1mm fell on the 3rd.  Rainfall amounts fell to very low amounts from the 7th to the 18th and once again it looked like another dry month was on the cards before more unsettled weather returned to the region.   An active Atlantic ensured a breezy month. The strongest winds of the winter occured on the 22nd with 66 mph being recorded during the morning. A lack of warnings from the Met office and only a mere mention of gusty winds on later forecasts probably explained why cyclists ventured out onto the high peak trail only to be blown over. Gusts also reached 65 on the 22nd 61 mph on the 4th and 57mph on the 6th plus 55 on the 5th. Average wind speeds of 29mph on the 5th and 28 mph on the 22nd were noteworthy.  There weren’t any days of snow lying recorded with Snow remaining to confined to the higher regions of Sheffield until the end of the month when flurries occured.      February will start on a cold note however there’s big questions on how long the cold spell will last. It will certainly persist until the first weekend and probably the first part of the week afterwards. After that it’s likely to become milder from the West. High pressure will dominate though. So dry month is likely Snowfall again rare. Temperatures recovering to just above average ending a very mild Winter.  Average Temp   3.8C 38.8F  Average Max     6.3C 43.3F  Average Min      1.4C 34.5F  This Months Average   5.1C 41.2F   This Months Average   7.7C 45.9F  This Months Average    2.5C 36.5F Difference   1.3C    2.4F  Difference    1.1C    2.0F  Difference    1.1C    2.0F  Hi Max 11.0C 51.8F on the 20th  Hi Min  8.2C 46.8F on the 12th  Number of Air Frosts  8 days Days of Thunder   0 days   Days of Rain > 0  19 days    Low Max  2.0C 35.6F on the 15th   Low Min  -3.7C 25.3F on the 15th Number of Ground Frosts  17 days Days of Snow falling 2 days Days with Trace Condition  6 days