January weather was slow to come out of its holiday hibernation. In a preliminary report based on Prince George Airport data, the first 31 days of 2012 were marked by a series of ups and downs.
According to information from Environment Canada, the first 10 days of the month saw a couple burst of warm air that resulted in two record daily temperatures.
Jan. 4 clocked in at 7.9 C, beating 2003's record of 7.8 C, and Jan. 9 got up to 5.8 C, beating the previous record of 5.7 C in 1986.
But as shell-shocked car engines remember, that spurt of mildness gave way to snow and cold windchills - and some of the coldest temperatures experienced in the last few winters.
Temperatures bottomed out between Jan. 16 and 20, with the coldest days on Jan. 18 and 19 reaching lows of -34 C or colder.
Arctic air sounded the retreat and temperatures were moderating back to normal by Jan. 22. Overall, the mercury was three degrees above normal.
It was also a drier month than usual, with only 37.1 centimetres of snow falling, compared to the normal 55.8 centimetres. There was also marginally less rainfall, with 5.5 millimetre coming from the clouds instead of the normal 6.2 millimetre. Measurable precipitation only fell 12 days out of the normal 15.
