Easterwood Field

College Station, Texas


Monthly Summary for January 1998


	TEMPERATURE      PRECIP.                       TEMPERATURE

  Day   Max  Min  *DEPART   TOTAL         MEANS            ACTUAL       DEPART.

   1    66   35      2      0.01          Maximum           65.9          7.5
   2    71   58     15      0.07          Minimum           45.4          6.7 
   3    73   58     16      0.01          Monthly	    55.6          7.1
   4    75   64     21      0.01                        
   5    75   65     22      0.04          EXTREMES           TEMP         DATE
                                          Highest            76F           21 
   6    69   60     17      2.54          Lowest             31F           24
   7    60   42      3      0.04     
   8    60   36      0       T            DEGREE DAYS       TOTAL        DEPART.
   9    67   32      1                    Heating            301         -221
  10    61   49      7                    Cooling             10           -1
                                          
  11    70   50     12      0.20           
  12    73   58     17      0.01          PRECIPITATION       AMOUNT     DEPART.  
  13    62   44      5               
  14    51   44      0      0.10          Total Monthly        3.81       1.16
  15    57   37     -1                    Total for 1998       3.81       1.16
                                          Precipitation Days     14          5
  16    70   37      6                
  17    65   39      4                    EXTREMES            AMOUNT     DATE 
  18    72   51     14      0.01          24-hour Maximum      2.54       6th 
  19    59   37      0           
  20    68   45      8                    MAXIMUM WIND GUST    35mph      6th

  21    76   53     15      0.69          NUMBER OF DAYS      AMOUNT     DEPART.
  22    53   40     -3                    TEMPERATURE
  23    58   33     -3                    Maximum 90 or higher    0        0
  24    58   31     -5                    Maximum 32 or lower     0       -1
  25    62   37      1       T            Minimum 32 or lower     2       -9

  26    66   45      6      0.01                 RECORD BOOK FOR JANUARY**
  27    64   34      0                    Highest Temperature     86F    1972
  28    70   40      6                    Lowest Temperature       7F    1973
  29    73   45     10                    Wettest Month        15.60"    1991
  30    74   52     14                    Driest Month          0.21"    1971

                                          Wettest 24 hours      5.63"    1991
  31    65   55     10      0.07
Temperature in degrees Fahrenheit
Precipitation in inches
"T" denotes less than or equal to 0.005"
BOLDFACE indicates extreme values for the month
ITALICS indicate a record was set or tied
* Departure of the daily mean temperature, as calculated from the average
of the maximum and minimum temperatures, from the 1961-1990 normals.
** Based on records (1952-present) at Easterwood Field













New Records Set

  DAY             PARAMETER                   VALUE    OLD RECORD       YEAR
  5th     Highest Minimum Temperature          65F        59F           1978 
  6th     Highest Daily Precipitation Amount   2.54"      1.0"          1973



Near Records

  DAY             PARAMETER                   VALUE      RECORD         YEAR
  2nd     3rd Highest Minimum Temperature      58F        63F           1997
  3rd     3rd Highest Minimum Temperature      58F        66F           1997
  4th     Tied Highest Minimum Temperature     64F        64F           1997
  4th     Tied 3rd Highest Maximum Temperature 75F        82F           1997
  5th     4th Highest Maximum Temperature      75F        76F           1989
  6th     Tied Highest Minimum Temperature     60F        60F           1965
 12th     2nd Highest Minimum Temperature      58F        66F           1960
 31st     Tied 4th Highest Minimum Temperature 55F        63F           1967

*NOTE: All records are based on observations taken at Easterwood Field (1952-present)

Monthly Review

Positive anomalies of both temperature and precipitation in the Brazos Valley greeted the new year. With a mean monthly temperature of 55.6F, 1998 boasted the third warmest January on record at Easterwood Field. The mean daily temperature dropped below its daily normal temperature on only four days throughout the month. There were actually five days on which the daily minimum temperature surpassed the daily normal maximum temperature. Interestingly enough however, despite the warmer than normal temperatures, the total cooling degree days for the month were below normal.

Severe weather blew through East Texas on the 21st as extremely intense thunderstorms spawned seven different confirmed tornadoes in Southeast Texas. While observations at Easterwood reported 0.69" of rain during the evening, baseball-sized hail was reported in Lyons (Burleson Co), 0.88" diameter hail between Millican and Wellborn (Brazos Co), and tornadoes in Lee, Bastrop, Leon, Grimes and Madison Counties. 

February Normals for College Station

                           Temperature
Beginning of the month       60 / 40         Monthly Precipitation:      2.62"
Middle of the month          63 / 42         Precipitation days:            8
End of the month             66 / 45         32F Days                       0


Prepared by:    John F. Griffiths (State Climatologist)
                Brian N. Belcher (Graduate Assistant to the State Climatologist)
                belcher@tamu.edu