January Was America's Warmest on Record

[G_j]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-5600887,00.html

January Was America's Warmest on Record

Tuesday February 7, 2006 10:16 PM


By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID

AP Science Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Recording the warmest January on record allowed Americans to save on their heating, but like all good things, last month's mildness seems to have been too good to last.

The country's average temperature for the month was 39.5 degrees Fahrenheit, 8.5 degrees above average for January, the National Climatic Data Center said Tuesday. The old record for January warmth was 37.3 degrees set in 1953.

On the other hand, while much of the United States was basking in warm weather, parts of Europe and Asia were being battered by bitter cold. Climate details for the rest of the world for January are expected to be available next week.

During the month the jet stream, a strong high-altitude wind that guides weather fronts from west to east, stayed unusually far to the north, keeping the coldest air in Canada and Alaska, the agency said.

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