Temperature Highlights - January 2010:  From the National Climatic Data Center

• The January 2010 temperature for the contiguous United States was 31.1 degrees F, which is 0.3 degreesabove the long-term average.
• The cold arctic air that dominated the contiguous U.S. in late 2009 moderated by the middle of January, creating a nationally-averaged temperature that was near the January long-term mean.
• The prevailing upper-level pattern held temperatures below normal in the Central, South, and Southeast climate regions. Meanwhile, the Northwest climate region experienced its fifth warmest January on record. The West and Northeast regions were also above normal in terms of average temperature.
• The western ridge and eastern trough pattern was well defined on the state level, where temperatures were much above normal in Washington and Oregon; each experiencing their fourth warmest January. Idaho and Maine also observed much above normal temperatures. Conversely, a vast area east of the Rocky Mountains were below normal in terms of temperature. Florida had its tenth coolest January, the third consecutive below normal January for the state.
• Based on NOAA's Residential Energy Demand Temperature Index (REDTI), the contiguous U.S. temperature-related energy demand was 1.3 percent above average for January.