We Had It Easy With Last Month's Weather

By Chuck Sudo in News on Feb 1, 2015 8:30PM

This was what it looked like on the lakefront this time last year. (Photo credit: Greg Wass)

Winter may be finally rolling in like a lion with today's blizzard warning. Here's a reminder that even this lion's teeth and claws aren't as sharp as this time last year.

We took a look at Accuweather's January high and low temp records and compared them to last year's numbers. What we found was there have been several nights where we weren't freezing to our bones when we woke up in the mornings.

Average. 2015 January high: 31.5 degrees.
Average January 2015 low: 19 degrees

Average January 2014 high: 26.7 degrees.
Average January 2014 low: 8.9 degrees

As you can see, last month we were near the January average of 32 degrees but there were fewer days in the teens and single digits. The major difference was in the overnight lows. Last month, we were at the January average. Last year, the average low was over 10 degrees colder.

The other major difference is in the snowfall totals. Last January's 33.5 inches of snowfall recorded was the third-snowiest in Chicago's history. Last month only saw 15.4 inches of show hit the ground through Jan. 29. In fact, it's been so cold and gray it's felt more like Seattle than Chicago.