(from http://science.time.com/2014/01/22/average-temperatures-in-january-warm-despite-cold/)
"January 2014 will go down as the month we all learned about the polar vortex (even if meteorologists have known about it for decades). It’s the month when it got so cold that Minnesota closed all schools for the first time since 1997, when much of the Midwest was more frigid than the North Pole, when even Tampa experienced temperatures below freezing. (As of this writing) much of the eastern half of the country is suffering through another bitter cold snap—not caused by the vortex, FYI—one that has blanked the East Coast in heavy snow. Winter, in short, has felt miserable.
But here’s the surprise: on a historical and national level, it hasn’t actually been all that cold. With data from Weather Underground, I calculated the average high daily temperature from Jan. 1 through Jan. 22 for the 10 largest cities in the U.S. The results make this winter look surprisingly average:
Jan. 2014 Average High Historical Average High
New York: 38 F (3.3 C) 36 F (2.2 C)
Los Angeles: 76 F (24.4 C) 68 F (20 C)
Chicago: 27 F (-2.7 C) 32 F (0 C)
Houston: 64 F (17.8 C) 63 F (17.2 C)
Philadelphia: 40 F (4.4 C) 41 F (5 C)
Phoenix: 73 F (22. 8 C) 67 F (19.4 C)
San Antonio: 66 F (18.9 C) 63 F (17.2 C)
San Diego: 72 F (22.2 C) 65 F (18.3 C)
Dallas: 58 F (14.4 C) 57 F (13.9 C)
San Jose: 66 F (18.9 C) 58 F (14.4 C)
What do we learn from this? Well for one thing, there’s an East Coast bias in news coverage, at least of the weather. But while it truly has been historically cold on average for much of the Midwest, for most of the rest of the country the average temperatures have been around normal, or even a little above. And the West Coast is experiencing an unusually hot winter (one that has compounded the record drought in California). Average high temperatures have been further above normal in Los Angeles and San Jose than they’ve been below average in Chicago. Anchorage has been positively balmy—by Alaskan standards—with average daily highs that are 11 F (6.1 C) greater than the historical average for January. . ."
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