A New Weather Record — Or Not?
Is the extremely warm weather this first week of January actually a record? Apparently, it depends on whom you ask, and where you measure. My weather station recorded a high of 65.6 on Monday. The AJC reports a high of 68.
The forecast high for Tuesday is 68, and for Wednesday, 71, according to the National Weather Service. By Thursday, when a front is expected to move in, the predicted high falls to 65.
I looked to find out if any of these temperatures would be records, and found some conflicting data:
| Atlanta | 30044 | Winder | Athens | Lawrenceville | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 3 | 73 (2000) | 67 (1966) | 69 (2004) | 75 (1952) | 70 (1997) |
| January 4 | 75 (1950) | 60 (1964) | 71 (2004) | 73 (1955) | 72 (2000) |
| January 5 | 73 (1950) | 64 (1971) | 68 (2004) | 76 (1950) | 65 (1997) |
| January 6 | 73 (1989) | 61 (1962) | 65 (1965) | 79 (1899) | 66 (1998) |
The Atlanta record comes from Weather.com, and it matches the official National Weather Service records. The conflict comes from other readings: the second column represents weather.com records for ZIP code 30044, the third and fourth columns are weather records from Weather Underground for the Winder and Athens airports. The final column shows Weather.com’s records for Lawrenceville.
The numbers vary widely, but only the Athens and Atlanta ones are official. So, depending on which record you choose, we might have a record today, and will most likely have a weather record on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, while we enjoy weather normally seen in Southern California, the residents there are hunkering down with up to three feet of snow in the mountains. They have had a week of bad weather, including flooding in the coastal areas of Los Angeles, which received 1 1/2 inches of rain in a day (a tremendous amount for them). Interstates 5 and 80 were closed due to snow, and more bad weather is expected later this week.
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