Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

January Rainfall Tops Out Over Nine Inches

No one really needs to be told January was a wet month.

According to local weatherman John W. Teeter, the area usually gets 4.51 inches of rain in January, but received 9.27 inches last month.

This puts Prescott up 4.76 inches in rainfall for the early part of the year.

However, Davis Benton, Cale's meteorologist, said the south part of the county only got 4.70 inches for the year, which is about average.

Temperature-wise, Teeter said, the average temperature for January is supposed to be 41.5 degrees, but fell short of this by 3.1 degrees, as the average daily temperature was a chilly 38.4 degrees.

Benton agreed the temperatures were below normal for the month, adding the lowest recorded during January was nine degrees on Jan. 3.

"We will remember this January for producing one of the worst ice storms on record," Teeter said. "Ice formed the last three days in December and stayed on the ground for three days.

"Schools dismissed, many businesses closed and power outages occurred throughout the county. Emergency personnel were kept busy transporting essential workers and supplies."

Teeter said there was timber down all over the county. "I haven't gotten a full report of the amount of structural damage, but many poultry houses, barns and store awnings were damaged.

"Our municipal crews and emergency personnel did a remarkable job restoring service," he continued. "We were out of water a short time and power was out only about an hour or less."

However, there were instances where the power was off for several days.

February, Teeter said, produces erratic weather and all we can do is watch it and record the events.

The normal rainfall received in February is 4.08 inches, while the average daily temperature is 41.9 degrees.