Record setting January for Central Florida

[Rainband]

January 2003 ends up being one of the top ten driest and coldest
januaries on record...

January 2003 was very dry with little if any rain over much of west
central and southwest Florida. Most locations received less than a
quarter of an inch of rain...or less than ten percent of normal
rainfall. Below are tables of the driest monthly precipitation
records for January at a couple of sites.

Top 5 driest top 5 driest
januaries in tampa: januaries in Sarasota-bradenton:

1 trace in 1950 1 0.00 in 1950
2 0.08 in 1927 2 0.03 in 1974
*3 0.11 in 2003* 3 0.22 in 1956
4 0.17 in 1974 *4 0.23 in 2003*
5 0.18 in 1949 5 0.24 in 2001

Normal for tpa = 2.27 in. Normal for srq = 2.94 in.
Records began April 1890 records began July 1948

At Fort Myers - Page Field...the total precipitation for January
2003 was 1.88 inches which was only about a third of an inch below
normal. However...1.70 inches of this fell early on New Years Day.

January was also very cold by Florida standards...over 6 degrees
below normal...across west central and southwest Florida with several
freezes across northern portions of the area. Below are tables of
the coldest monthly average temperature records for January at a few
sites.

Top 10 coldest top 10 coldest
januaries in tampa: januaries in Sarasota-bradenton:

1 50.4 in 1981 1 50.7 in 1981
2 51.2 in 1977 2 52.5 in 1977
3 52.0 in 1940 *3 54.8 in 2003*
4 53.3 in 1958 4 55.2 in 1978
5 54.0 in 1970 5 56.0 in 1958
*6 54.8 in 2003* 6 56.1 in 1985
7 55.0 in 1978 7 56.4 in 2001
7 55.0 in 1893 8 57.4 in 1976
9 55.2 in 2001 9 57.7 in 1970
9 55.2 in 1905 10 57.8 in 1956

Normal for tpa = 61.3 normal for srq = 61.6
records began April 1890 records began July 1948


Top 10 coldest
januaries in fort myers:

1 55.7 in 1981
2 55.9 in 1977
3 57.2 in 1958
*4 57.3 in 2003*
4 57.3 in 1940
6 58.1 in 1970
7 58.7 in 2001
7 58.7 in 1956
9 59.2 in 1978
10 60.6 in 1985