Monthly Weather Report

Iowa Monthly Weather Summary – January 2026

General Summary

Temperatures averaged 19.3 degrees, 0.2 degree below normal while precipitation totaled 0.94 inch or 0.03 inch below normal. January 2026 ties 2016 as the 8th coldest in 154 years of statewide records. It also ties 1881 as the 78th driest January on record. January 2025 was colder and drier.

Temperatures

January temperature behavior was “A Tale of Two Cities” in January. Through the 17th, statewide temperatures averaged around six degrees above normal. The remaining days of January were greeted by an Arctic air intrusion from a destabilized Polar Vortex, which dropped the average temperature by nearly seven degrees. For the month, slightly warmer conditions were reported east while cooler conditions were reported west.  

January’s statewide average maximum temperature was 28.4 degrees, 0.3 degree above normal, while the average minimum temperature was 10.1 degrees, 0.8 degree below normal. Lamoni (Decatur County) reported the month’s high temperature of 67 degrees on the 8th, 34 degrees above normal. Emmetsburg (Palo Alto County) and Waukon (Allamakee County) recorded the month’s low temperature of -24 degrees on the 24ᵗʰ, on average 31 degrees below normal.

Heating Degree Day Totals

Home heating requirements, as estimated by heating degree day totals, are 0.5% less than last January and 1% more than normal. Thus far this heating season, heating degree day totals are 5% more than last year at this time and 6% less than normal.

Precipitation

January is climatologically the driest month of the year for Iowa. Many stations in northwest and southeast Iowa reported the driest conditions in January with around 30% of normal precipitation in the northwest corner. However, a narrow band of above-normal rainfall and snow ran southwest to northeast, effectively dividing the state into two halves. Monthly precipitation totals ranged from a trace in Sioux Center (Sioux County) to 3.70 inches at Dubuque Lock and Dam (Dubuque County). The statewide average snowfall was 2.3 inches, 6.0 inches below normal. The highest snowfall total of 8.2 inches was measured at a Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow (CoCoRaHS) network gauge near Cedar Falls (Linn County).

US Drought Monitor

As of the first week of January, Moderate Drought (D1) conditions covered 6% of Iowa with D0 (Abnormally Dry) conditions over 54% of the state. Moderate Drought was removed from eastern Iowa after a widespread rainfall event from the 8th through the 10th; only a swath D1 remained along the Iowa-South Dakota border. The first February USDM map showed the categorical breakdown as: D0 – 46% and D1 – 1%. According to the Iowa Drought Plan (IDP) trigger tables updated on February 5th, all Drought Regions are classified as “Normal” with degrading conditions in Drought Region 4 and 5 and stable conditions in Drought Regions 1,2 and 3.

Justin Glisan, Ph.D.
State Climatologist of Iowa
Iowa Dept. of Agriculture & Land Stewardship
Wallace State Office Bldg.
Des Moines, IA 50319
Telephone: (515) 281-8981
E-mail: Justin.Glisan@IowaAgriculture.gov

Weather by Districts

* Departures are computed from 1991-2020 normals. Due to the federal government shutdown, observations are still preliminary.
The weather data in this report are based upon information collected by the U. S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA National Weather Service.