From Weather Underground today:
January 2006 will go into the record books as one of the warmest
januarys ever recorded in parts of the Midwest. In Quincy
Illinois… this past January was the warmest January on
record… while in Columbia and St. Louis this January ranks in the
top 5 warmest januarys.Specifically…
St. Louis…
third warmest January on record
average temperature… 42.3 degrees… 12.7 degrees above normal.
Yet lest we feel smug:
It should be noted that historically… a warm January does not
necessarily mean a warm February. And… it does not mean the threat
of snow is minimized. For instance… after the 7th warmest January
in St. Louis… (1914)… near 29 inches of snow fell during February
and March.