Jamestown sees record-high temperature of 51 on Jan. 30, 55 on Jan. 31

Feb. 1—JAMESTOWN — Mark and Ruth Diede were enjoying the nice weather by taking a walk on Wednesday, Jan. 31, through the Jamestown Reservoir without any need to bundle up in winter jackets.

The Diedes, who live 12 miles north of Jamestown, decided to go on a walk since the high temperature was going to be in the low 50s.

"We've never walked this path because we are from out of town," Mark said.

Ruth said she remembers walking to the Jamestown Reservoir to go swimming when she was a child but the trail through the area did not exist at that time.

The Diedes aren't alone in enjoying the warm trend in the Jamestown area.

"It does look like we will continue to see warm temperatures," said Jeff Schild, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Bismarck.

Schild said Jamestown saw a record-high temperature of 51 degrees on Tuesday, Jan. 30.

"Today (Wednesday), normally Jamestown would see a high of 20 degrees," he said. "It goes to show what a warm stretch that we are on with highs forecast for Jamestown through the remainder of the week into the weekend ranging more or less from the upper 30s to the mid-40s."

Another record-high temperature was set for Jan. 31 in Jamestown. The high temperature on Wednesday, Jan. 31, was 55 degrees, said James Telken, a meteorologist with the NWS in Bismarck.

"It broke the previous record of 53 which was set in 1924," he said.

Telken said Jamestown also tied a 1952 record-high low temperature for Jan. 31. The low temperature on Wednesday was 30 degrees.

He said the all-time high temperature in January was 56 degrees set on Jan. 5, 2012.

Schild said a large upper-level ridge moved into the region and is remaining in the area, keeping the temperatures higher.

"It is quite the pattern and change from what we saw around mid-January when we had a trough over the area and in that stretch on Jan. 13 we only reached at the Jamestown airport a high of 8 below zero," he said. "So we are seeing quite the temperature swing from the middle of the month to the end of the month."

Schild said high temperatures in Jamestown reached 61 on Oct. 23, 51 on Nov. 29 and 51 on Dec. 22.

"We had some warm temperatures but we paid the price there for a little while in mid-January but here we are again," he said.

The warm trend reminds the Diedes of stories when bands would play between the railroad tracks and Buffalo Grill in the 1920s to celebrate the warm trend or "January thaws."

"They would have park parties," Ruth said.

Mark added that he isn't used to seeing open water and geese on the Jamestown Reservoir this time of year.

"Usually this time of year my ice auger gets a good workout drilling a hole in the ice," he said.

The warm trend has allowed city of Jamestown Street Department employees to trim trees, according to Tyler Michel, public works director. City employees weren't able to trim trees because of snow removal efforts last winter, and the year before that, tree trimming was done on a "on-and-off" cycle, he said.

"They are trying to get caught up on that," he said.

Michel said tree trimming on the boulevards is normally done in the winter.

"Essentially with street sweepers and motor graders, we are trying to go down the streets and we got to have so much clearance," he said. "So we are trying to make sure we don't break out windows, break off of the equipment or break antennas off or anything like that. We just have to trim trees that are sticking out over the streets or over the curb and gutter."

He said city workers are also cleaning out catch basins and storm drains to prevent ice, keeping the water flowing so there isn't any localized flooding or areas where water is backed up.

Schild said Jamestown has received 6.6 inches of snow this winter, according to measurements taken at the North Dakota State Hospital. Jamestown received over 90 inches of snow from November 2022 through April.

Even though the snowfall has been minimal compared to last winter, Michel said city employees have put down salt and sand at a "very quick rate."

"I know we did go through quite a bit of our salt/sand budget after the December 25th through 27th ice storm," Michel said.

He said city employees have also cleared out the downtown area, snow emergency routes, downtown alleys where the ice was built up and areas where there was drifting.

"We did a lot of sanding on the hilly areas and then some scraping as needed," he said.

Currently, Schild said the Climate Prediction Center is forecasting above-normal temperatures in February for the Jamestown area.

"Take into consideration, normal is right around 20 degrees," he said. "You can have 25 and be above normal, but still for North Dakota in February, that is a positive thing."