January Star Valley Weather Summary

January Star Valley Weather Summary

January 2018 contrasted with January 2017 as less snowy and not as cold.

 

January 31 2018
January 31 2017

Above are views of the Star Valley Snow Gauge Cam for the end of January the past two years

Here are precipitation totals from 3 stations in the Valley for this and last January in inches.

2018 2017
snow precipitation snow precipitation
Star Valley Ranch 29 2.17 70 5.00
Thayne 1.5 SE 26 1.87 59 4.28
Smoot 5 SSE 30 2.13 61 4.58

Checking the nearby SNOTEL stations in the Salt Range, Willow Creek at 8080 feet currently has a snow depth of 66 inches with a water content of 17.0 inches(103 per cent of normal).  Cottonwood Creek SNOTEL at 7670 feet the snow depth is 60 inches and water content of 13.6 inches(128 per cent of normal).

For a January there were no bitter cold days than can occur in Star Valley.  The coldest registered in the Valley was a -14 on the 2nd  at the Double L Ranch along the Salt River northwest of Etna, where there were 7 sub zero mornings.  However at both the Star Valley Ranch and Bedford  2 S weather stations there were no sub zero readings for the month. Thayne Elementary also had 7 sub zero mornings, the coldest on the 2nd where it dipped to -8.

The warmest day of the month at most stations was on the 30th where Etna Elementary hit a balmy 49 and all stations were in the upper 40s.