Monthly review January 2022

The high winter month of January presented itself in our region clearly too mild, too little
sunshine (very cloudy) and relatively humid.

Compared to the climate reference period 1961-1990, the month was 3.4 degrees too warm
with a mean temperature of 2.7°C. There were only a below-average number of frost days
(minimum air temperature below 0 °C) and not a single ice day (daily maximum air
temperature below 0 °C). Fig.1 illustrates the course of the two temperature variables.
The sun shines for a total of only 34 hours. This corresponds to a minus of 21 hours.
The sum of all individual measurements of precipitation reached 54.4 mm in Coswig in
January. Thus, the monthly sum corresponded to 142% of the normal value for January. we
thus registered a relatively wet winter month. The precipitation annual balance 2022 thus
begins with a plus of 16 mm.

Weather patterns:
Westernly weather conditions or high pressure areas over Western and Central Europe with
high fog-like cloud cover and a tendency to drizzle characterized the weather in our region.
Only one bright day (on 19.1.) was registered, on which we benefited from the lee effect
(Föhn) of the Ore Mountains with 7 hours of sunshine in connection with a southwesterly
flow. Stable high-pressure weather conditions in connection with inversions (temperature
reversal at altitude) in winter often mean no nice weather, especially in the lowlands. It is
then gray in gray and as an addition often even drizzle occurs. This was also the case in the
high winter month of January. Only in the higher elevations of the middle mountains above
the inversion there was plenty of sunshine.