(Radio Iowa) – Much of Iowa is seeing above-normal temperatures for the first week of February, a radical change from just a couple of weeks ago. January wrapped up with some Iowa cities reporting mid-50s for highs, and state climatologist Justin Glisan says that’s some 60 to 70 degrees warmer than the middle of the month when we were in the teens below zero, with wind chills of 40-below.

Some Iowa cities saw more than 20 inches of snow during January, and many communities ended up 10 to 15-inches above their averages for snowfall.

Say goodbye to the last of that snow! (Radio Iowa photo)

Glisan says the month concluded as the third-snowiest January on record for Iowa.

That allowed the water to filter down into the soil, he says, which brought some improvements in our statewide drought conditions. As for the month ahead, Glisan says we can expect more of what we’ve been seeing all week — warmer-than-normal temperatures.

The National Weather Service says the two snowstorms we had during mid-January dropped more than 27 inches of snow on Des Moines, which recorded its second-snowiest January on record, while the 25-plus inches that fell on Waterloo made it -the- snowiest January in history for that northeast Iowa city. It was also Waterloo’s fourth-snowiest month of any month on record.