US had the coldest January in decades, but it was still the warmest on record for the planet
If you spent any time outside last month, you know it was frigid. Now we know that it was, in fact, the coldest January for the United States since 1988, according to a new report from NOAA.
But our deep freeze at home wasn't enough to stop the planet from hitting another warming record. According to data analyzed by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), last month ranked as the warmest January globally. It's a reminder that the U.S. accounts for just a fraction of the planet's overall climate conditions.
In January, the average temperature of the contiguous U.S. was 29.2 degrees Fahrenheit, 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit below average. Below-average temperatures were observed across portions of the central and southern Rockies and much of the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast.

The contiguous U.S. also experienced its sixth-driest January on record. Precipitation was below average from the northern Plains to the Northeast and across much of the West.
The widespread, persistent, drier-than-average conditions in January brought expanding and intensifying drought to parts of the country.
According to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor report, about 42.4% of the contiguous U.S. is experiencing drought conditions, an increase of about 4.3% since the end of December.
In recent weeks, much of the Southwest, parts of south-central Texas and portions of the Carolinas experienced expanding and/or intensifying drought conditions. In contrast, parts of the northern Rockies saw an improvement.
Alaska experienced its wettest January on record, breaking the previous record from 1949. Across the state, most of the precipitation fell as rain instead of snow as warmer-than-average temperatures dominated throughout the month. The Alaska statewide January temperature was 13.2 degrees Fahrenheit above the long-term average, ranking eighth-warmest in the 101 years of record for the state.
While we cannot directly attribute this to human-amplified climate change, in a warming world, more precipitation will fall as rain instead of snow, according to the Fifth National Climate Assessment.
-ABC News meteorologist Dan Peck