Wichita broke multiple weather records in January. What will February look like?
January 2025 was the coldest January that Wichita has seen in 40 years, and the weather records didn’t stop there.
According to James Cuellar, a forecaster for the National Weather Service’s Wichita office, January was the 10th coldest one in Wichita, with a monthly average of 26.5 degrees as opposed to the usual 33.2.
“We’re just a little over 6 1/2 degrees below normal,” Cuellar said.
Additionally, Wichita saw a total of 10.7 inches of snow over the course of the month.
“Our average here for January is typically 2.7 inches,” Cuellar said.
This high number even comes after a late first snowfall, which usually lands Dec. 3. In 2025, the first snowfall of winter was recorded Jan. 5.
That early January snowfall kick-started the month’s weather records, breaking a 95-year-old record for most snow recorded on that specific day.
Last month was also the first time since 1982 that January broke a record for lowest temperature. Jan. 21 recorded the lowest low for that date at -9 degrees, breaking 1935’s record of -7 degrees.
“We got a really cold air that came in,” Cueller said.
What will February’s weather look like?
February saw a warm start to the month, but cold temperatures moved back in Tuesday, Feb. 4.
Feb. 2 and 3 saw high temperatures in the 60s and low 70s, which is 20 degrees above the average for this time of year, according to a post made by NWS Wichita.
But Tuesday’s high and low are both expected to sit around 34 degrees, according to the NWS forecast. Freezing rain also hit Tuesday morning with possibilities for more later in the afternoon.
“It’s been very, very light, just kind of a light glaze on really elevated stuff, but nothing impacting the roadways,” Cuellar said. “We could have another bout of freezing drizzle ... it just kind of depends on how warm we get today.”
Wednesday is expected to warm up a little bit, with high reaching 50 and a low around 38. Thursday is expected to see a high around 49 and a low near 31, and Friday is expecting similar temperatures.
More seasonably cold temperatures are expected to return after this week.
“It looks like we there’s some pretty good signals that we’re going to see some cold air return, especially about seven days from now, like beginning of next week, then afterwards,” Cuellar said.
Cuellar said that the latest outlook by the Climate Prediction Center was giving the month equal chances for above and below normal temperatures.
“The current thought is the beginning of the month is going to be cold while the end of the month is going to be warmer, but things obviously could change,” Cuellar said.
