Bone chilling cold on tap for early February!

Last year we got over 60F on three occasions!

OK, so we got some snow with maybe more coming towards the second weekend of February. That I can live with. What really rankles me, however, is the persistent arctic air that keeps invading my little home down in southwest Missouri.

Yesterday, on Monday the 3^rd, the temperature got up to 34F. It's too bad that will be the last time we see such warmth between now and next Monday! After the snow stops falling in the early afternoon on Tuesday, we can expect some really cold air to help make our winter misery more complete. Daytime highs will struggle somewhere in the 20's while the night times will flirt with readings close to zero! (Even Nome Alaska is currently warmer than that)!

After paying back to back electric heating bills that were well over $200 for both December and January, I'm betting that February won't be much of an improvement. Already, this month, we are running a full ten degrees below average and I'm sure that the next five frigid days will not improve that trend very much! I've turned my home thermostat down as far as can be considered practical (66F daytime and 60F night time) while retreating to one room with a small space heater and a humidifier that goes 24/7. This arrangement has allows me to maintain a room temperature that varies from 72F to 74F depending on what's happening outdoors.

Thankfully, the weather service is pretty sure we will be in a warming trend starting sometime around the 10^th of the month. That sure would be n ice!