Here's a look at last months rankings, and anomaly chart for our region. Been a few years since we had a really chilly Jan. The last time was 2014, although 2019 had its moments. A state record low for Illinois, if I remember correctly, at the end of the month. As cooler as we were, our neighbors just west of us in the plains had milder conditions, especially the afternoon highs. Easy to see where the jet liked to set up.
This time around, because of the mostly below normal conditions for the north central US, I switched to ranking from the cold side. 2021 was so warm, always had to rank from the warm end, with a few exceptions.