After a warmer, wetter period in late 2015, the weather pattern across North America changed in January to one that allowed colder Canadian air to more frequently push southward into the central and eastern United States, bringing more days when temperatures were below normal.

Late in the month, temperatures averaged near to a few degrees below normal. However, a few warmer-than-normal days at the end of January will likely push monthly averages above normal in some areas by the month’s end.

As of late January, soil moisture in about the top 5 feet of soil was above normal in much of the western half of the Midwest...