In the month of January, the temperature never went below 13 degrees in Dayton, Ohio. This marks the first time in 14 years that a January in Ohio has had no days with single-digit or below-zero temperatures. Last January, there were seven days below 10 degrees (including three sub-zero days), and January of 2018 had 11 (with six sub-zero).

This year, January 19-22 were the only four January days where Dayton’s temperatures even went below 20, according to National Weather Service data (Dayton Daily News).

The warm January hasn’t been very good for small businesses with snow clearing services, though cities and Ohio in general have so far saved time and money by having fewer snow storms that required salting and plowing the roads.

“In fact, I do not remember another season in my career like this one. The city of Centerville uses 2,000 tons of salt on average each winter. So far, we have only used 434 tons this year,” said Centerville Public Works Supervisor Marty Tackett.

Mandy Dillon, spokeswoman with Ohio Department of Transportation, said, “We’ve spent $33.7 million less (on snow shoveling services and salt) than last year at this time. Winter is not over yet, but so far so good.”

Dillon also said that the warming weather is also letting their crews get a head start on pothole patching, guard rail replacements, and other outdoor work. While there was some snowfall in the Miami Valley on Friday, the overall pattern is likely to stay warmer for the next couple of weeks. A greater chance of cold weather comes in late February.

In the meantime, high temperatures are forecast in the 50s early this week. January 2019 had 14.4 inches of snow last year compared to the 0.6 inches of snow this year.