We're gaining 2 minutes of light every day — and other reasons to get out of bed

Gloomy enough for ya?

Much of Minnesota has been on a cloudy streak — 15 days and counting — with just a few moments of the sun shining through. So far in January, the state has seen only two days of clear skies, well behind the average of eight, according to Pete Boulay of the State Climatology Office.

"The silver lining of the gloom is that it's warmer," he said. "It's warmer but gloomier."

This coming week, the sun will barely peek out from behind the clouds. But fear not, we've put together a quick silver-lining playbook to help brighten the days. Most of our glass-half-full stats are based on the Twin Cities. But before you know it, the snow will be melting across the state and we'll be back into spring.

Until then, take this to heart:

44 the minutes of daylight we've gained since the darkest day of the year — winter solstice on Dec. 21.

2 the minutes of daylight we're gaining every day. That increases to 3 minutes a day by Feb. 20.

9 number of days of at freezing or above.

37 the highest temperature the Twin Cities reached so far in January. The average high for the month is 24 degrees.

2 the number of days of below 0 temps so far this month. Typically, we have 10 days at or below zero in January.

55 the number of days until the first day of spring, which is March 20. That's less than two months, folks!

8 days until Groundhog Day. Surely Punxsutawney Phil will rule in spring's favor.