Spartman

Currently the 3rd cloudiest January ever in Cleveland https://fox8.com/weather/is-it-the-cloudiest-january-ever-no-but-its-close/

Winters where Januaries are cloudier than Decembers usually mean a mild/snowless February like last year, 2020, 2017, or 1998. If only that would help trump the trends:

Can't wait for the month to end, though. A couple days of suicide weather as part of the next few days. Definitely reminiscent of January 2020 because that stretch and the current one occurred around the same timeframe (the final third of January).

And yet....

Seems like cloudier-than-normal Januaries are a kiss of death for the remainder of Winter. Last January, for example, was cloudier-than-normal and was followed by one of the warmest and least snowiest Februaries on record. January 2017 was one of the cloudiest in many areas and was followed by one of the warmest Februaries ever. Same thing for January 1998.

Last year, Chicago had its cloudiest January on record. This January doesn't seem to be an improvement from 2023. January 2023: 000 CXUS53 KLOT 011748 CF6ORD PRELIMINARY LOCAL CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA (WS FORM: F-6) STATION: CHICAGO-OHARE MONTH: JANUARY YEAR: 2023 LATITUDE: 41 58 N LONGITUDE: 87 54 W TEMPERATURE IN F: :PCPN: SNOW: WIND :SUNSHINE: SKY :PK WND ================================================================================ 1 2 3 4 5 6A 6B 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 12Z AVG MX 2MIN DY MAX MIN AVG DEP HDD CDD WTR SNW DPTH SPD SPD DIR MIN PSBL S-S WX SPD DR ================================================================================ 1 45 37 41 14 24 0 0.16 0.0 0 3.9 12 240 M M 10 128 14 220 2 43 32 38 11 27 0 0.00 0.0 0 6.5 15 50 M M 9 12 20 60 3 48 39 44 18 21 0 1.12 T 0 7.6 17 60 M M 10 1235 22 50 4 44 33 39 13 26 0 T 0.0 0 8.2 15 230 M M 9 1 21 240 5 34 32 33 7 32 0 0.02 0.2 0 8.5 15 250 M M 10 1 20 260 6 34 25 30 4 35 0 T T 0 6.9 14 230 M M 10 1 18 230 7 32 27 30 4 35 0 0.00 0.0 0 5.8 13 50 M M 10 8 18 50 8 33 26 30 4 35 0 0.00 0.0 0 4.9 13 280 M M 10 1 19 300 9 44 25 35 9 30 0 0.00 0.0 0 8.4 15 210 M M 6 18 23 220 10 50 34 42 17 23 0 0.00 0.0 0 4.9 12 160 M M 6 8 16 160 11 57 38 48 23 17 0 0.00 0.0 0 3.4 15 150 M M 9 18 19 160 12 43 36 40 15 25 0 T T 0 14.4 28 360 M M 10 128 35 360 13 36 26 31 6 34 0 0.02 0.2 0 14.3 23 360 M M 10 1 30 10 14 31 24 28 3 37 0 T T 0 7.4 14 170 M M 9 18 160 15 44 26 35 10 30 0 0.00 0.0 0 12.9 21 160 M M 8 30 160 16 52 40 46 21 19 0 0.18 0.0 0 13.8 21 240 M M 10 1 32 240 17 49 37 43 18 22 0 0.00 0.0 0 14.7 24 250 M M 10 18 34 240 18 41 36 39 14 26 0 0.24 T 0 10.7 28 100 M M 10 14 39 90 19 42 34 38 13 27 0 0.14 T 0 8.8 20 280 M M 10 18 29 290 20 35 29 32 7 33 0 T T 0 10.7 17 300 M M 10 1 25 280 21 32 28 30 6 35 0 0.00 0.0 0 7.8 15 200 M M 10 19 210 22 34 26 30 6 35 0 0.13 1.5 1 4.9 13 350 M M 10 1 17 50 23 30 21 26 2 39 0 T T 0 12.0 21 250 M M 9 156 31 210 24 36 28 32 8 33 0 0.00 0.0 0 6.3 15 280 M M 10 21 250 25 34 31 33 8 32 0 0.30 3.6 2 8.3 14 320 M M 10 18 21 350 26 32 15 24 -1 41 0 0.04 0.8 2 10.4 20 250 M M 10 1 26 240 27 36 13 25 0 40 0 0.06 0.8 2 15.3 26 260 M M 6 129 41 250 28 31 19 25 0 40 0 0.15 2.2 1 8.3 17 70 M M 9 146 24 60 29 31 18 25 0 40 0 0.02 0.2 3 10.8 20 350 M M 10 146 24 350 30 18 5 12 -13 53 0 0.02 0.4 3 9.7 15 310 M M 7 21 320 31 12 -1 6 -19 59 0 0.00 0.0 3 6.1 13 260 M M 2 18 250 ================================================================================ SM 1163 839 1005 0 2.60 9.9 276.6 M 279 ================================================================================ AV 37.5 27.1 8.9 FASTST M M 9 MAX(MPH) MISC ----> # 28 360 41 250 ================================================================================ NOTES: # LAST OF SEVERAL OCCURRENCES COLUMN 17 PEAK WIND IN M.P.H. PRELIMINARY LOCAL CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA (WS FORM: F-6) , PAGE 2 STATION: CHICAGO-OHARE MONTH: JANUARY YEAR: 2023 LATITUDE: 41 58 N LONGITUDE: 87 54 W [TEMPERATURE DATA] [PRECIPITATION DATA] SYMBOLS USED IN COLUMN 16 AVERAGE MONTHLY: 32.3 TOTAL FOR MONTH: 2.60 1 = FOG OR MIST DPTR FM NORMAL: 7.1 DPTR FM NORMAL: 0.61 2 = FOG REDUCING VISIBILITY HIGHEST: 57 ON 11 GRTST 24HR 1.12 ON 3- 3 TO 1/4 MILE OR LESS LOWEST: -1 ON 31 3 = THUNDER SNOW, ICE PELLETS, HAIL 4 = ICE PELLETS TOTAL MONTH: 9.9 INCHES 5 = HAIL GRTST 24HR 3.6 ON 25-25 6 = FREEZING RAIN OR DRIZZLE GRTST DEPTH: 3 ON 31,30 7 = DUSTSTORM OR SANDSTORM: VSBY 1/2 MILE OR LESS 8 = SMOKE OR HAZE [NO. OF DAYS WITH] [WEATHER - DAYS WITH] 9 = BLOWING SNOW X = TORNADO MAX 32 OR BELOW: 9 0.01 INCH OR MORE: 14 MAX 90 OR ABOVE: 0 0.10 INCH OR MORE: 8 MIN 32 OR BELOW: 21 0.50 INCH OR MORE: 1 MIN 0 OR BELOW: 1 1.00 INCH OR MORE: 1 [HDD (BASE 65) ] TOTAL THIS MO. 1005 CLEAR (SCALE 0-3) 1 DPTR FM NORMAL -229 PTCLDY (SCALE 4-7) 5 TOTAL FM JUL 1 3171 CLOUDY (SCALE 8-10) 25 DPTR FM NORMAL -277 [CDD (BASE 65) ] TOTAL THIS MO. 0 DPTR FM NORMAL 0 [PRESSURE DATA] TOTAL FM JAN 1 0 HIGHEST SLP 30.49 ON 31 DPTR FM NORMAL 0 LOWEST SLP 29.43 ON 19 [REMARKS] #FINAL-01-23# This January (to date): 000 CXUS53 KLOT 270800 CF6ORD PRELIMINARY LOCAL CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA (WS FORM: F-6) STATION: CHICAGO-OHARE MONTH: JANUARY YEAR: 2024 LATITUDE: 41 58 N LONGITUDE: 87 54 W TEMPERATURE IN F: :PCPN: SNOW: WIND :SUNSHINE: SKY :PK WND ================================================================================ 1 2 3 4 5 6A 6B 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 12Z AVG MX 2MIN DY MAX MIN AVG DEP HDD CDD WTR SNW DPTH SPD SPD DIR MIN PSBL S-S WX SPD DR ================================================================================ 1 32 27 30 3 35 0 T T 0 10.1 18 340 M M 10 25 240 2 39 26 33 6 32 0 T T 0 12.0 22 230 M M 8 18 30 210 3 36 31 34 8 31 0 T T 0 7.2 14 300 M M 10 16 18 350 4 37 24 31 5 34 0 0.00 0.0 0 4.8 16 350 M M 6 20 350 5 37 26 32 6 33 0 0.01 0.1 0 6.6 13 120 M M 8 1 17 120 6 34 31 33 7 32 0 0.21 2.6 2 4.3 10 110 M M 10 14 14 110 7 34 31 33 7 32 0 0.02 0.8 3 7.9 14 260 M M 10 18 19 280 8 36 30 33 7 32 0 0.08 0.4 1 8.9 18 100 M M 10 1 24 100 9 36 33 35 9 30 0 0.93 2.8 1 13.2 23 310 M M 10 124 34 320 10 34 30 32 7 33 0 T 0.1 2 12.0 23 310 M M 10 1 33 310 11 34 27 31 6 34 0 0.01 0.3 2 8.2 22 270 M M 9 18 30 260 12 36 30 33 8 32 0 0.77 4.7 2 13.4 37 90 M M 10 1248 55 90 13 33 1 17 -8 48 0 0.09 2.4 5 16.5 28 260 M M 10 19 39 260 14 3 -10 -3 -28 68 0 T T 4 16.2 26 270 M M 5 89 40 280 15 2 -10 -4 -29 69 0 0.00 0.0 4 10.9 16 260 M M 7 24 260 16 3 -7 -2 -27 67 0 0.00 0.0 4 16.0 24 240 M M 3 34 240 17 20 2 11 -14 54 0 0.00 0.0 4 12.9 22 230 M M 7 30 230 18 28 12 20 -5 45 0 0.06 0.8 4 6.4 16 340 M M 9 1 22 340 19 14 5 10 -15 55 0 0.04 1.1 5 14.0 20 320 M M 9 18 27 320 20 18 4 11 -14 54 0 0.00 0.0 4 9.9 15 310 M M 3 21 320 21 21 1 11 -13 54 0 0.00 0.0 4 9.8 20 190 M M 5 27 200 22 34 21 28 4 37 0 0.03 T 4 11.3 21 220 M M 10 1456 31 200 23 37 33 35 11 30 0 0.36 0.0 4 3.7 9 100 M M 10 16 14 20 24 38 34 36 12 29 0 0.18 0.0 3 5.9 12 40 M M 10 12 20 10 25 38 35 37 12 28 0 0.28 0.0 1 9.0 16 20 M M 10 12 26 40 26 40 37 39 14 26 0 0.38 0.0 0 5.9 16 20 M M 10 1 21 30 ================================================================================ SM 754 504 1054 0 3.45 16.1 257.0 M 219 ================================================================================ AV 29.0 19.4 9.9 FASTST M M 8 MAX(MPH) MISC ----> 37 90 55 90 ================================================================================ NOTES: # LAST OF SEVERAL OCCURRENCES COLUMN 17 PEAK WIND IN M.P.H. PRELIMINARY LOCAL CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA (WS FORM: F-6) , PAGE 2 STATION: CHICAGO-OHARE MONTH: JANUARY YEAR: 2024 LATITUDE: 41 58 N LONGITUDE: 87 54 W [TEMPERATURE DATA] [PRECIPITATION DATA] SYMBOLS USED IN COLUMN 16 AVERAGE MONTHLY: 24.2 TOTAL FOR MONTH: 3.45 1 = FOG OR MIST DPTR FM NORMAL: -1.1 DPTR FM NORMAL: 1.74 2 = FOG REDUCING VISIBILITY HIGHEST: 40 ON 26 GRTST 24HR 0.93 ON 9- 9 TO 1/4 MILE OR LESS LOWEST: -10 ON 15,14 3 = THUNDER SNOW, ICE PELLETS, HAIL 4 = ICE PELLETS TOTAL MONTH: 17.0 INCHES 5 = HAIL GRTST 24HR 4.7 ON 12-12 6 = FREEZING RAIN OR DRIZZLE GRTST DEPTH: 5 ON 19,13 7 = DUSTSTORM OR SANDSTORM: VSBY 1/2 MILE OR LESS 8 = SMOKE OR HAZE [NO. OF DAYS WITH] [WEATHER - DAYS WITH] 9 = BLOWING SNOW X = TORNADO MAX 32 OR BELOW: 9 0.01 INCH OR MORE: 15 MAX 90 OR ABOVE: 0 0.10 INCH OR MORE: 7 MIN 32 OR BELOW: 21 0.50 INCH OR MORE: 2 MIN 0 OR BELOW: 3 1.00 INCH OR MORE: 0 [HDD (BASE 65) ] TOTAL THIS MO. 1054 CLEAR (SCALE 0-3) 1 DPTR FM NORMAL 26 PTCLDY (SCALE 4-7) 8 TOTAL FM JUL 1 2816 CLOUDY (SCALE 8-10) 17 DPTR FM NORMAL -432 [CDD (BASE 65) ] TOTAL THIS MO. 0 DPTR FM NORMAL 0 [PRESSURE DATA] TOTAL FM JAN 1 0 HIGHEST SLP M ON M DPTR FM NORMAL 0 LOWEST SLP 28.96 ON 9 [REMARKS] Just for fun, January 2020: 173 CXUS55 KLOT 010700 CF6ORD PRELIMINARY LOCAL CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA (WS FORM: F-6) STATION: CHICAGO-OHARE MONTH: JANUARY YEAR: 2020 LATITUDE: 41 58 N LONGITUDE: 87 54 W TEMPERATURE IN F: :PCPN: SNOW: WIND :SUNSHINE: SKY :PK WND ================================================================================ 1 2 3 4 5 6A 6B 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 12Z AVG MX 2MIN DY MAX MIN AVG DEP HDD CDD WTR SNW DPTH SPD SPD DIR MIN PSBL S-S WX SPD DR ================================================================================ 1 42 21 32 8 33 0 0.00 0.0 0 11.9 22 190 M M 3 34 190 2 48 37 43 19 22 0 0.00 0.0 0 11.7 22 190 M M 5 32 190 3 41 33 37 13 28 0 0.00 0.0 0 6.1 12 330 M M 10 14 350 4 33 26 30 6 35 0 0.03 0.5 1 9.2 16 310 M M 10 18 24 300 5 42 24 33 9 32 0 0.00 0.0 0 13.8 26 280 M M 8 37 220 6 42 27 35 11 30 0 0.00 0.0 0 9.5 16 260 M M 5 24 270 7 40 28 34 10 31 0 0.00 0.0 0 10.7 20 270 M M 7 30 270 8 29 14 22 -2 43 0 0.00 0.0 0 11.2 23 300 M M 4 32 300 9 50 23 37 13 28 0 0.02 0.0 0 16.1 26 200 M M 9 39 200 10 50 36 43 19 22 0 0.84 0.0 0 11.4 26 20 M M 10 12 34 30 11 37 25 31 7 34 0 0.37 2.1 0 25.0 39 20 M M 10 129 52 10 12 31 23 27 3 38 0 T T 2 6.5 16 150 M M 10 168 22 160 13 33 31 32 8 33 0 T 0.2 2 8.3 20 270 M M 8 1 26 280 14 39 25 32 8 33 0 0.00 0.0 1 8.5 22 240 M M 8 1 29 230 15 36 25 31 7 34 0 T 0.0 0 8.0 22 320 M M 8 1 31 290 16 29 11 20 -4 45 0 T T 0 11.7 22 310 M M 6 29 290 17 29 11 20 -3 45 0 0.37 3.1 0 10.5 25 120 M M 10 12469 34 120 18 35 5 20 -3 45 0 0.40 T 2 15.8 31 270 M M 9 168 46 270 19 19 2 11 -12 54 0 T T 2 13.0 26 260 M M 7 39 280 20 31 17 24 1 41 0 T T 2 6.8 12 310 M M 6 15 310 21 29 15 22 -2 43 0 0.00 0.0 2 7.7 17 230 M M 3 24 230 22 34 24 29 5 36 0 T T 2 12.2 18 180 M M 10 29 190 23 34 29 32 8 33 0 0.17 0.9 2 7.6 15 190 M M 10 1 22 180 24 37 32 35 11 30 0 0.40 T 1 4.7 13 80 M M 10 12 17 80 25 34 32 33 9 32 0 0.12 0.4 1 8.2 15 260 M M 10 16 21 230 26 33 27 30 6 35 0 T T 1 9.3 15 230 M M 10 1 20 250 27 35 27 31 7 34 0 T T 0 5.8 9 340 M M 10 16 12 270 28 33 31 32 8 33 0 T T 0 5.8 12 300 M M 10 1 17 300 29 34 30 32 8 33 0 T T 0 4.7 9 20 M M 10 8 11 20 30 35 32 34 10 31 0 0.00 0.0 0 3.6 9 170 M M 10 8 14 190 31 37 32 35 11 30 0 0.08 0.6 0 5.3 10 170 M M 10 18 14 160 ================================================================================ SM 1111 755 1076 0 2.80 7.8 300.6 M 256 ================================================================================ AV 35.8 24.4 9.7 FASTST M M 8 MAX(MPH) MISC ----> # 39 20 # 52 10 ================================================================================ NOTES: # LAST OF SEVERAL OCCURRENCES COLUMN 17 PEAK WIND IN M.P.H. PRELIMINARY LOCAL CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA (WS FORM: F-6) , PAGE 2 STATION: CHICAGO-OHARE MONTH: JANUARY YEAR: 2020 LATITUDE: 41 58 N LONGITUDE: 87 54 W [TEMPERATURE DATA] [PRECIPITATION DATA] SYMBOLS USED IN COLUMN 16 AVERAGE MONTHLY: 30.1 TOTAL FOR MONTH: 2.80 1 = FOG OR MIST DPTR FM NORMAL: 6.3 DPTR FM NORMAL: 1.07 2 = FOG REDUCING VISIBILITY HIGHEST: 50 ON 10, 9 GRTST 24HR 0.84 ON 10-10 TO 1/4 MILE OR LESS LOWEST: 2 ON 19 3 = THUNDER SNOW, ICE PELLETS, HAIL 4 = ICE PELLETS TOTAL MONTH: 7.8 INCHES 5 = HAIL GRTST 24HR 3.1 ON 17-17 6 = FREEZING RAIN OR DRIZZLE GRTST DEPTH: 2 ON 23,22 7 = DUSTSTORM OR SANDSTORM: VSBY 1/2 MILE OR LESS 8 = SMOKE OR HAZE [NO. OF DAYS WITH] [WEATHER - DAYS WITH] 9 = BLOWING SNOW X = TORNADO MAX 32 OR BELOW: 7 0.01 INCH OR MORE: 10 MAX 90 OR ABOVE: 0 0.10 INCH OR MORE: 7 MIN 32 OR BELOW: 28 0.50 INCH OR MORE: 1 MIN 0 OR BELOW: 0 1.00 INCH OR MORE: 0 [HDD (BASE 65) ] TOTAL THIS MO. 1076 CLEAR (SCALE 0-3) 1 DPTR FM NORMAL -203 PTCLDY (SCALE 4-7) 12 TOTAL FM JUL 1 3384 CLOUDY (SCALE 8-10) 18 DPTR FM NORMAL -306 [CDD (BASE 65) ] TOTAL THIS MO. 0 DPTR FM NORMAL 0 [PRESSURE DATA] TOTAL FM JAN 1 0 HIGHEST SLP M ON M DPTR FM NORMAL 0 LOWEST SLP 29.31 ON 31 [REMARKS] #FINAL-01-20#

That's pretty much going to add up through the end of this month. With an Omega Block establishing sometime next week, might as well continue into the first few days of February.

Today kicks off on what looks to be the longest overcast stretch of the season that will last through the end of the month.

The nail in the coffin

Got 2.3" of snow from it today. Highest snowfall of the season and will be that way for the foreseeable future.

Shades of '20

06z NAM: 06z HRRR:

Pick your poison 12 GFS: 15z RAP: 12z Euro:

Ended up with a total 1.2" of snow today. First day with 1+" daily snowfall of the season.

Today's 06Z GFS:

06Z GFS wants to bring some snow for the 16th:

Mine was January 25th last year.

12 GFS:

With the lack of snow continuing over the next couple weeks (even with an upcoming "Arctic" airmass), this is a January 2020 repeat.