January 2026 OBS and Discussion

[BoulderWX]

It’s snowed like five different days since mid-December and plenty of cold air around - IMO this winter is off to a great start. 

[bkviking]

Light snow sticking and blowing around -again - Lake Grove LI (at mall) 

[NorthShoreWx]

26 minutes ago, bkviking said:

Light snow sticking and blowing around -again - Lake Grove LI (at mall) 

Same here.  Was that you on mping near that same location?

[Volcanic Winter]

54 minutes ago, BoulderWX said:

It’s snowed like five different days since mid-December and plenty of cold air around - IMO this winter is off to a great start. 

I’d have to agree, having appreciable cold throughout Dec with multiple snow events for the entire north / south extant of the inner and suburban metro is beyond a doubt fantastic. I think I saw some of our Orange county area posters have well into double digit snows (or was it 20+?), LI did well I think, and down here at the ass end I have nearly 10 inches to kick off winter.  

Short of the big KU event Decembers like 09, 10, and was it 20? - Really have to take your chips and go on this one.
 

January might go bad, or it might perk up toward the back nine - we’ll find out. Then we have another month+ to get our act together, and given the stats on December snow I’ll place my bets this doesn’t rat to close out.  I’m thinking good Dec, solid in summation will probably be the tenor come the end of March. And that’s fine in the face of multiple horrid winters this decade. 

My Dec average was 33.2 with a low max of 10.2. 

[MJO812]

Flurries here

[donsutherland1]

The weekend looks to be mainly dry with colder than normal temperatures. A few flurries are possible in parts of the region early Sunday.

The first week of January could have a mean temperature below 30° in New York City. If that happends, it would be the coldest opening week of January since 2018. The only years since 2000 with a sub-30° mean temperature for the opening week of January were 2001, 2010, 2014 and 2018.

Milder weather will likely develop on or around January 7th. The milder period appears likely to last for about a week, but there is some uncertainty about its duration. Afterward, conditions could become more favorable for both cold and snowfall, especially if the PNA goes positive.

The ENSO Region 1+2 anomaly was -0.3°C and the Region 3.4 anomaly was -0.7°C for the week centered around December 24. For the past six weeks, the ENSO Region 1+2 anomaly has averaged -0.33°C and the ENSO Region 3.4 anomaly has averaged -0.68°C. La Niña conditions will likely continue into at least late winter.

The SOI was +9.29 today. 

The preliminary Arctic Oscillation (AO) was -1.828 today. 

 

[Stormlover74]

Moon over snow squall clouds

[Rjay]

5 hours ago, wthrmn654 said:

To go off track for a second, 

With modern day technology and ways to track people,  doesn't this forum have the ability to know if someone is making a new account if they were blocked, banned, etc? Through IP, or emails? I only ask as it  would seem there's been mention of people acting like other people, assuming they been banned or restricted etc. 

The technology I get to use is from the stone ages 

[Rjay]

5 hours ago, Stormlover74 said:

Yes I'm sure the admins do

Ehhh

[sussexcountyobs]

Got a nother dusting of snow this evening. 

Currently mostly cloudy. 19.4°

[CPcantmeasuresnow]

27 minutes ago, sussexcountyobs said:

Got a nother dusting of snow this evening. 

Currently mostly cloudy. 19.4°

Yes Syracuse and Oswego throwing us their table scraps. Some towns in between both will end up with over 6 feet from this. Snowfalls rates there tonight are 3-5 inches per hour.

One of these days I have to drive up before a big one. 

[NorthShoreWx]

On the heels of yesterday's "record breaking" New Years Day snowfall, here are some more stats from the current winter season in Smithtown:

The period of record for snowfall is 10/1/1995 through the present.

The old daily January 1st record of 0.1" was the lowest daily record of any date between November 30 and March 25.  Yesterday's 0.3" of snowfall shattered (tripled ) the old record set on New Years Day 2010.

Here are all New Years Day snowfalls in Smithtown since 1996:

• 1997 - Trace
• 2006 - Trace
• 2010 - 0.1"
• 2014 - Trace
• 2020 - Trace
• 2021 - Trace
• 2026 - 0.3"

Snowfall this season through 1/2 is 13.4".  The December mean temperature was 33.1° and monthly snowfall was 13.0".  Thus far we have had 11 days with at least a trace of snow, 7 days with measurable snowfall, and 3 days with at least 1 inch.

Total precipitation for December was 4.33".  Total precipitation for 2025 was 39.46" (8.34" below the 13-year average)

Finally, the only other day in January with a daily snowfall record below 1" is January 13 (0.5" in 2000).  We might have a shot at breaking that this year.

[NorthShoreWx]

Addendum:

December 2025 was the 5th coldest out of the past 31 Decembers here.  It didn't even seem that cold, but certainly we didn't have the extreme warm outlier days that seem to have become prevalent in December.   12/25 average was 33.1, December mean is 37.2.  Here are the 5 coldest:

December 2000 - 29.6°

December 1995 - 30.7°

December 2010 - 32.2°

December 2002 - 32.9°

December 2025 - 33.1°

[Stormlover74]

[donsutherland1]

Syracuse is off to its third fastest start in terms of seasonal snowfall.

[jm1220]

Curious sometimes to think of what an obs station 150 miles SE of NYC would get every year for snow. Looks like a nice ocean effect band out there right now. 

[WestBabylonWeather]

25 minutes ago, jm1220 said:

Curious sometimes to think of what an obs station 150 miles SE of NYC would get every year for snow. Looks like a nice ocean effect band out there right now. 

Maybe us snow weenies can build an island nation out there (probably not great more rain than snow)

[Dark Star]

2 hours ago, Stormlover74 said:

Moon over snow squall clouds

It was spectacular...

[LoboLeader1]

NWS has temps progged above freezing here next week. Next weekend as of now looking wet, not white. Currently 21F.

[Stormlover74]

8 minutes ago, Dark Star said:

It was spectacular...

Even from a mall parking lot 

[CPcantmeasuresnow]

1 hour ago, donsutherland1 said:

Syracuse is off to its third fastest start in terms of seasonal snowfall.

Some town in between Oswego and Syracuse is going to exceed six feet from the event going on there now. Winter storm warnings there tonight for 1-3 feet and snowfall rates 3-5 inches per hour. This is on top of 3-4 feet that has hit this area the last couple of days. 

[wthrmn654]

So annoyed 2026 isn't good, first still sick now 2024 trucks 10 speed transmission messed up. Lol please hold off the snow for a little bit while i deal with this mess. 

[SnowGoose69]

1 hour ago, CPcantmeasuresnow said:

Some town in between Oswego and Syracuse is going to exceed six feet from the event going on there now. Winter storm warnings there tonight for 1-3 feet and snowfall rates 3-5 inches per hour. This is on top of 3-4 feet that has hit this area the last couple of days. 

Hannibal has 33 inches already, its only about 5 south of Oswego on a straight line

[MJO812]

Models have a colder pattern by the 12th.