January 2026 OBS and Discussion

[sussexcountyobs]

Clear skies. Hit a low of 9.0

[SACRUS]

19 / 7 looking mainly cloudy with snow flurries / showers later this night.  Colder through the 5th before warming.  Still looks to be a 4 - 5 day warmup before trough and next active period starts around 1/11.

 

[SACRUS]

Records:

Highs:

EWR: 65 (2000)
NYC: 64 (2000)
LGA: 63 (2000)
JFK: 60 (2000)


Lows:

EWR: 8 (2014)
NYC: -4 (1879)
LGA: 10 (2014)
JFK: 9 (2014)

 

Historical: 

 

1777 - An overnight freeze enabled George Washington and his troops to flank the British at Trenton, cross their lines at Princeton, and seek security in the hills of northern New Jersey. (David Ludlum)

1824: The oldest known weather information in Oklahoma begins on this today at Fort Gibson in 1824. Now known as Muskogee County. 

1877: The minimum temperature for the date is -3°F. in Washington, DC. (Ref. Washington Weather Records - KDCA)
 

1883: A remarkably brilliant meteor display occurred on the night of January 3rd. The phenomenon was observed at stations in Wisconsin, Michigan, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. This meteor was described as having resembled a large, bright ball of fire.

1886: A severe ice storm struck portions of northeastern Iowa when heavy accumulations of freezing rain brought down trees and branches across the area. An observer near Garnavillo in Clayton County wrote that "the rain...mostly froze as it fell, and coated twigs of trees with ice an inch thick, and many trees were seriously broken. Our telephone wires were broken in many places. Large old trees and large limbs broken. In the woods, many trees bent their tops, so the ground and the roads were impassible until the treetops were cut off." In Fayette County, it was reported that "ice formed on the trees so thick that many limbs, from four to eight inches through, were broken and the tops of the trees, thirty feet high, rested on the ground in many instances blockading the roads." An observer at Waukon noted that "ice formed on the trees to such an extent that in very many cases our shade trees were ruined. All afternoon and night, it was a continual crash."

1911: Brutal record cold prevailed from the Plains to the West Coast. Locations reporting record lows for the date included: International Falls, MN: -35°, St. Cloud, MN: -31°, Grand Forks, ND: -31°, Aberdeen, SD: -30°, Duluth, MN: -30°, Huron, SD: -29°, Rochester, MN: -28°, Norfolk, NE: -27°, Valentine, NE: -24°, Sioux Falls, SD: -23°-Tied, North Platte, NE: -22°, Scottsbluff, NE: -22°, Sioux City, IA: -20°, La Crosse, WI: -20°-Tied °F. (Ref. Wilson - Additional Temperatures Listed On This Link)

1918: The coldest period of the winter of 1917 and 18 occurred from December 29th to January 4th. The temperatures for this date were a high of 15 degrees Fahrenheit and a low of +4 degrees Fahrenheit at KDCA. Extreme cold recorded in Western Maryland -30° at Oakland, -18° Hagerstown and -1°F in Frederick. Also a light snow falls in Frederick.(Bob Ryan's 2000 Almanac) (Ref. Wilson - Additional Temperatures Listed On This Link)

1921: The first radio broadcasts of weather forecasts began as the University of Wisconsin began using the new medium. Within two years, over 140 radio telephone stations would be broadcasting weather reports by radio. (Ref. AccWeather Weather History)

 

1949: During the late afternoon hours, an estimated F4 tornado destroyed Warren, Arkansas. The tornado killed 55 people and injured more than 250 others. The destruction of the Bradley mill displaced 1,000 employees.

1949: The Great Blizzard of 1949 continued and grew in intensity with heavy snow, strong winds and bitter cold temperatures. On this day Cheyenne, WY recorded their highest daily precipitation total ever in January with 1.32 inches. Many areas recorded all-time daily record snowfalls including 26.7 inches at Chadron, NE with snowfall estimated at 25 to 30 inches burying Cheyenne and much of southeast Wyoming. This combined with temperatures at or below zero all day and wind gusts over 50 mph paralyzed the region. (Ref. Wilson Wx. History)

1961 - A three day long icestorm was in progress over northern Idaho which produced an accumulation of ice eight inches thick, a U.S. record. Heavy fog, which blanketed much of northern Idaho from Grangeville to the Canadian border, deposited the ice on power and phone lines causing widespread power outages. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)


1970: The barometer at Barrow, AK soared to a reading of 31.43 inches of mercury. (Ref. AccWeather Weather History)

1971: The temperature reached a scorching 96° at Cotulla, TX, just two degrees shy of the U.S. record for January. Other locations in Texas that reported record highs for the date included: Corpus Christi: 88°, San Antonio: 86°, Austin (Bergstrom): 84° and Austin (Camp Mabry): 83°. (Ref. AccWeather Weather History) (Ref. Wilson Wx. History)

1977: 14.2 inches of snow falls on Mankato, MN. (Ref. AccWeather Weather History)

1987 - A powerful Pacific coast storm blasted the western U.S. with high winds, heavy rain and heavy snow. Winds gusted to 96 mph at Cape Blanco OR, and snowfall totals reached 20 inches in the Sierra Nevada Range of California. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

1988 - After a day of rest, "Old Man Winter" came back as a triple threat, hitting both coasts with winter storms, and blasting the central U.S. with cold arctic air. Snow and ice in the eastern U.S. caused 4.5 million dollars damage to homes and vehicles in North Carolina, the storm in the western U.S. produced two feet of snow in the Lake Tahoe area of Nevada, and temperatures in North Dakota plunged to 30 degrees below zero, with wind chill readings as cold as 95 degrees below zero. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

1989 - Thirteen cities in the southeastern U.S., and five more in Washington and Oregon, reported new record high temperatures for the date. Highs of 78 degrees at Galveston TX and 82 degrees at Lake Charles LA were records for the month of January. (National Weather Summary)

1990 - A winter storm in the southwestern U.S. spread snow across Colorado and New Mexico. Heavy snow fell in southwestern Colorado, with 13 inches reported at Wolf Creek Pass. Snow spread into the Central Plains Region during the day, with six inches reported at Garden City KS. (National Weather Summary)

1994 - A heavy wet snow blanketed much of the state of Ohio, with 12 to 18 inches reported in counties along the Ohio River. Newport received 21 inches. Thunder and lightning accompanied the snow, with five inches reported in Washington County and Noble County between 7 AM and 8 AM Tuesday. Parts of Washington County were without electricity for eight days following the storm.(National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

1999: A powerful area of low pressure and deep Arctic high pressure brought almost all winter elements to central and northeast South Dakota as well as west central Minnesota from the afternoon on this date to the morning of the 5th. Late during the evening on this date, the freezing rain changed to sleet and then snow, with substantial snowfall accumulations of 6 to as much as 27 inches by late on the 4th. As the deep Arctic high pressure pushed in through the morning and afternoon of the 4th, northwest winds increased to 25 to 45 mph gusting to 55 mph creating widespread blizzard conditions, drifts up to 20 feet, and wind chills from -40 °F to -70 °F. The heavy accumulation of ice and snow across parts of central and mainly across northeast South Dakota resulted in the ROOF COLLAPSE OF OVER 150, MAINLY RURAL, BUILDINGS. The collapse of so many buildings from snow and ice was believed to be the first in this area. On most other buildings, the snow had to be shoveled or blown off. One man was killed in west central Minnesota as he was trying to shovel snow off the roof of a building. A few homes during the storm were buried by the huge snow drifts near Lake Poinsett. Some people were without power for several days in the extreme cold conditions. At Aberdeen, SD heavy snow blocking a furnace exhaust vent, sent 3 family members to the hospital for carbon monoxide poisoning. Also, the snowmobile club, the drift busters were called upon for the first time in several years to deliver medicine, take patients to the hospital, and carry essential workers to work and home. Interstates 29 and 90 were both closed for a few days along with most state highways. Area airports were closed or flights were canceled or delayed. The heavy snowfall from this storm brought the widespread snowpack up to 2 to 5 feet. For the winter season so far, the area had record snowfall and record cold. Snowfall amounts of 1 to over 2 feet included, 27 inches at Wheaton, SD, 24 inches at Sisseton, SD, 22 inches at Britton, SD, 20 inches at Webster, SD, 18 inches at Faulkton, SD. (Ref. Wilson Wx. History)

 

2000: Two F3 tornadoes struck northwest Kentucky late in the afternoon of January 3. Owensboro, Kentucky, sustained the most severe damage and the highest number of injuries. Click HERE for more information from the NWS Office in Paducah, Kentucky.


2000: The maximum temperature for the date in Washington, DC is 68 °F. (Ref. Washington Weather Records - KDCA)

2002: You know the weather is bad when The Weather Channel closes their offices for the day. Parts of the Deep South ground to a standstill as a rare 2 day winter storm brought snow to the area, including Atlanta, where only essential personnel reported for work at the network. (Ref. AccWeather Weather History)
 

2018: The first time in 28 years, light snowfalls in Tallahassee, Florida. The NWS Office in Tallahassee measured 0.1" of snow/sleet at 8:30 am.

[SACRUS]

 

Daylight: 9:h20:m  added about 5 mins since the Winter solstice

 

Sunrise is at its latest 7:20 (the next 6 days)
Sunset : 4:41 about 12 mins past the earliest sunset of 4:28 in early Dec
Gaining about 60 seconds to more than 2 mins a day by the 31st.

[SACRUS]

 

Trough looks to build in just beyond here / the 11th

 

[bluewave]

18 hours ago, SnowGoose69 said:

I think more a general rule that applies is if January is way above normal there are almost no cases of the winter being snowy.  That is really the only rule I think that applies.  I just do not know though how many below normal Decembers with above normal snow saw torch Januarys though.  Off memory I don't recall any, maybe 2005-06? 1989 obviously was crazy cold but had no snow albeit we had 1 very close call where like POU/BDL/BDR saw 5-10 inches so these things are somewhat relative as close calls either way could have resulted in years fitting/not fitting into analogs.

The way we got our snowfall this past December was different from the previous cold and snowy Decembers. This was our first December since at least 1950 with two 4-8” snowfall clippers. Past snowy Decembers into early January had big KU systems with widespread snows over 10”.

The models backing off the coastal system which was forecast for next week is telling us that the Northern Stream is still dominant. We haven’t had a widespread 25”+ season from EWR-NYC-LGA-JFK-ISP in over 30 years without at least one KU NESIS Cat 1 event or higher.

The other thing is that all our recent winters since 21-22 had most of the seasonal snowfall focused into just one winter month. This is why I am concerned that absent a revival of the BM coastal storm track before this winter is over, that December will be our snowiest winter month this year and most spots from EWR to ISP finish with another below average snowfall season.

Since it was something like a 50 year+ event to get two 4-8” snowfall clippers in a two week period in December. That really productive clipper pattern for snow has shifted and we still haven’t seen evidence for a big KU pattern developing.

Whatever happens, this was our best December in terms of cold and snow in a long time which we are all very grateful for.

[snowman19]

7 minutes ago, bluewave said:

The way we got our snowfall this past December was different from the previous cold and snowy Decembers. This was our first December since at least 1950 with two 4-8” snowfall clippers. Past snowy Decembers into early January had big KU systems with widespread snows over 10”.

The models backing off the coastal system which was forecast for next week is telling us that the Northern Stream is still dominant. We haven’t had a widespread 25”+ season from EWR-NYC-LGA-JFK-ISP in over 30 years without at least one KU NESIS Cat 1 event or higher.

The other thing is that all our recent winters since 21-22 had most of the seasonal snowfall focused into just one winter month. This is why I am concerned that absent a revival of the BM coastal storm track before this winter is over, that December will be our snowiest winter month this year and most spots from EWR to ISP finish with another below average snowfall season.

Since it was something like a 50 year+ event to get two 4-8” snowfall clippers in a two week period in December. That really productive clipper pattern for snow has shifted and we still haven’t seen evidence for a big KU pattern developing.

Whatever happens, this was our best December in terms of cold and snow in a long time which we are all very grateful for.

This ties in with the very persistent trend of dry/drought we’ve seen since the tail end of summer, 2024 you just posted about. The most persistent dry pattern we’ve seen in this region in over 24 years. Every time it’s looked like we are going to go into a wet pattern again, it fails

[ForestHillWx]

Cold morning putting out recycling. The wolf-moon was going down as the sun was up; awesome sky to see. 

[Krs4Lfe]

20 minutes ago, snowman19 said:

This ties in with the very persistent trend of dry/drought we’ve seen since the tail end of summer, 2024 you just posted about. The most persistent dry pattern we’ve seen in this region in over 24 years. Every time it’s looked like we are going to go into a wet pattern again, it fails

Dry begets dry, wet begets wet. And snow begets snow. While in theory it’s improbable, we could nearly have a shut out for most of rest of winter because we clearly lack a coastal track. Hard to nickel and dime our way to seasonal average in these parts. Absent a KU and it’s almost impossible to get to seasonal average

[Stormlover74]

19 minutes ago, Krs4Lfe said:

Dry begets dry, wet begets wet. And snow begets snow. While in theory it’s improbable, we could nearly have a shut out for most of rest of winter because we clearly lack a coastal track. Hard to nickel and dime our way to seasonal average in these parts. Absent a KU and it’s almost impossible to get to seasonal average

If January through March repeat what we had in December most would have 30 to 40"

[MJO812]

A little snow

[NEG NAO]

[SnowGoose69]

3 hours ago, snowman19 said:

This ties in with the very persistent trend of dry/drought we’ve seen since the tail end of summer, 2024 you just posted about. The most persistent dry pattern we’ve seen in this region in over 24 years. Every time it’s looked like we are going to go into a wet pattern again, it fails

fortunately with a high end weak to moderate El Nino likely next winter we should finally get out of it

[MJO812]

2 hours ago, Krs4Lfe said:

Dry begets dry, wet begets wet. And snow begets snow. While in theory it’s improbable, we could nearly have a shut out for most of rest of winter because we clearly lack a coastal track. Hard to nickel and dime our way to seasonal average in these parts. Absent a KU and it’s almost impossible to get to seasonal average

You need to post better

[MJO812]

[SnowGoose69]

It was always likely the GEFS was gonna be wrong, its been having PAC issues now the last 2 winters.  The one area I feel its been better is the NAO.  The GEPS caving to the GEFS yesterday was funny though

[Krs4Lfe]

Ensembles really appeared to have overdone the warmth over the east US around the mid month period. The sings of an east coast trough are appearing around 1/11, which is a solid few days earlier than expected a few days ago. That will likely shorten our torch from 1/5-1/10, before a more favorable pattern reloads. I just don't like seeing such dry and mild conditions across south, central, and west US. They have a lot of ground to make up. Midwest and northeast are the only parts of the US that have had any meaningful cold or snow whatsoever this season. Even with the east coast trough, unless the pacific slows down enough to give us a big coastal, everything will be dominated by the northern stream. That means it'll take a lot of little events to boost us up towards seasonal average. I'm a bit skeptical

[MJO812]

1 minute ago, Krs4Lfe said:

Ensembles really appeared to have overdone the warmth over the east US around the mid month period. The sings of an east coast trough are appearing around 1/11, which is a solid few days earlier than expected a few days ago. That will likely shorten our torch from 1/5-1/10, before a more favorable pattern reloads. I just don't like seeing such dry and mild conditions across south, central, and west US. They have a lot of ground to make up. Midwest and northeast are the only parts of the US that have had any meaningful cold or snow whatsoever this season. Even with the east coast trough, unless the pacific slows down enough to give us a big coastal, everything will be dominated by the northern stream. That means it'll take a lot of little events to boost us up towards seasonal average. I'm a bit skeptical

It only takes 1 big coastal to get to around normal in many places. Euro has a big west based NAO forming. 

[MJO812]

[Bxstormwatcher360]

If you can get ice to form in the hudson then winter has a firm hold. These aren't short shots of cold either. A thaw,back in to the freezer in a few days. Thats basically the forecast. Btw its still cold outside!!.

[binbisso]

Lol

[sussexcountyobs]

Alot of people ice fishing out on the lake today. Too breezy for me to go. I froze walking the dog for 30 minutes.

[binbisso]

I think we can work with this look in the 10-15 day period 

[sussexcountyobs]

From EPAWA

Sussex: Scattered snow showers begins around  10pm  ending 5am Sunday, can leave a fresh coating of snow, but less than an inch.

[Krs4Lfe]

11 minutes ago, sussexcountyobs said:

From EPAWA

Sussex: Scattered snow showers begins around  10pm  ending 5am Sunday, can leave a fresh coating of snow, but less than an inch.

You think we'll get some of that here in the city?

[sussexcountyobs]

2 minutes ago, Krs4Lfe said:

You think we'll get some of that here in the city?

I don't know? I'm not a meteorologist, and don't make forecasts . Especially for areas where I don't live. But. I hope you guys down below do get some.

[SnoSki14]

1 hour ago, binbisso said:

Lol

Hopefully it's more of a thaw than a long term break 

[Dark Star]

On 1/2/2026 at 12:57 PM, SnowGoose69 said:

I think more a general rule that applies is if January is way above normal there are almost no cases of the winter being snowy.  That is really the only rule I think that applies.  I just do not know though how many below normal Decembers with above normal snow saw torch Januarys though.  Off memory I don't recall any, maybe 2005-06? 1989 obviously was crazy cold but had no snow albeit we had 1 very close call where like POU/BDL/BDR saw 5-10 inches so these things are somewhat relative as close calls either way could have resulted in years fitting/not fitting into analogs.

That's why you can "cancel" winter around the 3rd week in January after already experiencing mostly un-winterlike conditions.  By the end of the 3rd week of January, if no cold air is apparent in the 2 week long range, you can be pretty sure winter is over.  February is regarded as the snowiest month, and you can have snowstorms in late February into March, but winter is normally waning by the end of February.  To many, winter is a period of at least of 6 weeks of seasonably cold weather with some systems that produce(d) frozen precipitation.  Any snow that does fall is slow to melt.  Local small ponds freeze.  I know, we have this "discussion" almost every year.

[sussexcountyobs]

Great start to winter here. It's been quite a few years since the lake ice has been thick enough to play hockey and ice fish 2 weeks before Christmas. 19" of snow so far, with maybe another 1/2" tonight. The upcoming January thaw should only last 3-4 days as forecasted. Low to mid 40's. Then getting colder again. I'm actually looking forward to it, because it's been stupid cold with the never ending wind.

[NorthShoreWx]

Been seeing hockey games on the ponds here for a week now.