January 2026 OBS and Discussion

[Roger Smith]

Another historical note to add to the Kennedy inaugural snowstorm (1961) ... NYC had 16 consecutive days with maxima below freezing from Jan 19 to Feb 3. Another large snowfall happened at the end of the cold spell, 17" fell Feb 3-4 1961. There was also a rare below zero not a daily record event (-2F on Feb 2, 1961, the record being -3F 1881). The warmest reading in the 16-day interval was 29F. The second half of Feb 1961 turned very mild. I recall this sequence from my own location west of Toronto (as a kid) and ice-jam flooding that took place on a small river covering the main street of a nearby village. This was before I started to observe as a high school student. 

[Volcanic Winter]

10F atm, truly impressive cold. 

[psv88]

17/2, high was 26. Not crazy for late January. 

[SACRUS]

 

QUickly down to 10 here.

 

[ForestHillWx]

@psv88i think it’s fair to agree it’s cold; no one said historic cold. 

It’s frozen lung cold out this way; just came in with the dog. 8/-3; colder than last night already. 

[Rjay]

2 minutes ago, ForestHillWx said:

@psv88i think it’s fair to agree it’s cold; no one said historic cold. 

It’s frozen lung cold out this way; just came in with the dog. 8/-3; colder than last night already. 

17/-2 here 

Definitely cold either way lol

[Picard]

9 hours ago, MANDA said:

No, did not move up to this area until 2016.  I have often wondered what the NJ coldest minimum temperature on record really is.  I believe it is recorded as -34 in River Vale (Bergen County) back in 1904.  Have to believe it would have been colder than that in the Sussex County valley locations.  Also how accurate is the -34 reading?  Who and exactly where was it recorded?  Lived in Park Ridge, next to River Vale for 10 years from mid 70's to mid 80's.  Saw some cold readings during that time but temperatures on the coldest mornings were always notably colder out in NW NJ.

Unless there was some unconventional cooling conditions that night, and assuming the -34 reading is correct, places like Sandyston and Walpack would had to have been -40 or better.   I'm not sure there is any real dataset for out that way that far back.  It would be interesting to pour through old newspaper articles or local journals if any still exist, to see if there is any reference to it.

For tonight, I'm hovering between 7 and 8 above, and my high today was only 18.  I'm thinking I'll make it to 0 or a shade below by morning.  I'm changing out weather stations, and plan to use the 24-hour reprieve from the cold tomorrow or Thursday to get it done.  Fingers crossed the new one works well.  

[psv88]

6 minutes ago, ForestHillWx said:

@psv88i think it’s fair to agree it’s cold; no one said historic cold. 

It’s frozen lung cold out this way; just came in with the dog. 8/-3; colder than last night already. 

Sure, but this isn’t impressive cold for late January. Most areas haven’t even dipped below 10 yet. I think my low is 13. Once we dip sub 5 that’s “impressive” for late January. 
 

to me a 0 degree reading is the same as 100 degrees in summer here. 5 degrees to 98. 10 degrees to 95. 15 is 90. 
 

so far we’ve had no nights below 10 and 2/3 below 15. So it’s been cold but not impressive by any means. 

[Stormlover74]

If we do have a fresh snowpack next Tuesday morning could be quite frigid

[Snowlover11]

Deep winter about to slap us! 13F currently.

[donsutherland1]

Saturday and possibly Sunday could see high temperatures below 20° across much of the New York City area. Such frigid highs have been very infrequent since 2020.

[qg_omega]

5 minutes ago, donsutherland1 said:

Saturday and possibly Sunday could see high temperatures below 20° across much of the New York City area. Such frigid highs have been very infrequent since 2020.

Big difference for white plains vs the field

[MANDA]

59 minutes ago, Rjay said:

17/-2 here 

Definitely cold either way lol

Current temperatures at or below 10 across NJ.

Only made it to 19 here today under bright sun.

Currently 8.

Cold by all accounts I'd say.

[MANDA]

54 minutes ago, Picard said:

Unless there was some unconventional cooling conditions that night, and assuming the -34 reading is correct, places like Sandyston and Walpack would had to have been -40 or better.   I'm not sure there is any real dataset for out that way that far back.  It would be interesting to pour through old newspaper articles or local journals if any still exist, to see if there is any reference to it.

For tonight, I'm hovering between 7 and 8 above, and my high today was only 18.  I'm thinking I'll make it to 0 or a shade below by morning.  I'm changing out weather stations, and plan to use the 24-hour reprieve from the cold tomorrow or Thursday to get it done.  Fingers crossed the new one works well.  

Yeah, I wish there was more data.  If the -34 was correct I would have to agree the NW NJ ice box spots might have been -40.  I have always thought the -34 was too low though.  Would like to know more about it.

Good luck getting your weather station up.  Shoot for Thursday....warmest day we'll see for a while. 

[[email protected]]

1 hour ago, psv88 said:

Sure, but this isn’t impressive cold for late January. Most areas haven’t even dipped below 10 yet. I think my low is 13. Once we dip sub 5 that’s “impressive” for late January. 
 

to me a 0 degree reading is the same as 100 degrees in summer here. 5 degrees to 98. 10 degrees to 95. 15 is 90. 
 

so far we’ve had no nights below 10 and 2/3 below 15. So it’s been cold but not impressive by any means. 

I told all of you that I will not go below 10 in NYC during this stretch! Let's face it the dramatic development of NYC's landscape over the last two decades had impacted how cold it can get! 

[Volcanic Winter]

6 hours ago, psv88 said:

Sure, but this isn’t impressive cold for late January. Most areas haven’t even dipped below 10 yet. I think my low is 13. Once we dip sub 5 that’s “impressive” for late January. 
 

to me a 0 degree reading is the same as 100 degrees in summer here. 5 degrees to 98. 10 degrees to 95. 15 is 90. 
 

so far we’ve had no nights below 10 and 2/3 below 15. So it’s been cold but not impressive by any means. 

It’s impressive to me in context of the unrelenting warmth of many of the 2020s winters and with respect to the fact it was like 8pm when I made the comment. Overnight low, no - I’ve already been below that a couple times during good radiative cooling overnights . At 8pm? To me that’s “real cold” for the region ‘beneath’ upstate NY / Sussex. 

No, not historic - just more significant than other ‘cold’ we’ve had. To clarify. Context always matters and sometimes we don’t add enough of it in these modern times, myself included. 
 

Down to 7 now.  And yeah, I think being at 10 at 8pm is more impressive than 7 by midnight. At least here at the ass end near the pines. 
 

Edit: 5F at 3:30a. Exceeded my minimum from Dec, now coldest of the season

Now 4F

[CPcantmeasuresnow]

5 hours ago, Picard said:

Unless there was some unconventional cooling conditions that night, and assuming the -34 reading is correct, places like Sandyston and Walpack would had to have been -40 or better.   I'm not sure there is any real dataset for out that way that far back.  It would be interesting to pour through old newspaper articles or local journals if any still exist, to see if there is any reference to it.

For tonight, I'm hovering between 7 and 8 above, and my high today was only 18.  I'm thinking I'll make it to 0 or a shade below by morning.  I'm changing out weather stations, and plan to use the 24-hour reprieve from the cold tomorrow or Thursday to get it done.  Fingers crossed the new one works well.  

Sandyston in Sussex county recorded -32 in the January 1994 cold outbreak and is probably more legitimate although they do recognize that -34 in River Vale in 1904. 

I'm about 45 miles east, northeast of Sandyston in Orange County NY, Highland Mills, and I recorded -23 that morning. There were numerous readings below -20 county wide in Orange and NW jersey so it's not far fetched a sheltered valley hit -32. Plus the snow cover was pretty deep area wide at that time. 

[jm1220]

Yikes. At the airport about to head home, currently 5 at the closest station to my house. 

[IrishRob17]

22 hours ago, sussexcountyobs said:

We'll both be flirting with 0 tonight. 

Sitting at 4 below at the moment. 

[sussexcountyobs]

Just now, IrishRob17 said:

Sitting at 4 below at the moment. 

+1.5 here

[steve392]

As I get older and thinner this cold really just kills you at 530am.  A few years ago this woukd be shorts and hoodie weather still.  Now I'm in jeans, winter carhartt jacket and insulated gloves.  

13 absolutely freezing degrees in Kearny, nj. 

[sussexcountyobs]

3 hours ago, CPcantmeasuresnow said:

Sandyston in Sussex county recorded -32 in the January 1994 cold outbreak and is probably more legitimate although they do recognize that -34 in River Vale in 1904. 

I'm about 45 miles east, northeast of Sandyston in Orange County NY, Highland Mills, and I recorded -23 that morning. There were numerous readings below -20 county wide in Orange and NW jersey so it's not far fetched a sheltered valley hit -32. Plus the snow cover was pretty deep area wide at that time. 

Got down to -23 that morning by me

[psv88]

9. -2 at westhampton

[BxEngine]

1 at home, 16 in the bronx.

[steve392]

Just got down to 9 now in Kearny, not sure how accurate that is. 

[ForestHillWx]

I’m at 1 degree  

Per wunderground (accuracy?) there are multiple below zero readings down the hill in Peapack/Gladstone. They have a unique ability to trap cold air in that sink. 

[psv88]

Dipped down to 8 right before sunrise. 

[sussexcountyobs]

Currently 0 at my house. Sussex shows -6 right now

[bluewave]

19 hours ago, MANDA said:

No, did not move up to this area until 2016.  I have often wondered what the NJ coldest minimum temperature on record really is.  I believe it is recorded as -34 in River Vale (Bergen County) back in 1904.  Have to believe it would have been colder than that in the Sussex County valley locations.  Also how accurate is the -34 reading?  Who and exactly where was it recorded?  Lived in Park Ridge, next to River Vale for 10 years from mid 70's to mid 80's.  Saw some cold readings during that time but temperatures on the coldest mornings were always notably colder out in NW NJ.

The -20° to -33° lows were fairly widespread across your region during the historic January 1994 Arctic outbreak. 

 

Monthly Data for January 1994 for Sussex County, NJ
Click column heading to sort ascending, click again to sort descending.

SUSSEX 1 NW	COOP	-29
NEWTON	COOP	-26
SUSSEX 8 NNW	COOP	-20
HIGH POINT PARK	COOP	-18

 

Monthly Data for January 1994 for Pike County, PA
Click column heading to sort ascending, click again to sort descending.

HAWLEY 1 E

COOP

-31

 

Monthly Data for January 1994 for Wayne County, PA
Click column heading to sort ascending, click again to sort descending.

PLEASANT MOUNT 1 W

COOP

-22

 

Monthly Data for January 1994 for Orange County, NY
Click column heading to sort ascending, click again to sort descending.

WALDEN 1 ESE	COOP	-27
MIDDLETOWN 2 NW	COOP	-23

 

Monthly Data for January 1994 for Sullivan County, NY
Click column heading to sort ascending, click again to sort descending.

LIBERTY 1 NE

COOP

-20

 

Monthly Data for January 1994 for Ulster County, NY
Click column heading to sort ascending, click again to sort descending.

SLIDE MOUNTAIN

COOP

-21

 

Monthly Data for January 1994 for Dutchess County, NY
Click column heading to sort ascending, click again to sort descending.

RHINEBECK 4SE	COOP	-33
MILLBROOK	COOP	-29
STORMVILLE	COOP	-22
POUGHKEEPSIE	COOP	-20

[CPcantmeasuresnow]

-1 here. First sub zero this winter. ❄️