January 2026 OBS and Discussion

[sussexcountyobs]

Steady light snow. Sticking everywhere.  13.8F

[snywx]

14 w/ steady lgt snow 

coating on all surfaces

[SACRUS]

23/ -1 snow snow squall and showers so far north of  me here as front moves south.  Overall cold next 10 - 14 days.  Storm tracking on for Sun/Mon then perhaps by the 5/-6 period. Cold reloads mid month after brief moderation.

 

[SACRUS]

 

Records:

Highs:

EWR: 69 (1974)
NYC: 69 (1916)
LGA: 66 (1974)
JFK: 65 (1974)


Lows:

EWR: -2 (1994)
NYC: -1 (1927)
LGA: 0 (1994)
JFK: 2 (1994)

Historical:

 

1772 - The "Washington and Jefferson Snowstorm" occurred. George Washington reported three feet of snow at Mount Vernon, and Thomas Jefferson recorded about three feet at Monticello. (Sandra and TI Richard Sanders - 1987)

1805: Southeastern New York and New England were in the middle of a 3-day snowstorm. Snow fell continuously for 48 hours in New York City where two feet accumulated. (Ref. AccWeather Weather History)
 

1922: On this date through the 29th, a significant snowstorm struck the East Coast from South Carolina to southeastern Massachusetts. Washington, DC, reported 28 inches of snow. The heavy snow on the Knickerbocker Theater's flat roof put a significant strain on the structure. On the evening of the 28th,  during a showing of the silent comedy "Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford," the building collapsed, killing 98 people and injuring 130 others. 

1935: The minimum temperature for the date is +6°F. in Washington, DC. (Washington Weather Records - KDCA)


1937: The Ohio River crested at 74.1 feet at Portsmouth in southern Ohio well above flood wall of 60 feet. (Ref. AccWeather Weather History)

1940: Florida endured a 3 day long freeze with the lowest temperatures ever in January at Mason, FL as they dropped to 8°. 11 million boxes of citrus were damaged, resulting in a $10 million dollar loss. Georgia’s lowest temperature ever occurred on this date at a CCC camp F16 (Lafeyette,GA) with a reading of -17°. (Ref. AccWeather Weather History) (Extreme Weather p. 54, by Christopher C. Burt)

1943: Jan. 27-28, Three years after Richmond's big snowfall, Richmond was hit with its worst ice storm of record up to that time. The ice accumulated to a glaze an inch thick. The weight of the ice was too much for utility poles and wires bringing them down and cutting off electricity and telephone service. Thousands of trees were damaged or destroyed by the weight of the ice. (Ref. Virginia Wx. History)

1966 - Oswego, NY, was in the midst of a five day lake effect storm which left the town buried under 102 inches of snow. (David Ludlum)

1967 - Residents of Chicago, IL, began to dig out from a storm which produced 23 inches of snow in 29 hours. The snow paralyzed the city and suburbs for days, and business losses were enormous. (David Ludlum)

1974: The maximum temperature for the date in Washington, DC is 75°F. (Washington Weather Records - KDCA)


1978: Beginning the previous day through this date, across northern and eastern Iowa, winds gusting to 50 mph whipped powder dry snow already on the ground into huge drifts to 13 feet high. Extreme cold pushed wind chill factors to -70°. The drifts closed most roads including I-35. Thousands of cars and trucks were stranded along roadsides or in ditches. (Ref. Wilson Wx. History)

1984: This was the last day of 63 consecutive days with snow cover of one inch or more at Denver, CO. This longest period of snow cover on record began with the Thanksgiving weekend blizzard when 21.5 inches fell. Additional snowfall during December and January prolonged the event. (Ref. Wilson Wx. History)
 

1987 - A powerful storm moving into the western U.S. produced 13 inches of snow at Daggett Pass NV, and 16 inches in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. Winds gusted to 63 mph at Reno NV, and wind gusts in Oregon exceeded 80 mph. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

1988 - The nation got a breather from winter storms, however, cold arctic air settled into the southeastern U.S. Hollywood FL reported a record low reading of 39 degrees. (National Weather Summary)

1989 - The last half of January was bitterly cold over most of Alaska. Nearly thirty stations established all-time record low temperatures. On this date Tanana reported a low of -76 degrees. Daily highs of -66 degrees were reported at Chandalar Lake on the 22nd, and at Ambler on the 26th. (The Weather Channel)

 

1989: Bitter cold air gripped most of Alaska during January 1989. Tanana, near Fairbanks, saw a low temperature of 76 degrees below zero on this day. The high for the day was 60 degrees below zero. With an average temperature of 68 degrees below zero, Tanana saw an average temperature of nearly sixty degrees below normal. McGrath, Alaska, recorded a wind chill of -100°F. This is the lowest wind chill ever observed in the U.S. at a populated location. You can read more about this event from the Alaska Dispatch 

1989 - Low pressure in north central Alaska continued to direct air across northern Siberia and the edges of the Arctic Circle into the state. The temperature at Fairbanks remained colder than 40 degrees below zero for the eighth day in a row. Lows of 68 below at Galena, 74 below at McGrath, and 76 below at Tanana, were new records for the date. Wind chill readings were colder than 100 degrees below zero. (National Weather Summary)

1990 - Another in a series of cold fronts brought high winds to the northwestern U.S., and more heavy snow to some of the higher elevations. The series of vigorous cold fronts crossing the area between the 23rd and the 27th of the month produced up to 60 inches of snow in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)


1994: TA frigid arctic air was in place over New England and New York as a massive 1052 millibar high pressure (31.07 Inches of mercury) provided ideal radiational cooling. Temperatures plunged to -48° at Crown Point, NY and -46° at Shoreham, VT. The -29° reading at Burlington, VT broke the old record by 9 degrees.  Caribou, ME dropped to -23°; their 3rd consecutive morning record low temperature. (Ref. AccWeather Weather History)

1998: Flat Top, WV, at an elevation of 3,300 feet set a new January 24-hour snowfall record for the state of West Virginia as 35 inches fell through the 28th. Surrounding areas at lower elevations had nearly all rain. Bluefield and Beckley, WV established new 24-hour snowfall records. (Ref. AccWeather Weather History)

2000: A major winter storm struck Arkansas with heavy snow. Up to 20 inches fell across southern portions of the state with the largest official total 16 inches at Hope, AR. Little Rock picked up 7 inches. It was the worst winter storm in Arkansas since 1988. (Ref. AccWeather Weather History)
 

2005 - Month-to-date snowfall at Boston Logan International Airport totaled 43.1 inches, making January the snowiest month on record.

2008: Rapid temperature drops occur across Montana and the Dakotas as a cold front raced through. The greatest drop is experienced at Cut Bank, MT, approximately 50 miles east of Glacier National Park, where the temperature fell from 40° at 2 PM MST on Sunday to -14° in just 12 hours. By sunrise, the temperature had fallen to -20° representing a drop of 60 degrees in 17 hours. Great Falls, MT had a similar temperature fall of 59 degrees from 42° to -17°. Williston, ND fell 54 degrees from 44° to -10° and Rapid City, SD fell 51 degrees from 55° to 5°, in just two hours. (Ref. Wilson Wx. History)


 

[SACRUS]

Slowly advancing south

 

[ForestHillWx]

Snowing in Chester; a decent clip at the moment. 

[Stormlover74]

Just flurries 

[BoulderWX]

steady light snow making it 3 days in a row with snow falling 

[Snowlover11]

Steady light snow, dusting on the ground.

[MANDA]

11.5 degrees currently with steady light to sometimes moderate snow.  Windy as well.  Looks like Old Forge, NY out there.  Low gray overcast, deep snow cover and the air filled will falling and blowing snow.

Gotta feel sorry for anyone who has had to work outside this month.  Except for a several day pause in the cold earlier this month it has been brutal.  December was no bargain for outdoor workers either.

[Bxstormwatcher360]

Lgt snow falling here. 19f.

[weatherpruf]

some brief flurries; overcast with sun peeking through. frigid.

[donsutherland1]

Arctic air now covers the region. Highs will be mainly in the lower 20s through Friday. One or more days could see highs in the teens. The last winter with more than one high in the teens was Winter 2018-19 when there were two such days. 

Moreover, New York City has the potential to see the temperature dip into the single digits for lows on or more days during this period. Some snow flurries or snow showers are possible Thursday night into Friday morning. 

Additional snow is possible on Sunday. However, there remains significant uncertainty about the location of the storm's development and its track. 

A large storm would be historic. For reference, New York City has seen just one 10" or above snowstorm one week or less following a 10" or above snowstorm: February 3-4, 1926 (10.4") and February 9-10, 1926 (12.4"). The shortest interval between 10" or above daily snowfalls is 14 days: March 2, 1896 (10.0") and March 16, 1896 (12.0"). Records go back to 1869.

Overall, January 20th-February 3rd will likely be the coldest and perhaps snowiest two-week period this winter. The forecast WPO-/EPO-/AO-/PNA+ pattern is typically the coldest pattern in January and among the coldest during the first half of February. A persistently positive PNA will have above climatological risk of moderate or significant snowfalls. 

For perspective, the coldest two-week period this winter prior to January 20th was January 3-16, 2026 and January 4-17, 2026 with a mean temperature of 30.3°. The snowiest two-week period was December 14-27, 2025 when 7.2" of snow fell. Already, snowfall since January 20th has surpassed that figure.

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 January 14. For the past six weeks, the ENSO Region 1+2 anomaly has averaged -0.48°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 -2.82 today. 

The preliminary Arctic Oscillation (AO) was -4.601 today. That is the lowest AO value since February 16, 2025 when the AO was -4.772.

Based on sensitivity analysis applied to the latest guidance, there is an implied near 100% probability that New York City will have a cooler than normal January (1991-2020 normal). January will likely finish with a mean temperature near 30.2° (3.5° below normal). 

Supplemental Information: The projected mean would be 2.4° below the 1981-2010 normal monthly value. 

[NorthShoreWx]

Looks like a little sound effect snow trying to fire up along the SE Connecticut coast.  Winds are west to southwest at the moment.

https://weather.cod.edu/satrad/nexrad/?parms=OKX-N0Q-1-24-100-usa-rad#

[sussexcountyobs]

Picked up 1/2" . Even 44" for season.

Currently: Clear +8.8F