January 2026 OBS and Discussion

[IrishRob17]

30 minutes ago, snywx said:

U were 14f colder! 
 

6 for a low here 

Perfect conditions for it. You'll see in the NW thread I post a screenshot that includes Legoland, 7 miles away as the crow flies, almost 19 degree difference. I thought I might have beat KMGJ for once but they got to -9 in between hours. When I was at -8 KMGJ was around 0. Cool stuff, only 2 miles away.  

[Freezing Drizzle]

www.njweather.org/maps/mapviewer?mapname=temperature

Impressive low temperatures as of 7:15 am in the area around Sussex County. That -37 F in Hackettstown must be an error.

[jm1220]

Got down to 11 here. Fri night I think has a chance to get down to 0 (not in the city). 

[EastonSN+]

Lake Erie is about 95% ice covered.

[bluewave]

Very nice snow extent comeback for North America.

https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/smcd/emb/snow/HTML/snow_extent_monitor.html

 

 

 

[EastonSN+]

The RNA would be helpful here j would think. Don mentioned that as we go through February and RNA is actually beneficial.

[bluewave]

Interesting stat from Brian B.

 

 

Climatologist49

 

‪@climatologist49.bsky.social‬

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Newark Int Airport reported Heavy Snow and a temperature of 11F. This is the lowest temperature on record for them (1930-present) where they reported Heavy Snow. Previous record was 12F in 1932 and again in 2014.

 

12:23 PM · Jan 25, 2026

Everybody can

[SnoSki14]

20 minutes ago, EastonSN+ said:

The RNA would be helpful here j would think. Don mentioned that as we go through February and RNA is actually beneficial.

I think 1st half is cold/dry though def not snow free but second half gets a lot more active with that blocking pattern + RNA

[snywx]

56 minutes ago, IrishRob17 said:

Perfect conditions for it. You'll see in the NW thread I post a screenshot that includes Legoland, 7 miles away as the crow flies, almost 19 degree difference. I thought I might have beat KMGJ for once but they got to -9 in between hours. When I was at -8 KMGJ was around 0. Cool stuff, only 2 miles away.  

I encountered ice fog last night driving through Florida/warwick area. Current temp at the time was 9. It came out of no where & couldn’t see more than 2 feet in front of me. Impressive 

[Rjay]

6 hours ago, TriPol said:

Stick a fork in it? 

Nope

[Picard]

Low of 2 in Sparta.
Lots of variability in the lows.  
Walpack bottomed out at -17!  They might do better than that in the next couple of nights.

[bluewave]

Great video of the ice flows in the Hudson River.

 

 

[donsutherland1]

49 minutes ago, EastonSN+ said:

The RNA would be helpful here j would think. Don mentioned that as we go through February and RNA is actually beneficial.

Yes, during the second half of February, PNA- is better for significant or major snowfalls due to the shortening of wave lengths. 

[EastonSN+]

5 minutes ago, donsutherland1 said:

Yes, during the second half of February, PNA- is better for significant or major snowfalls due to the shortening of wave lengths. 

Thanks Don! With the apparent blocking and the +PNA duration this may line up perfectly.

[MANDA]

1 hour ago, Picard said:

Low of 2 in Sparta.
Lots of variability in the lows.  
Walpack bottomed out at -17!  They might do better than that in the next couple of nights.

Low of 4 here.  I was going to post about the -17 in Walpack and I agree they could sink lower than that before the worst of the cold peaks.

[Picard]

14 minutes ago, MANDA said:

Low of 4 here.  I was going to post about the -17 in Walpack and I agree they could sink lower than that before the worst of the cold peaks.

A fun experiment to do on nights like these is take a temperature sensor and stick it right on the surface of the snow in an open area that radiates well.  Even an older style mercury thermometer works.  The air temp at standard height could be 0 degrees, and the surface of the snow might be -10 or lower.   That explains why our dog is having so much trouble walking outside with the cold snow surface.  We got her snow socks, which of course, she won't wear and slinks away when we try to put them on.   Go figure.

[Freezing Drizzle]

31 minutes ago, MANDA said:

Low of 4 here.  I was going to post about the -17 in Walpack and I agree they could sink lower than that before the worst of the cold peaks.

Daily minimum seems to have been -17 F.  That is one cold spot.

[Freezing Drizzle]

11 minutes ago, Picard said:

A fun experiment to do on nights like these is take a temperature sensor and stick it right on the surface of the snow in an open area that radiates well.  Even an older style mercury thermometer works.  The air temp at standard height could be 0 degrees, and the surface of the snow might be -10 or lower.   That explains why our dog is having so much trouble walking outside with the cold snow surface.  We got her snow socks, which of course, she won't wear and slinks away when we try to put them on.   Go figure.

Another fun experiment is to throw a boiling cup of water into dry, frigid air. An amazing physical effect occurs. 
It turns into a fog of "snow," bypassing the solid state of water (ice).

[psv88]

12 this morning.

ill be in Florida in mid February…can’t come soon enough 

[bluewave]

One of the biggest temperature swings coming up for Florida. West Palm Beach just set their new all-time January high temperature of 90°. Current model forecasts have them potentially getting their first freeze this weekend since 2010. 
 

Southeast Florida...
   West Palm Beach
   Ptcldy   Sunny    Mocldy   Ptcldy   Sunny    Sunny    Sunny
     /67    47/69    56/71    55/68    33/54    34/59    41/66
      /20    10/00    00/10    20/30    20/00    00/00    00/00

Time Series Summary for West Palm Beach Area, FL (ThreadEx) - Month of Jan Maximum Monthly Temperature
Click column heading to sort ascending, click again to sort descending.

1	2026	90	4
2	1942	89	0
3	2020	88	0
-	1926	88	2

 

Time Series Summary for West Palm Beach Area, FL (ThreadEx) - Dec through Feb Lowest Minimum Temperature
Click column heading to sort ascending, click again to sort descending.

1	1894-1895	24	0
2	1904-1905	26	0
3	1976-1977	27	0
4	1989-1990	28	0
-	1984-1985	28	0
-	1920-1921	28	5
-	1916-1917	28	0
-	1898-1899	28	0
5	1981-1982	29	0
-	1969-1970	29	0
-	1917-1918	29	0
6	1983-1984	30	0
-	1970-1971	30	0
-	1962-1963	30	0
-	1906-1907	30	0
7	1985-1986	31	0
-	1957-1958	31	0
-	1955-1956	31	0
-	1934-1935	31	0
-	1927-1928	31	0
-	1921-1922	31	0
-	1909-1910	31	0
-	1897-1898	31	0
8	2010-2011	32	0
-	2009-2010	32	0
-	1988-1989	32	0
-	1980-1981	32	0
-	1977-1978	32	0
-	1965-1966	32	0
-	1964-1965	32	0
-	1947-1948	32	0