Biggest January Rainstorms

 

 

Not only was the 2.10" deluge on Jan. 18, 2015 a record for the date, it was New York's biggest January rainstorm in sixteen years (since Jan. 3, 1999, when 2.42" fell).  This makes it the biggest January rainstorm of the 21st century.  And in the years between 1999 and 2015 there were four January's that had about this amount of rain for the entire month.  Since 1970 this was the eighth biggest January rainstorm (ranked ninth if snowstorms are added to the mix).  Other findings:

 

• Of the eleven storms in January since 1970 that produced more than two inches of precipitation, two are snowstorms - the blizzard of Jan. 7-8, 1996 and the snowstorm of Jan. 26-27, 2011.

• Among the rainstorms, 2014's had the coldest temperatures, which ranged between 34 and 42.  Seven of the other rainstorms had temperatures rise into the 50s.

• 1979 has two rainstorms on the list, and they occurred just three days apart. 

• Six of the storms occurred between Jan. 23 and Jan. 28.

• 2014's precipitation was concentrated in 13 hours; only the 1999 storm had a shorter duration, 12 hours.  Most of the other storms lasted 18 hours or more.

 

JANUARY STORMS THAT PRODUCED MORE THAN TWO INCHES OF PRECIPITATION (1970-2015)
			Temp
Date	Amount	Hours	Range	Comments
Jan 20-21, 1979	3.98"	19	54/27	Began as 0.5" of snow
Jan 26-28, 1976	2.89"	28	56/35
Jan 4, 1982	2.73"	15	58/36
Jan 23-24, 1998	2.65"	20	47/34
Jan 3, 1999	2.42"	12	51/35
Jan 24-25, 1979	2.32"	16	53/35
Jan 25-26, 1978	2.25"	18	58/35
Jan 7-8, 1996	2.16"	25	23/16	All snow 20.2")
Jan 18, 2014	2.10"	13	42/34
Jan 25-26, 1986	2.07"	23	51/38
Jan 26-27, 2011	2.06"	21	32/29	All snow (19.0")
Source: NOAA, Local Climatological Data