January 2021 Weather Recap - Winter Makes Late Appearance

 

 

If you're not a "winter person", then the first three weeks of January 2021 were tolerable, as temperatures were six degrees above average (with every day but two above average), and there was no snow (average high/low was 43°/33°).  Then, the jet stream shifted, and the last nine days of the month were five degrees colder than average (high/low of 33°/22°).  On the last day of the month conditions became even more wintry.  Up until the 31st, it appeared the month was going to be among the five least snowy Januarys on record, as just 0.1" had fallen.  But then, the opening volley of snow from a snowstorm that would bury the City on Feb. 1 dropped two inches between 6:00 and midnight - the most snow to fall on this date since 1898. 

 

Despite being 2.2 degrees above average, January's mildest reading was just 51° (on Jan. 2).  This was, by far, the mildest January to have its warmest reading this cool.  Previous Januarys with mildest readings that were either 50°, 51°, or 52°, had an average monthly temperature of 28.9°, which is is 5.9 degrees colder than January 2021 (34.8°). 

 

The coldest day of the month was the 29th, with a high/low of 25°/14° (thirteen degrees colder than average).  This was the coldest day in two years (since a high/low of 21°/11° on Feb. 1, 2019).  

 

With just 2.1" measured, this was the third consecutive January with snowfall that was well below average (January 2019, had 1.1", January 2020 had 2.3").  It was the fifth string of low-snow Januarys.

 

 

With an average high of 39.7°, and an average low of 29.8°, January's diurnal variation was just 9.9 degrees, making this just the third January whose average high and low was less than ten degrees apart.  The two others were in 2017 and 1869 (variations of 9.4 and 9.8 degrees, respectively).  This narrow diurnal variation was largely due to the month's average low being notably more above average than the average high (+2.9 degrees vs. +1.4 degrees, respectively).

 

Here are previous January recaps:

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

 

 

 

Comments

[Henry]

January 2021 was similar to October 2020 in my opinion. In both months, most of the days were largely uneventful, and a great portion of the days averaged 5-10 degrees above normal. However, none of the above-average temperatures were warm enough to set any noteworthy records. October 2020’s warmest reading was 74 degrees, the lowest warmest reading for October since 2009; and January 2021’s warmest reading was 51 degrees, the lowest warmest reading for January since 2009. Despite both months being above average, each of them had a cold stretch during the last few days. Both months had two days during the last week that were more than ten degrees below average.

[William]

the new appearance of the blog is really throwing me off. I hardly know where anything is now. I hope the blog goes back to the old appearance, where I was able to find and locate things very easily and quickly. I may end up posting a comment less often due to the new appearance of the blog. I am, however, really eager to see what other people think of the new appearance of the blog. I would very much like to know the person who had the idea of giving the blog a new look.

[Rob]

Thanks for letting me know how it looks and what it's like to navigate. These changes are somewhat out of my hands as my blog is part of a network that's making these changes, largely so the blogs meet certain standards required for ads to appear on smartphones. I'm not thrilled about the font, the smaller font size, and color schemes. However, this is a work in progress, so adjustments will likely be made to address issues being brought to the administrator's attention.