January 2024 Observations and Discussion

[Niko]

11 hours ago, jaster220 said:

@Niko

"Mitt hit" with this clipper tomorrow night/Tuesday morning should increase your (our) total. 

Yes sir....looks like an impressive clipper.

[Niko]

Great game last nite, even though, the Lions did not make it to the superbowl. A score being 24/7 at the beginning , I would have bet that the Lions had this, but what a comeback from the 49ers...dang. Tough team, but I hear the Chiefs are even tougher.  Not to worry Lions, there is always next year.. Great game though.

[tStacsh]

9% sunshine for the month of January so far.   Living by the lake can be so depressing in winter.  I wouldn't mind the cold as much if we got sunshine here.    Looks like some sun to open February though.   

[Hawkeye]

We are down to about 2 inches of snow on the ground... with much deeper piles, of course.  The next week should take care of it.

[chescowxman]

With most spots seeing over an inch of rain yesterday we are now up to 7.55" of rain this month our 4th wettest January on record - so in the last 2 months we have recorded 16.32" of rain and melted snow. That is about 1/3 our normal annual precipitation. The good news it looks dry this week with seasonable temps near normal. Colder weather looks likely by next weekend.
Records for today: High 69 (1947) / Low 7 below (1928) / Rain 1.46" (1990) / Snow 13.0" (1966)

[WinterSquall23]

Taking a walk and pretty impressed how the long the snow piles we have lasted. After having tons of rain.  We still have a little snow.   Just goes to show how cold it got here and how wet our snowfall started out.  

[Black Hole]

It's been a while since I checked in. We had a lot of cool and foggy days after the ice event but are finally warming up and sunny again. For January my station recorded 3.84". In fact, it may have been slightly more than that since I didn't record hardly anything during our one snow event but either way a well above normal precip month.

Officially, 31.4 degrees for the monthly average temp so far. That will come up a bit, but it'll still be the coldest January since 1985. All in all, we majorly squandered snow potential this month but it still closes the books as cold and wet. 

[Madtown]

34 minutes ago, WinterSquall23 said:

Taking a walk and pretty impressed how the long the snow piles we have lasted. After having tons of rain.  We still have a little snow.   Just goes to show how cold it got here and how wet our snowfall started out.  

nice rink!

[westMJim]

Here is a fun fact.  While January has had 31.2" of snowfall at GR and has had as much as 15" of snow on the ground and had 10 days with over 10" on the ground. But so far this winter season there have only been 19 days with one inch or more on the ground.  The record for the least number of days with 1" or more is 23 in the winter of 1982/83 and in 2nd place is 30 in the winter of 1931/32.

[gosaints]

47 in the backyard.  Sunny all day and overachieved by 6 degrees.  

[gosaints]

MSP hit 50.  Record broken.  49 had been achieved on this day in 1931.

[Grizzcoat]

9 minutes ago, gosaints said:

MSP hit 50.  Record broken.  49 had been achieved on this day in 1931.

MSP and DSM are fighting for low  mean temps in Jan. It's possible that DSM has colder JAN than MSP. Don't wanna go the heat island thing with no snow in MSP; but come on people, this has never happened before. UHI or not-- the climate is changing-- and seems to be getting colder S / and warmer N. 

[tStacsh]

12 minutes ago, Grizzcoat said:

MSP and DSM are fighting for low  mean temps in Jan. It's possible that DSM has colder JAN than MSP. Don't wanna go the heat island thing with no snow in MSP; but come on people, this has never happened before. UHI or not-- the climate is changing-- and seems to be getting colder S / and warmer N. 

They say the further north you are the more effects you will see in long term climate.   But  who really knows?  Oceans are warming and ocean currents are changing.  That's going to mess with computer models as data is changing rapidly.  

[Hoosier]

 

53 minutes ago, Grizzcoat said:

MSP and DSM are fighting for low  mean temps in Jan. It's possible that DSM has colder JAN than MSP. Don't wanna go the heat island thing with no snow in MSP; but come on people, this has never happened before. UHI or not-- the climate is changing-- and seems to be getting colder S / and warmer N. 

Probably more than one explanation, but my guess is that the Nino is a factor.  I'd be curious to go back through the records and see if DSM has ever came close to being colder than MSP, especially in the bigger Nino years.

[gimmesnow]

It's a weird temp setup. Like a big middle finger of warmth and some hot bubble over MN. Kind of crazy to see mid 50s a little south of Calgary and then head due east and be -10. This winter has been absolutely bizarre, to say the least. But it's whatever, better luck next year.

[Grizzcoat]

6 minutes ago, Hoosier said:

 

Probably more than one explanation, but my guess is that the Nino is a factor.  I'd be curious to go back through the records and see if DSM has ever came close to being colder than MSP, especially in the bigger Nino years.

Look it up. Never happened. DSM being colder than MSP in winter month.Only one summer month -- you guys do the math, .

[jaster220]

2 hours ago, Grizzcoat said:

Look it up. Never happened. DSM being colder than MSP in winter month. Only one summer month -- you guys do the math, .

DCA hit 80F a day ago which was a 1st for January there. Not denying any climo trends but remember, in early January 2014 Hell had more snow OTG than MQT! Weird stuff happens in the Wx Dept. 

[jaster220]

..meanwhile, back at the (winter) ranch

Latest 18z NAM trends indicate a more intense "burst" of snow in my region around 3 am. I will, of course, be asleep so don't expect any person confirmations, lol.

[jaster220]

Quote

I have such a video (from a hunter's perspective) on the Armistice Day blizzard of 1940 that I will post later.

 

While we have some down-time from storm tracking mode, this is well worth the watch. Always fascinated and puzzled me how/why so many poor souls perished in relatively modern times (vs pioneer era Children's Blizzard of 1888 for comparison) during this fierce storm. Not to mention the sailors lost due to numerous ships sinking on Lake Michigan in reported 50 foot seas.

 

[jaster220]

Temps are unusually even N to S acoss the Mitt this evening as snow approaches from the west/NW

[Timmy Supercell]

Forgot to post this around the time it was happening. We had a thunderstorm late two nights ago, between 11:40pm to 12:20am. First one of 2024!

The cool days are back, for now its not looking like any snow in the near future. Perhaps a dusting here and there but I'm focused on the measurable stuff. 

[Hoosier]

4 hours ago, Grizzcoat said:

Look it up. Never happened. DSM being colder than MSP in winter month.Only one summer month -- you guys do the math, .

It came very close in the Nino of February 2010.  MSP was 19.7 and DSM was 20.0 

I didn't go through the entire climo record so not sure if that is the closest that it's come to happening.

[jaster220]

This map illustrates well the differences between SMI and NMI when it comes to snow cover retention (or lack thereof). Amazing how the invisible boundary between wx zones is represented very well where the red is prevalent. It is very difficult to maintain long stretches of snowcover in SMI, let alone continuous like we nearly had in 13-14. Whereas in NMI it is the exception like this strong Nino when melt-offs can happen.

[Black Hole]

Warmer than expected today. My thermometer might have been reading a little warm, but still topped out at 70F! 

[Clinton]

Yesterday was nice day to get outside and soak in some vitamin D.  Mby hit 57 it will be a little cooler today.

@NWSKansasCity

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Yesterday Kansas City reached 61 degrees. That broke a stretch of 51 days without reaching 60. It was the longest stretch of days not reaching 60 degrees since 2010

[chescowxman]

What has been a mighty cloudy month looks to finish that way with a couple days in our future. Temps across the area while near freezing this morning are a good 10 degrees warmer than normal. The clouds will help keep our high temps not too far from normal in the upper 30's the next 2 days. We could see some light snow showers in some spots tonight but otherwise a dry seasonably chilly stretch of weather with maybe some sunshine for Thursday through the weekend for a change.

Records for today: High 69 (1947) / Low minus 7 (1928) / Precipitation 1.47" (1939) / Snow 5.1 (2000)

[Tom]

PHX hit a high of 81F yesterday!  A couple degrees shy of the record but today we may get close to tying a record of 82F as we expect to see a carbon copy.  Light winds, plenty of sun...you can find me by the Pool today!  Certainly getting summer vibes out here as the days are getting a little longer week by week.  It's been a chilly January for the most part and we are going to cool down quite a bit this weekend.  So far, we have had 18 BN Days, 5 normal and 8 AN days...we'll add a couple AN days today and tomorrow.  A very active pattern sets up as we flip the calendar into FEB which appears to be a cooler and wetter one.

[westMJim]

I went out for a nice walk outside yesterday. While most of the snow now gone I noticed that there are daffodils starting to pop up. Remember it is still only January.

The official H/L yesterday at Grand Rapids was 35/31 there was no rain/snow before midnight. You might have missed it but there was 6 minutes of sunshine good for 1%. The average H/L for today is 31/17 the record high of 54 was set in 2013 the record low of -22 was set in 1951. The record snowfall of 5.5” fell in 1900. The most snow on the ground was 22” in 1978. Last year the H/L was 24/10 there was 0.6” of snowfall and there was 7” on the ground.

[westMJim]

Some weather history for southern lower Michigan

1951: A huge arctic high pressure center moves south from Canada all the way to the Gulf of Mexico and brings snow to Florida. Temperatures fall to record lows in Lower Michigan. Grand Rapids sets their all-time record January low of 22 degrees below zero. Baldwin, Michigan plunges to 37 below zero.

2008: Rain changes to snow as an arctic cold front brings a flash freeze to lower Michigan during the night of the 29th, leaving a sheet of ice on the roads. Temperatures fall from the upper 40s to the single numbers, with occasional blinding white-out conditions in falling and blowing snow. There were numerous traffic accidents and some roads were closed for a time. School and event cancellations were widespread, and there were also sporadic power outages.

2019: Arctic air combined with strong winds gusting over 30 mph to bring dangerously cold wind chill temperatures of 20 to 40 below zero. Actual air temperatures remained below zero through the entire day across much of Lower Michigan with a 2 pm temperature of 12 below zero at Kalamazoo.

 2014, the last accumulating snow of the month fell. Amounts were less than one inch, but it pushed the record monthly snowfall totals to 39.1 inches in Detroit and 32.9 inches in Flint. It was the snowiest single month on record for both locations. The monthly total in Saginaw was 15.6, which was still good for its 20th snowiest January.

2012, all three Southeast Michigan climate sites saw temperatures soar to new daily record high temperatures. Saginaw, Flint, and Detroit respectively recorded highs of 56, 58, and 62 degrees.

1951, Flint had a record low of -16 degrees for this day.

Across the USA

1966, The Blizzard of 1966 impacted New York and paralyzed the region. The train service was disrupted. Numerous highways, the New York State Thruway from Albany to the Pennsylvania state line, and the Buffalo Airport and other airports throughout western and central New York were closed. The Syracuse-Oswego area’s hardest hit, where Bob Sykes, a meteorology professor at the State University of New York at Oswego, reported a whopping 102.4 inches! Some schools in Orleans County were closed for the entire week following the blizzard. Economic loss from the storm was estimated at $35 million. Winds gusting to 60 mph and temperatures in the teens, and heavy and blowing snow created severe blizzard conditions

2002, One of the driest Januarys on record in Iowa was broken up by a winter storm that produced snowfall across the state from January 30-31. The snow was heaviest across southern and southeastern Iowa, where storm total accumulations ranged between 11 and 13 inches along and south of Chariton’s line through Ottumwa to Wapello and Burlington. The highest reported totals were 13.2 inches at Leon and 13.0 inches at Bloomfield and Fairfield.

[Niko]

January nino continues!!!

CAUTIOUS TRAVEL IS ADVISED FOR SNOW-COVERED ROADWAYS AND
REDUCED VISIBILITIES FOR THE MORNING COMMUTE...

WEATHER...

 * A burst of snow will continue to impact southeast Michigan
   through the remainder of the morning commute.

 * Snowfall rates approaching an inch per hour have been observed
   with snowfall reports of 2 to locally 3 inches.

 * Additional snow accumulations north of I-96 around an inch.
   South of I-96 additional accumulations up to 2 inches.

 * South winds around 10 mph with gusts to 15 mph.

 * Air temperature will remain steady around 32 degrees.

IMPACTS...

 * Accumulating snow will lead to slippery roads particularly on
   bridges, exit ramps and overpasses.

 * Visibility reductions to less than one mile. There may be rapid
   fluctuations in visibility.

[Up_north_MI]

Pushing 6+ inches here in northern St Clair county and still coming down hard, man did NWS drop the ball on this one.

[westMJim]

The fog has really rolled in here on the NW side of GR. 

[hawkstwelve]

Six days ago marked the last day of our bottomed-out average max high temp of 27. Starting 1/25 our average high bumped up to 28 and continues it's march to an average of 37 degrees by the end of February.

Today we topped out at 47 which is good for a +19 departure. Our average departure through the first 20 days of the month was -6.57 but now we have jumped up to only -1.6. It's going to be cutting it very close to keeping this month below normal overall.

Sucks to have such a large negative departure completely wiped out over the past 10 days but, c'est la vie. 

[WinterSquall23]

On 1/29/2024 at 8:37 AM, Niko said:

Yes sir....looks like an impressive clipper.

Over performing clipper for sure.  

[WinterSquall23]

8 hours ago, Up_north_MI said:

Pushing 6+ inches here in northern St Clair county and still coming down hard, man did NWS drop the ball on this one.

Not even a weather advisory for mby. 

[jaster220]

9 hours ago, Up_north_MI said:

Pushing 6+ inches here in northern St Clair county and still coming down hard, man did NWS drop the ball on this one.

Meanwhile it was a complete bust up here. APX was calling for 2-4" and I didn't see 3-4 flakes fall and when I headed out at 6 am there was just a 34 deg mist wetting the roadway. Disappointed but glad you guys downstate got a nice surprise out of this. Models didn't handle things very well. I do remember posting back in November that the cold pool of air just east in Canada would at some point deliver a surprise snow. Congrats!

[Niko]

30 minutes ago, WinterSquall23 said:

Over performing clipper for sure.  

Definitely an overachiever. Snowfall was coming down heavy at times and there was some good, strong lifting going on, which helped a lot. Also, it started snowing earlier than expected. This was an all snow event w amounts ranging from 3-6" area wide . Veryyyy pleased. My snow piles are out looking good again. Too bad, no bitter cold air coming. Not complaining though, considering, this has been a very active January along w/ above normal snowfall.

[Niko]

37 minutes ago, WinterSquall23 said:

Not even a weather advisory for mby. 

That is what I said also. They did not want to look bad, so they decided to leave it w/o a headline. Meanwhile, their forecast was still wrong. They were calling for less snow, meanwhile we got more., if not, quite a bit more.

[Niko]

9 minutes ago, jaster220 said:

Meanwhile it was a complete bust up here. APX was calling for 2-4" and I didn't see 3-4 flakes fall and when I headed out at 6 am there was just a 34 deg mist wetting the roadway. Disappointed but glad you guys downstate got a nice surprise out of this. Models didn't handle things very well. I do remember posting back in November that the cold pool of air just east in Canada would at some point deliver a surprise snow. Congrats!

Here in S MI, that snow came in w a vengeance. It was a moderate to heavy, wet snowfall. Beautiful scenery. Best part was looking at the radar this morning at that wall of snow pushing through. Great "Clipper."

[jaster220]

4 minutes ago, Niko said:

Here in S MI, that snow came in w a vengeance. It was a moderate to heavy, wet snowfall. Beautiful scenery. Best part was looking at the radar this morning at that wall of snow pushing through. Great "Clipper."

Must've developed just a tad too late for up here. Did not take time to look into reasons tbh. Glad for yby amigo