Ben’s Blog
The traditional January thaw shows up in long-term weather statistics in parts of the Northeast and Midwest, fairly regularly around January 20 to 26. We suspect this has something to do with the ebb and flow of arctic air masses and the exhaustion of cold sources after peak chill is achieved around mid-January. Of course, not every winter brings a January thaw, and sometimes, like last year, our weather is mild until February before winter takes hold and lingers for weeks—or perhaps barely arrives at all.
This winter has been more like the “old days” when it actually got cold and snowy in January, even after a mild December. If the month ended today, we would close to edging into the top ten coldest first months, but we may lose a few places by reaching the upper 40s today before a cold front swoops down on us from the northwest and takes us back into the chiller this weekend with high mainly 20 to 25 and lows in the teens and single digits.
Groundhog Day is just around the corner, and then we’ll get the official take on the waning half of winter.
