NATION STORM SUMMARY

JANUARY 2022

 

2-8: back-to-back storms delivered snow delivered snow in the mid-Atlantic; the second system also produced significant accumulations across the interior Southeast. Locally severe thunderstorms swept across the Deep South and lower Southeast, primarily on January 2-3 and 8-9.

 

Elsewhere, stormy weather prevailed in the northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest, leading to late-week flooding in the latter region.  January 6 was one of the wettest days on record in parts of the Pacific Northwest, with 5- to 6-inch rainfall totals reported in locations such as Astoria, OR, and Hoquiam, WA.

 

Early in the week, a developing winter storm dropped some light snow across the mid-South. Daily-record snowfall totals of 0.3 inch were reported on January 2 in Tupelo, MS, and Memphis, TN. The following day, heavy, wet snow pounded the middle Atlantic region, where dailyrecord amounts for January 3 reached 13.0 inches in Atlantic City, NJ; 6.9 inches in Washington, DC; and 6.8 inches in Baltimore, MD. Major travel and electrical disruptions occurred south of Washington, DC, where snowfall locally exceeded a foot. Meanwhile in North Carolina, record-setting precipitation totals for January 3 included 2.40 inches in Greensboro and 2.29 inches in Raleigh-Durham. Concurrently, Northwestern wetness led to daily-record amounts for January 3 in Oregon locations such as Roseburg (1.71 inches) and Portland (1.49 inches). Portland posted another record-setting total (1.15 inches) on January 5. In Washington, daily-record amounts reached 0.63 inch (on January 3) in Yakima and 0.59 inch (on January 4) in Dallesport. Pacific Northwestern precipitation further intensified on January 6, when Hoquiam, WA, experienced its wettest day on record, with 5.78 inches. Previously, Hoquiam’s wettest day had been October 20, 2003, with 5.39 inches, while the wettest January day had been January 4, 2015, with 4.58 inches. In Astoria, OR, where 5.07 inches fell on January 6, it was the wettest day since November 25, 1998, when 5.56 inches fell, and the second-wettest January day behind 6.98 inches on January 22, 1919. Subsequently, the Chehalis River crested at its second-highest level on record in western Washington communities such as Porter and Grand Mound. The crest in Porter, 4.01 feet above flood stage on January 8, was the highest since December 5, 2007, when the river rose 5.17 feet above flood stage. Inland, at least 23 inches of snow fell in a 24-hour period on January 5-6 at two reporting sites in Wenatchee, WA, breaking stations records that had been set on December 9, 1971. Farther east, snow squalls developed downwind of the Great Lakes. In Michigan, record-setting snowfall totals for January 5 reached 15.4 inches in Marquette and 8.0 inches in Grand Rapids. In Buffalo, NY, 17.8 inches of snow fell on the 6th—the greatest single-day accumulation during January in that location since January 11, 1982, when 18.3 inches fell. Meanwhile, impressive snow accumulations occurred on January 6 from the Tennessee Valley to the central Appalachians; daily-record amounts included 9.9 inches in Lexington, KY; 8.3 inches in Charleston, WV; and 6.3 inches in Nashville, TN. Washington, DC, received 2.6 inches of snow on January 7, just four days after a 6.9-inch total. In eastern Texas, showers and thunderstorms dumped 6.30 inches of rain on Houston, TX, on January 8-9.

 

9-15: Wind-driven snow accompanied the storm, leading to travel disruptions.  During the weekend, the storm system traversed the South, delivering snow across the Ozark Plateau, Tennessee Valley, and southern Appalachians, as well as thunderstorms in the Deep South. A few tornadoes were reported in Florida on the morning of Sunday, January 16. Elsewhere on the 16th, significant accumulations of snow and ice spread further across the interior Southeast and into the mid-Atlantic.

 

Wind-blown snow accompanied the upper Midwestern temperature plunge. For example, Sisseton netted 5.7 inches of snow on January 14, followed the next day by a wind gust to 41 mph. Waterloo received 7.1 inches on January 14-15, along with a gust to 39 mph. During the storm, east-northeasterly wind gusts peaked above 35 mph in Iowa locations such as Mason City (8.3 inches of snow and a gust to 36 mph) and Ottumwa (7.1 inches and 39 mph). Des Moines, IA, bore the brunt of the January 14-15 storm, with 14.3 inches of snow (1.27 inches of liquid equivalency) and a peak gust to 42 mph. Meanwhile in Missouri, winds also broadly gusted to 30 mph or higher, with storm-total snowfall reaching 4.8 inches in Springfield, 3.6 inches in Columbia, and 3.2 inches in Kansas City. As the storm moved into the mid-South, snowfall amounts were highly dependent on elevation. In Arkansas, for example, 12.0 inches blanketed Harrison on the 15th, while 1.3 inches fell in North Little Rock. Additional details regarding the storm’s January 16-17 snowfall and related impacts across the eastern U.S. will appear next week. Earlier, the focus for heavy precipitation had been the Pacific Northwest. The week’s wettest day was January 11, when dailyrecord amounts across western Washington totaled 2.84 inches in Hoquiam and 1.70 inches in Seattle. During the first 15 days of January, Hoquiam’s rainfall totaled 14.03 inches (251 percent of normal). Elsewhere, the week began with some showers and thunderstorms sweeping across the South and snow squalls downwind of the Great Lakes. Record-setting rainfall amounts for January 9 included 3.87 inches in Houston, TX, and 1.73 inches in Jackson, KY, while Sault Sainte Marie, MI, reported a January 9- 10 snowfall total of 16.1 inches. Conversely, critically dry weather persisted on the southern High Plains. In northern Texas, Amarillo had ended the year on an 80-day streak (October 13 – December 31) without any precipitation—a dry spell broken only by a dusting of snow (liquid equivalency of 0.04 inch) on January 1.

 

16-22: A pair of storms crossing the southern and eastern U.S. delivered a variety of weather, including rain, freezing rain, sleet, and snow. The first system, which had produced snowy, windy weather at the end of the previous week from the upper Midwest into the mid-South, continued to create travel difficulties and other challenges on January 16-17 while sweeping across the Appalachians and middle and northern Atlantic States. The second storm delivered significant snow near the middle Atlantic Coast, including eastern North January 21-22. Across the Deep South, both systems produced varying amounts of rain, while the second storm also resulted in pockets of wintry precipitation. Most of the remainder of the country experienced a dry week, aside from periods of generally light precipitation from the Pacific Northwest to the Great Lakes States. Isolated showers also dotted the Southwest.

 

In mid-January, snow shifted from the mid-South into the East. In Tennessee, January 16 snowfall totaled 1.4 inches in Nashville and Knoxville. Where cold air lingered, east of the Appalachians, snow fell heavily on the 16th, totaling 10.4 inches in Asheville, NC, and 6.5 inches in Greenville-Spartanburg, SC. For Asheville, it was the snowiest day since January 22, 2016, when 13.4 inches fell. With 1.8 inches on the 16th, Athens, GA, experienced its snowiest day in more than 11 years. (On January 9-10, 2011, Athens reported 8.8 inches.) Washington, DC, measured a daily-record snowfall of 2.6 inches on the 16th, prior to a changeover to rain. Meanwhile, several tornadoes struck Florida during the morning of January 16. Elsewhere in Florida, Jacksonville clocked a wind gust to 59 mph, the secondhighest January gust in that location behind 63 mph on January 25, 2010. By January 17, heavy snow shifted across the interior Northeast. In New York, record-setting snowfall totals for the 17th included 17.6 inches in Buffalo and 10.4 inches in Rochester. Closer to the coast, precipitation fell as snow before changing to rain, with daily-record totals for January 17 set in Worcester, MA (1.36 inches, including 5.5 inches of snow), and Providence, RI (1.18 inches, including an inch of snow). For the remainder of the week, precipitation was limited to a few areas. For example, International Falls, MN, collected a daily-record sum (0.47 inch, in the form of 4.8 inches of snow) on January 18. Locally heavy showers across southern Florida led to a record-setting total (4.96 inches) for January 20 in Fort Lauderdale. Miami, FL, registered a dailyrecord sum (2.39 inches) for January 21. Casper, WY, received daily-record totals for precipitation (0.44 inch) and snowfall (6.8 inches) on January 21. Late in the week, precipitation returned across the Southeast. Norfolk, VA, measured consecutive daily-record snowfall amounts (3.2 and 3.5 inches, respectively) on January 21- 22. Other record-setting totals for January 21 included 1.5 inches in Raleigh-Durham, NC, and 0.2 inch in Athens, GA.

 

23-29: Tranquil weather prevailed in most areas of the country, but a rapidly intensifying, late-week storm system near the Atlantic Seaboard delivered wind-driven snow and created blizzard conditions from the middle Atlantic Coast into eastern New England. Much of the Northeastern snow fell on January 29. Previously, the storm’s interaction with an approaching cold front had resulted in generally light snow at some interior locations, including portions of the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys. Farther south, some rain fell across the Deep South, mainly in the western and central Gulf Coast States.

 

Snow showers downwind of the Great Lakes were common early in the week, with Fort Wayne, IN, reporting a daily-record total (2.7 inches) for January 23. Elsewhere in Indiana, South Bend received 8.2 inches of snow from January 23-26. Similarly, Muskegon, MI, measured 9.0 inches of snow from January 23-27, aided by a 5.9-inch total on the 24th. By January 25, generally light but locally heavy snow developed on the High Plains. Dodge City, KS, was the beneficiary of one of the bands of heavy snow, noting daily records on the 25th for snowfall (8.3 inches) and precipitation (0.32 inch). On the central High Plains, more than 2 feet of snow blanketed a few communities, including Weskan, KS. On January 26, Amarillo, TX, collected a daily-record snowfall (2.2 inches), which melted to liquid totaling 0.23 inch. That marked Amarillo’s wettest day since October 1, 2021, when 0.52 inch fell, and snowiest day since March 17, 2021, when snowfall totaled 5.7 inches. Late in the week, several atmospheric factors contributed a major East Coast storm. In its formative stage, the storm produced rain in the western Gulf Coast region, including a daily-record total (0.47 inch on January 28) in Harlingen, TX. Farther north, a cold front sparked some snow, including a daily-record sum (2.3 inches on January 28) in Jackson, KY. Along the middle and northern Atlantic Coast, conditions rapidly deteriorated late January 28 into the following day. January 28-29 snowfall totaled 23.8 inches in Boston, MA, and 19.3 inches in Providence, RI—the sixth- and third-highest 2-day totals on record, respectively. The only higher 2-day totals in Providence were 28.6 inches on February 6-7, 1978, and 23.4 inches on January 22-23, 2005. Boston’s biggest 2-day storm occurred on February 17-18, 2003, when 27.6 inches of snow fell. However, Boston tied a station record (originally set on February 17, 2003) with 23.6 inches of snow on January 29. With 18.8 inches on the 29th, Providence smashed its singleday snowfall record (previously, 18.3 inches on February 4, 1961). In addition, peak wind gusts were clocked to 65 mph in Providence and 47 mph in Boston. Other January 29 peak gusts included 59 mph in Portland, ME, where snowfall totaled 11.0 inches; 51 mph in Worcester, MA (14.7 inches); and 50 mph in Islip, NY. With 23.5 inches on January 29, Islip edged its single-day snowfall record, originally set with 23.4 inches on January 23, 2016. Islip’sJanuary 28-29 storm total reached 24.7 inches. Official January 28-29 storm totals in major Eastern cities included 8.5 in New York (Central Park); 7.5 inches in Philadelphia, PA; and 0.2 inch in Washington, DC.

Jim G. Munley, jr.
http://www.jimmunleywx.com