NATIONAL STORM SUMMAY

JANUARY 2025

Dec. 29-Jan. 4: An impressively wet winter cold front delivered heavy rain on December 29 from the lower Midwest into the Northeast, with more than an inch falling in Michigan locations such as Detroit and Saginaw. Farther south, the continuation of a severe weather outbreak that had peaked a day earlier (on the 28th) continued into the new week, with a rare winter tornado reported in Ohio on December 29. Elsewhere on that date, numerous reports of Southeastern severe weather included high winds and isolated tornadoes. Meanwhile, unsettled weather included a stripe of snow across parts of the northern Plains in late December, followed by the arrival of a new storm system along the northern Pacific Coast. The latter system, which produced significant Northwestern precipitation, would become the east-central Plains’ blizzard of January 5.

a cold front sweeping across the Southeast and lower Midwest generated heavy rain and locally severe thunderstorms. December 29 featured daily-record precipitation totals in Marathon, FL (2.45 inches); Naples, FL (1.85 inches); Dayton, OH (1.65 inches); and Detroit, MI (1.43 inches). Meanwhile, the focus for significant precipitation briefly shifted to the northern Plains, where Pierre, SD, collected a daily-record total (0.57 inch, including an inch of snow) on December 30. In Montana, Great Falls received its first measurable precipitation of the month from December 29-31, when 0.48 inch fell in the form of 7.4 inches of snow. In Nebraska, however, North Platte reported a record-setting stretch without measurable snow to start the season, a mark that previously ended when 3.2 inches of snow fell on December 23, 1939. This season, North Platte finally received snow early in the new year, with 1.4 inches falling on January 4-5. In the Northwest, unsettled weather intensified on January 3, when daily-record totals reached 0.63 inch in Yakima, WA, and 0.58 inch in Hermiston, OR. Spokane, WA, received precipitation totaling 0.68 inch on January 3-4, including 3.4 inches of snow. Similarly, Billings, MT, measured 0.59 inch on January 3-4, while snowfall totaled 7.0 inches.

5-11: Back-to-back winter storms traversed the central and eastern U.S., with the second system striking areas farther south. By the morning of January 11, snow covered a season-high 56 percent of the Lower 48 States, with fresh snow on the ground as far south as a band stretching from northeastern Texas to northern Georgia. Some areas also received significant ice accretions due to freezing rain, with scattered to widespread power outages reported during the initial storm from southeastern Missouri into southern Virginia. Areas closer to the Gulf Coast received rain, especially from coastal Texas to western Florida.

As an early-week storm system unfolded on January 5-6, heavy snow fell from the central Plains to the mid-Atlantic. The 5th featured daily-record snowfall totals of 14.1 inches in Topeka, KS, and 11.0 inches in Kansas City, MO. Topeka also reported thunder and a peak northerly wind gust to 41 mph, leading to blizzard conditions. On that date, St. Louis, MO, also reported thunder, along with a liquid equivalency of 1.87 inches that included 5.6 inches of snow and sleet. Snowfall totaling an additional 2.9 inches fell in St. Louis the next day. Meanwhile, Cincinnati, OH, netted a January 5-6 snowfall of 10.6 inches, followed by 3.5 inches during the second storm on January 10 11. In the mid-Atlantic, Baltimore, MD, measured a daily record snowfall (6.6 inches) for January 6, while Washington, DC (7.2 inches) fell short of its daily mark. With the second system taking a path farther south, record-setting snowfall amounts for January 9 totaled 9.3 inches in Amarillo, TX; 3.8 inches in Roswell, NM; and 3.5 inches in Oklahoma City, OK. On January 10, more than a foot of snow fell in parts of the mid South, with official daily-record totals reaching 7.5 inches in Memphis, TN, and 6.4 inches in Little Rock, AR. Other record-setting totals for the 10th reached 2.3 inches in Tupelo, MS, and 2.1 inches in Atlanta, GA. Elsewhere on December 10, Pensacola, FL, collected a daily-record rainfall of 2.21 inches. As the week ended, wintry weather spread across portions of the northern Plains, with Lewistown, MT, reporting snowfall with a liquid equivalency of 0.51 inch, a record for January 11.

0n the night of January 7-8, Santa Ana winds gusting up to 100 mph across the coastal ranges of southern California in Los Angeles County fanned new fires into deadly infernos, eventually incinerating more than 40,000 acres of terrain, including heavily populated areas in the path of the Palisades and Eaton Fires. Thousands of homes and other buildings, including businesses, were destroyed, with full damage assessments pending. The fires also resulted in at least two dozen fatalities. 

an early-week storm system unfolded on January 5-6, heavy snow fell from the central Plains to the mid-Atlantic. The 5th featured daily-record snowfall totals of 14.1 inches in Topeka, KS, and 11.0 inches in Kansas City, MO. Topeka also reported thunder and a peak northerly wind gust to 41 mph, leading to blizzard conditions. On that date, St. Louis, MO, also reported thunder, along with a liquid equivalency of 1.87 inches that included 5.6 inches of snow and sleet. Snowfall totaling an additional 2.9 inches fell in St. Louis the next day. Meanwhile, Cincinnati, OH, netted a January 5-6 snowfall of 10.6 inches, followed by 3.5 inches during the second storm on January 10 11. In the mid-Atlantic, Baltimore, MD, measured a daily record snowfall (6.6 inches) for January 6, while Washington, DC (7.2 inches) fell short of its daily mark. With the second system taking a path farther south, record-setting snowfall amounts for January 9 totaled 9.3 inches in Amarillo, TX; 3.8 inches in Roswell, NM; and 3.5 inches in Oklahoma City, OK. On January 10, more than a foot of snow fell in parts of the mid South, with official daily-record totals reaching 7.5 inches in Memphis, TN, and 6.4 inches in Little Rock, AR. Other record-setting totals for the 10th reached 2.3 inches in Tupelo, MS, and 2.1 inches in Atlanta, GA. Elsewhere on December 10, Pensacola, FL, collected a daily-record rainfall of 2.21 inches. As the week ended, wintry weather spread across portions of the northern Plains, with Lewistown, MT, reporting snowfall with a liquid equivalency of 0.51 inch, a record for January 11.

12-18: A side from early-week rain across the Deep South, mostly dry weather dominated the country. In a narrow belt from southeastern Louisiana to northern Florida, rainfall totaled 2 to 4 inches or more. Elsewhere, weekly totals exceeding one-half inch were generally limited to the lower Ohio Valley and scattered locations across the Rockies and downwind of the Great Lakes. 

19-25: Bitterly cold weather dominating the country, especially from the Rockies eastward, the main precipitation highlight was historic snowfall across the Deep South on January 21-22. Accumulating snow fell along and near the Gulf Coast from southeastern Texas to northern Florida, with many communities from Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX, to Pensacola, FL, experiencing their snowiest day on record. Snow also grazed the southern Atlantic Coast, except Florida’s peninsula, where chilly rain fell.

. Early in the week, snow fell from the central Appalachians to the northern Atlantic Coast. Elkins, WV, measured 13.6 inches of snow on January 19 20, aided by a daily-record sum of 9.8 inches on the former date. January 19 20 snowfall totaled 5.0 inches in Boston, MA, and 2.0 inches in Philadelphia, PA. Meanwhile, heavy showers in Florida led to daily-record totals for January 19 in Jacksonville (2.97 inches) and Tampa (1.40 inches).

historic snow fell along and near the Gulf Coast. January 21 was the snowiest day on record in locations such as Pensacola., FL (8.9 inches); New Orleans, LA (8.0 inches); Baton Rouge, LA (7.6 inches); Mobile, AL (7.5 inches); and Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX (4.5 inches). Mobile’s daily snowfall record had stood since January 24, 1881, when 5.0 inches fell. The daily snowfall record in Baton Rouge had been on the books since February 15, 1895, when 6.5 inches fell. For the central Gulf Coast region, the 1895 event appears to be the only comparable storm; 22.0 inches fell in Lake Charles, LA, on February 14-15, 1895. Still, Lake Charles—with 4.8 inches on January 21—weathered its snowiest January day, surpassing 4.0 inches on January 11, 1973. Both Pensacola (8.9 inches) and New Orleans (8.0 inches) nearly tripled their previous monthly snowfall records, which had been 3.0 inches in February 1895 and 2.7 inches in December 1963, respectively. In Georgia, Alma (5.0 inches on January 21-22) noted its highest storm-total snowfall on record, surpassing 4.4 inches on February 10, 1973. In contrast, downtown Los Angeles endured a record-high 264 days (May 6, 2024 – January 24, 2025) with daily rainfall totaling less than one tenth of an inch (previously, 253 days, from February 25 – November 3, 2008). The streak in Los Angeles ended with rainfall totaling 0.11 inch on January 25, followed by 0.36 inch the next day.

Jan. 25-Feb. 1: From January 25-27, generally light but much-needed rain and snow fell in southern California. Although the storm system responsible for southern California’s precipitation initially lacked a deep moisture source, precipitation was sufficient to curb the wildfire threat and aid containment efforts for existing fires.

A Pacific storm tapped into a richer source of atmospheric moisture, unleashing heavy rain across portions of the South, East, and lower Midwest. With cold air mostly bottled up farther north, with the system was scarce, although some snow blanketed eastern Colorado. Toward the end of the week, Pacific storminess ended an unusual dry spell in the Northwest, with significant precipitation spreading as far south as northern California.

showers shifted from southern California to the western and central Gulf Coast States. In Los Angeles, CA, the downtown observation site endured a record-high 264 days (May 6, 2024 – January 24, 2025) with daily rainfall totaling less than one-tenth of an inch (previously, 253 days, from February 25 – November 3, 2008). The streak in Los Angeles ended with rainfall totaling 0.11 inch on January 25, followed by 0.36 inch the next day. Meanwhile, record setting rainfall totals for January 26 reached 1.92 inches at Houston’s Hobby Airport and 1.72 inches in Vicksburg, MS (1.72 inches). A few days later, a more widespread rain event affected some of the same areas. On January 29-30, Dallas-Fort Worth, TX, netted consecutive daily-record rainfall totals of 2.80 and 1.33 inches, respectively. Meanwhile in Arkansas, record-setting rainfall amounts for January 30 totaled 4.99 inches in Batesville, 3.35 inches in Russellville, and 2.87 inches in Hot Springs. Other daily-record totals for the 30th included 2.65 inches in Bowling Green, KY, and 1.95 inches in Greenwood, MS. The final day of the month marked the wettest January 31 on record in locations such as Elkins, WV (1.89 inches); Danville, VA (1.65 inches); Moline, IL (1.41 inches); and Kalamazoo, MI (1.37 inches). Any late-week snow was generally limited to higher elevations of the Northwest and central High Plains, as well as the nation’s northern tier. In northern Minnesota, record setting snowfall totals for February 1 included 4.2 inches in Duluth and 3.9 inches in International Falls. Just to the south, however, it was the least-snowy January on record in locations such as La Crosse, WI (0.6 inch; previously 1.6 inches in 1903 and 2006), and Rochester, MN (0.4 inch; previously, 0.8 inch in 2006). In Nebraska, season-to-date snowfall through January totaled just 1.0 inch in Omaha and Lincoln, well below the respective normal values of 15.5 and 14.5 inches.

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