Favourite Januaries

[Sun Chaser]

Jan 2021, 2022, 2023 all some of my favourites. 2021 was snowy and frosty - especially the first half. 2022 exceptionally sunny with some frost but also some mild sunny days which were welcome. 2023 was poor until the 12th but instantly turned beautifully sunny with a little snow before some springlike days at the end which were great!

Of course Jan 2009 and 2010 some great memories as a child. Don't remember details though.

Jan 2017 and 2019 were dry and fairly sunny which is always nice this time of year. 2019 also gave an unexpected snow event on the 31st which then led into one of my favourite winter months.

Not really much else I remember fondly

[Norrance]

1984 by a country mile from when I lived in Highland Perthshire. Frequent and heavy falls of snow from mid month with drifting. 2 feet level snow that lasted for four weeks.

From that era 1978 and 1979 were also stand outs. By 1987 I was in Dundee and experienced blizzardy snow at -6 to -7 for a few days with drifting down to sea level so that was memorable too. Since then can't really think of any really severe January spells except perhaps Jan 2013 which had around 45 cms in my home area of Perthsire and similar near me in Dundee but only above 159 mtrs asl. Early Jan 2010 and 1982 were also very snowy.

[damianslaw]

Too young to remember 1984 and 1985. 1984 gave significant snow here, over a foot easily, though temp wise was never especially cold. Conversely Jan 85 was largely very cold but not much snow here.

Overall for persistant cold and lots of snow, 1979 best in last 50 years here. Jan 10 came close to beating it but the cold eased latter half. 

Interesting to note how since 1979 severe cold and snow has only occured for about 2-3 weeks tops, 1985, 1987, 2010 and 2013.

1984, 1991, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2009, 2021 less 10 day spells or less really. 

Edited January 12 by damianslaw

[Scuba steve]

2018 when I sodded off to South America for a month

[Norrance]

8 minutes ago, damianslaw said:

Too young to remember 1984 and 1985. 1984 gave significant snow here, over a foot easily, though temp wise was never especially cold. Conversely Jan 85 was largely very cold but not much snow here.

Overall for persistant cold and lots of snow, 1979 best in last 50 years here. Jan 10 came close to beating it but the cold eased latter half. 

Interesting to note how since 1979 severe cold and snow has only occured for about 2-3 weeks tops, 1985, 1987, 2010 and 2013.

1984, 1991, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2009, 2021 less 10 day spells or less really. 

Interesting that where you were that it was not very cold. We had -20C and numerous ice days despite the cold coming from polar maritime air. It was however a month with a huge differential for snow and cold north to south. From Trevor Harleys records

January. A westerly month, but it was very wintry in the north.The month was very wet: the wettest January since 1948 in England and Wales. Snowy over Scotland and Northern Ireland. A violent gale in the Midlands on the 11th, and another on the 13th gave a gust of 104 mph in the NE England. On the 13th, the north suffered prolonged snow showers and strong winds. There was a destructive tornado in Doncaster on the 14th, and lightning in Leeds. It was very cold in Scotland: there was a minimum of -23.6C at Grantown-on-Spey on the morning of the 20th, and -20.6C at Aviemore, followed by a maximum of only -8C at Tummel Bridge the next day. More snow in the north on the 21st. On the 23rd snow lay 65 cm deep in parts of Scotland, with many places cut off. Snow lay for 30 days of the month at Kindrogan, 20 days at Glasgow and Edinburgh, but only 6 at Manchester , and just one in London. Another tornado, with large hail, hit Teignmouth on the 26th. It was milder than average in the south.

[SummerShower]

2014 is another contender, for a fan of stormy winters.  Realise I might be in a minority here.  1990 also.

If we can't have snowy January's, give me a 2014 or 1990 (minus the flooding).

[damianslaw]

2 hours ago, Norrance said:

Interesting that where you were that it was not very cold. We had -20C and numerous ice days despite the cold coming from polar maritime air. It was however a month with a huge differential for snow and cold north to south. From Trevor Harleys records

January. A westerly month, but it was very wintry in the north.The month was very wet: the wettest January since 1948 in England and Wales. Snowy over Scotland and Northern Ireland. A violent gale in the Midlands on the 11th, and another on the 13th gave a gust of 104 mph in the NE England. On the 13th, the north suffered prolonged snow showers and strong winds. There was a destructive tornado in Doncaster on the 14th, and lightning in Leeds. It was very cold in Scotland: there was a minimum of -23.6C at Grantown-on-Spey on the morning of the 20th, and -20.6C at Aviemore, followed by a maximum of only -8C at Tummel Bridge the next day. More snow in the north on the 21st. On the 23rd snow lay 65 cm deep in parts of Scotland, with many places cut off. Snow lay for 30 days of the month at Kindrogan, 20 days at Glasgow and Edinburgh, but only 6 at Manchester , and just one in London. Another tornado, with large hail, hit Teignmouth on the 26th. It was milder than average in the south.

Cumbria was on the boundary of the cold polar airmass, first half of 1984 was quite average/bit mild, second half was cold, but the wind and cloudy skies preventing notable low temps, but it was cold all the same with high snowfall. I was 5 and sadly no recollection at all, but seen some photos of deep snow. 

Stronger childhood memories kick in from 9 onwards but sadly that coincided with the start of very mild winters beginning 1987-88. 

I have vague memories of winter days with snow, sledging on local park from mid 80s but they are very hazy.

Edited January 12 by damianslaw

[cheese]

From the Januaries I was old enough to remember, either January 2010 or January 2013. Honourable mention to Jan 1995 for the 40cm+ snowfall on the 25th that totally paralysed traffic in Leeds (and elsewhere in Yorkshire). 

As mentioned it's pretty slim pickings since 1987. 

Edited January 13 by cheese

[I remember Atlantic 252]

11 hours ago, SummerShower said:

2014 is another contender, for a fan of stormy winters.  Realise I might be in a minority here.  1990 also.

If we can't have snowy January's, give me a 2014 or 1990 (minus the flooding).

If we can't have snowy January's, I'd prefer dry mild, signs of early Spring

[HafrenLMP1]

I remember 1979 but only just. By 1987 I had a paper round in the morning, and evening......and it was proper cold.  Whilst the winter of 1994/95 was generally mild, I remember a Friday in late January when it started snowing around lunch time, and carried on for most of the afternoon; I was working in Wigan at the time, and it would normally take 15 mins to get to the M58 - that day it took 2 hours.

I recall cold spells in 1996, 1997, but since then only 2010 & 2013 had significant cold/snowfalls.......

[A Face like Thunder]

I remember the free school milk freezing up in Jan 1963 as it was kept outside until ready for consumption. Now that was a January to remember!

[Harry's House]

38 minutes ago, A Face like Thunder said:

I remember the free school milk freezing up in Jan 1963 as it was kept outside until ready for consumption. Now that was a January to remember!

Likewise myself as a primary schoolboy in Essex. I also remember walking to school with rather painful toes from the cold.

The snow started lying on Boxing Day 1962 and never entirely disappeared probably until March.

[Chesil View]

Jan 1979 for  repeated cold and snow

Jan 85 first 20 days repeated heavy falls of snow

Jan 87 extreme cold and drifting snow

Jan 1990 Burns day storm

Jan 2004 Thundersnow event late in month.

Jan 2013. Decent fall of snow.

Jan 2014 exceptionally  stormy

 

[damianslaw]

 HafrenLMP1 I'm certain the event you are talking about was on Friday 27 January.. we had a very heavy wet snowfall that produced about 5 inches in a few hours. I remember it turned to rain and quickly thawed. It was thanks to a front moving into cold surface air. We don't see many such events nowadays. I much prefer rain to snow events, they are even rarer!

[HafrenLMP1]

Yes, it was a rather short lived event; I was out on a night out later that Friday night, and nearly all the snow had gone - you'd never have guessed what had happened in the afternoon.

[damianslaw]

 HafrenLMP1 It was the single biggest fall of snowfall here that winter. We missed out on the heavy snowfall of 2 days earlier I think it was that hit Yorkshire.

March 95 was very snowy, number of 2-3 inch falls in the opening 8 days.

 

[A Winter's Tale]

I can’t think of many Januaries which stand out prior to 2010. 2009 I recall was pretty seasonal - especially the first few days. 

2010 was probably the most memorable largely because of the persistent low temperatures and snow cover during the first half of the winter. Most of the snow had fallen on 19 Dec 2009 although there was a top up early on the 5th January. The 8th January was the first very cold day I can remember with a high of -6C and a minimum of -12C at Glasgow airport. I can’t remember exactly when the snow cover disappeared but I remember it was rather sudden and unexpected. The rest of the month was generally cold with some snow. At Glasgow airport it was the coldest January since 1987 with a mean of 1.1C. 
 

January 2013 was an immensely frustrating month. The first couple of weeks were mild before it turned colder around mid month. January 2013 remains the last time Glasgow airport had 14 consecutive days of maxima 5C or less. The lowest temperatures were unimpressive with a maxima of 1C and minima of -4C. Snow fell on 9 days but it mostly struggled to settle. There was snow cover on 4 days with a depth no greater than a slushy cm. 2013 was no 2010!

2015 is pretty close to 2010 in terms of my favourite January. Like 2013 the first ten days were largely mild with some stormy weather at times. It started to turn colder with some snow around Jan 10th with a cm of snow late on the 13th. Then on the 16th snow showers from the west brought 6cm of snow. Around 3-5cm of snow stayed on the ground until the 23rd. From the 16th to the 22nd the temperature didn’t exceed 4C at Glasgow airport with 19th-21st the coldest days with highs of 0 to 1C and lows of -5 to -7C. The period was also accompanied with quite a lot of nice mid winter sunshine. Snow returned late on the 28th and I think I saw some lighting flashes that evening. On the morning of the 29th there was a depth of 7cm. Over an inch of snow would remain on the ground until the 4th February with the snow disappearing on the 8th. This period was also pretty sunny. From the 13th Jan to 8th Feb there were 22 days with snow cover at some point, 16 with 2cm+ and 10 with around 5cm. Definitely one of my favourite spells of winter weather. 
 

Jan 2018 wasn’t bad either. The first few weeks were quite cold overall. At the beginning of the month it was quite settled a low of -9C on the 8th was the lowest temperature at Glasgow airport since Dec 2010. The period 15-21 Jan was pretty snowy. The 16th was very snowy with 9cm - the highest depth since 2010. Over the following days the snow cover was reduced with depths varying from 3-7cm (depending on where I measured). It was quite frustrating as the wet snow showers often alternated between melting and adding to the existing snow cover. On the 21st the cold spell came to an end with a frontal snowfall. The depth was 10cm after a fresh fall of 5cm. While not as impressive as 2018 there were 7 days with over an inch of lying snow. The remainder of the month was milder and unsettled. 
 

January 2021 was the coldest month at Glasgow airport since Dec 2010 with a mean of 1.3C. It also saw the coldest temperature since 2010 with a low of -11C on the 9th. The cold weather at the end of December continued to the 9th Jan. It wasn’t a snowy period but a fall of snow on the 7th brought 4cm. The rest of the month saw more falls of snow but only slight coverings. The period was most notable for the absence of mild days (only 5 days with maxima 7C+). 

[damianslaw]

 A Winter's Tale January 2015 was a very polar maritime type month..Scotland remained in the cold air for lengthy periods. Here the cold was off and on, I remember alot of snow showers that failed to put down a cover in daylight hours but come dusk they stuck, giving temporary 1-2cm blankets..

It was also a sunny month thanks to the polar air, certainly overall one of the better January's since 2010. 

[SqueakheartLW]

Out of all Januaries I can remember I'd say my favourites ones are for a snow lover

2010 (1st 10 days especially)

2013 (2nd half especially)

1996 (Last 10 days)

1997 (First 10 days)

2003 (Early in the month and the toppler at the end of the month)

Other Januaries that at least had a decent frontal snow event or a good day or two of snow showers or were just generally cold months

2015 (Cold zonality at months end)

1999 (12th January frontal snow)

1995 (25th January frontal snow)

2004 (Snow at end of month)

2009 (Cold month)

[Harry233]

2021 - Was the first proper cold Janaury we had since 2010, with a mean of 1.3.C. There was a good snowy spell between the 13th-20th with a maximum depth of 19cm on the 14th. It turned briefly milder but then the cold weather returned for the 24th. However there was no snow during this spell just pleasant winter sunshine and hard frosts.

2019 - Sunniest January on record here. I recorded 72 hours compared to an average of 47. There was a good mild spell between the 10th-12th which brought some sunshine and temperatures of around 11.C which felt quite springlike under light winds. There was a cold snap right after that with a little bit of snow but it didn’t amount to much. The month ended very cold and frosty but gloriously sunny.

2018 - A good snowy spell midmonth right after a really sunny and frosty period.

2010 - Absolutely brilliant month for snow and low temperatures. I recorded a minimum of -14.C on the 1st, probably the coldest New Year’s Day for me on record. 32cm of snow here on the 5th.

[SunSean]

Bizarrely, the last 3 have been my favourites! Normally I have been used to January being incredibly dull & wet, being only marginally better than December but the last 3 have been a breath of fresh air! Plenty of sunshine in 2022, 2023 & now 2024 as well! I guess 2022 just about shades it, but all 3 have been a pass for a decent month in my books.

[baddie]

Using ratings from 1-10, in years going back to 2010

2024 - 8/10 (Plenty of sunshine, though there could have been snow in the third week)
2023 - 7/10
2022 - 9/10 (Excellent sunshine, though mornings could have been even colder)
2021 - 7/10 (It was very wet and often dull, though there were 3 cold periods with significant snowfall, interpersed with Storm Christoph)
2020 - 4/10 (There were at least some dry spells despite being very mild)
2019 - 7/10
2018 - 5/10
2017 - 6/10 (I actually enjoyed the dry, foggy and gloomy conditons, and it felt like a Victorian January)
2016 - 3/10 (Colder version of the pervious month, though the third week was cold and snowy)
2015 - 8/10
2014 - 1/10 (Horribly wet and windy)
2013 - 8/10 (Enjoyed the snow, but more sunshine would have made it perfect)
2012 - 7/10
2011 - 6/10 (Quite a let down from the December, but still mostly dry)
2010 - 10/10 (Almost a perfect January for cold and snow)