US Hit by Seven Significant Climate Anomalies in One Month

The United States was hit by seven significant climate anomalies in the first month of this year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), as climate change continues to increase the frequency of severe weather events.

The events covered all four corners of the contiguous U.S., as well as Alaska and Hawaii, and included extremes of temperature and precipitation.

As the climate gets warmer on average, more energy is being pushed into the atmosphere, energizing weather systems and making them more erratic and more precipitous.

The increased energy in the atmosphere is also contributing to greater volatility in the jet stream—a current of air that divides colder atmospheric patterns toward the poles from warmer climes near the tropics—meaning cold weather reaches further south and warm weather farther north than before.

Historic Snowfall in Alaska

Historic levels of snowfall continue in Anchorage, Alaska, with more than a hundred inches falling in the region since October, making for the snowiest water year—which runs between October and September and is used to evaluate surface water supply—to date.

The NOAA said that while much of the state saw below-average precipitation, above-normal precipitation was observed in Alaska's southeast and panhandle in January. Juneau's airport received more than 76 inches of snow in January—the highest January total on record and the second-highest monthly total overall.

Rare Blizzard Warning for Seattle

At the start of January, a blizzard warning was issued for areas surrounding Seattle, Washington, as two "powerful" atmospheric river winter storms made landfall over the Northwest, bringing several feet of heavy snow over the Cascades.

The NOAA noted that it was the first of its kind for the area in 11 years. The storms brought hazardous conditions to the Plains and were followed by further devastating weather fronts.

Arctic Blast

The arrival of a mass of cold air from the Arctic in mid-January brought freezing temperatures to central states and facilitated winter storms elsewhere, carpeting much of the northern U.S. with at least an inch of snow.

The NOAA said the weather event broke nearly 2,500 daily minimum temperature records across a swathe from the Northwest to the lower Mississippi Valley, with New York City receiving more than an inch of snow for the first time in 700 days.

A Month's Rain in Texas

Between January 22 and 25, powerful storms brought more than a month's worth of rain to eastern Texas and western Louisiana, causing areas of flooding. A judge in Montgomery County, Texas, subsequently declared a disaster as officials operating Lake Conroe Dam were forced to release large amounts of water downstream.

January was the 10th wettest on record across the contiguous U.S., with an average of 3.18 inches falling. However, the NOAA noted that by the end of the month, 23.5 percent of the land was in drought—mostly in the northern Midwest—owing to locally below-average precipitation, up 14 percent from the start of the month.

Flooding in Hawaii

Heavy rain fell over Hawaii in late January, causing areas of flash flooding, leading to closed roads because of felled trees and power outages—the largest being on West Oahu.

Low Snowpack in the West

While Western states did see significant snowfall due to a parade of atmospheric river storms, a mix of dry conditions and above-average temperatures led to record-low snowpack across mountains in the region.

Even though parts saw more than 150 percent of average precipitation for January, the average temperatures for the region were 3 to 6 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than usual, leading to increased snowmelt.

Unseasonable Warmth in the Great Lakes

Despite the Arctic blast, the Great Lakes region saw average temperatures as much as 6 to 12 degrees warmer than usual, with Wisconsin seeing its 10th-warmest January, leading to the lowest ice cover on record.

The region still saw heavy lake-effect snow due to cold fronts descending from the north.