January 2022 Review

It's time to take a look back at January 2022, which was another month of extremes.

High Temperatures

The December 2021 deepfreeze carried into the first week of January. After that we were mostly above average and above freezing for the rest of the month. 

January had 21 Highs above-average and 10 below. 5 of those cold days were the coldest in 30 years.

January 2022 had 6 Highs below -20°C (average is ~3) including 2 below -25°C. 

But on the flipside it had 17 Highs above freezing (average is ~12) including 8 that reached 5°C (average is ~4).

8 days in January with Highs of 5°C ties 2017 & 2014 as the most in recent memory. A bit further back 1984 had 9, and the record was 14 in 1942.

 

Low Temperatures

January 2022 had 14 below-average Lows, compared to 17 which were above-average. 4 of those cold days were the coldest in 30 years, including -31.6°C on January 5th.

January averages 8~9 Lows of -20°C, and 2022 had 11. That included 1 below -30°C, and another 7 below -25°C. 

January also had a Low of 1.5°C on the 23rd. Other "recent" Januarys with above-freezing Lows were 2019, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2002 & 1996.

At the end of January we have had 25 Lows reach -20°C, compared to an average of about 15 for this point of the winter. That included 16 Lows which reached -25°C, when the average is about 8.

 

Warm & Cold Months

Even with the warm end to January, the deepfreeze at the start of the month knocked temperatures down. January 2022's average High of -4.4°C was our 42nd warmest on record. The average Low of -14.6°C was 48th warmest.

On a monthly basis, January 2022 is a fairly large orange bubble, with a mean temperature that was 4°C warmer than the 20th century average for January. It's the latest in a long line of "warm" Januarys, with 2004 as the only recent blue bubble.

 

Across Canada

Across the country January 2022 was pretty chilly in central Canada, with the temperatures about -3.5°C below January's 20th Century average for Toronto, Ottawa and Montréal.

For Toronto, Ottawa and Montréal the average Highs & Lows for January 2022 were well below average, and the coldest since 2004~2009~2014 depending on the city.

 

Ottawa

And Ottawa just had an 11-day streak of -20°C Lows, which is their 3rd longest on record. It ties 1972, and is behind 12 days in 1982, and 14 days in 1914.

 

Snowfall

On average in January we get about 22cm of snow, and January 2022 was just above that with 25.3cm. That follows the extra-snowy December which had 32.6cm.

For the winter of 2021-2022 so far we have had 73.3cm of snow, which is just above the average of 67cm. At the end of the winter we average about 120cm, so we are about halfway there.

 

Snowdepth

In December our snowdepth climbed up to 40cm+ at the local stations. But with January's warm weather there was significant melting. By the end of the month the airport had fallen to 24cm, and Stony Plain to 30cm.

Depending how the late-winter and early-spring go we probably have another 1.5~2.5 months of snow on the ground. An early melt like 2020-2021 could be snowfree by mid-March, while a late one like 2019-2020 could be mid-April.

 

Snow Across Canada

A messy chart, with snowfall so far for all these cities. Calgary is very low this year, with only 38.2cm. Of the big pack Edmonton is at the bottom with 73.3cm, and St. John's and Ottawa are at the top with 109.8cm and 104.7cm respectively.

This is just a look at a few of the cities. Calgary's January was basically snowfree. St. John's got a lot of snow, but was below its average. And Ottawa got hit with a big storm, but January was only a bit above average.

This is a comparison of what snowdepth looks like throughout the winter. Edmonton and Winnipeg have snow for a long time, but it's not necessarily extermely deep. Ottawa and St. John's have a shorter snow season, but can get a lot of it.

February Temperatures

For February the temperatures are often a lot like January, with 10~15 Highs above 0°C, and 5 Lows below -20°C. Recently though February 2021, 2019 both had huge deepfreezes. On average February has the lowest snow of the main winter months, at about 14cm.

For really cold temperatures, we have passed the peak deepfreeze season of early~mid January. But we're definitely still in the season of -20°C Lows, and the likelihood of those doesn't really start to drop-off until the first week of March.