Average Snowfall for US Cities in January
The tables below give monthly averages for snowfall during January at the largest cities in the United States. The numbers are for the total amount of new snow and how many days it snows at least 0.1 inches (0.25 centimetres) this month. Plus there's a summary of which city in January is usually the snowiest.
The snowfall totals are averages based on weather data collected from 1991 to 2020 for the US National Centers for Environmental Information. The major cities listed here represent the 56 biggest metropolitan centers in the US, all those with over one million people in 2020.
January is the snowiest month of the year for over three-quarters of the major cities that regularly get snow.
For cities that are normally snow free, it's not unheard of for a freak snowstorm to stop by in January. One in January of 1949 dumped 1.5 inches of snow on Long Beach and spilled 0.3 inches in downtown Los Angeles. San Francisco had 1.5 inches of snow in 1962.
Snowiest Cities in January
- Most days with snowfall = 18 in Rochester
- Greatest amount of new snow = 27.4 inches at Rochester
Cities Without Snow in January
- Normally no snow falls this month in Austin, Fresno, Honolulu, Houston, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, Orlando, Phoenix, Riverside, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and Tampa
| Days | Place | Inches | Centimetres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.7 | Atlanta, Georgia | 1.0 | 2.5 |
| 0.2 | Austin, Texas | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 2.8 | Baltimore, Maryland | 6.4 | 16.3 |
| 0.2 | Birmingham, Alabama | 0.4 | 1.0 |
| 6.6 | Boston, Massachusetts | 14.3 | 36.3 |
| 16.4 | Buffalo, New York | 26.7 | 67.8 |
| 0.9 | Charlotte, North Carolina | 1.6 | 4.1 |
| 8.9 | Chicago, Illinois | 12.5 | 31.8 |
| 6.7 | Cincinnati, Ohio | 7.7 | 19.6 |
| 13.5 | Cleveland, Ohio | 18.4 | 46.7 |
| 9.0 | Columbus, Ohio | 9.5 | 24.1 |
| 0.4 | Dallas, Texas | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| 5.0 | Denver, Colorado | 6.4 | 16.3 |
| 10.7 | Detroit, Michigan | 14.0 | 35.6 |
| 0.0 | Fresno, California | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 14.9 | Grand Rapids, Michigan | 22.6 | 57.4 |
| 6.1 | Hartford, Connecticut | 14.2 | 36.1 |
| 0.0 | Honolulu, Hawaii | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 0.0 | Houston, Texas | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Days | Place | Inches | Centimetres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.0 | Indianapolis, Indiana | 8.8 | 22.4 |
| 0.0 | Jacksonville, Florida | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 4.4 | Kansas City, Missouri | 4.9 | 12.4 |
| 0.0 | Las Vegas, Nevada | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 0.0 | Los Angeles, California | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 3.7 | Louisville, Kentucky | 4.5 | 11.4 |
| 1.0 | Memphis, Tennessee | 0.9 | 2.3 |
| 0.0 | Miami, Florida | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 10.0 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | 14.9 | 37.8 |
| 9.3 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | 11.0 | 27.9 |
| 2.0 | Nashville, Tennessee | 2.0 | 5.1 |
| 0.0 | New Orleans, Louisiana | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 3.7 | New York, New York | 8.8 | 22.4 |
| 1.3 | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | 1.8 | 4.6 |
| 0.0 | Orlando, Florida | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 4.1 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 7.1 | 18.0 |
| 0.0 | Phoenix, Arizona | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 12.2 | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | 13.3 | 33.8 |
| Days | Place | Inches | Centimetres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.8 | Portland, Oregon | 1.0 | 2.5 |
| 5.7 | Providence, Rhode Island | 10.3 | 26.2 |
| 1.2 | Raleigh, North Carolina | 2.6 | 6.6 |
| 1.9 | Richmond, Virginia | 3.7 | 9.4 |
| 0.0 | Riverside, California | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 17.6 | Rochester, New York | 27.4 | 69.6 |
| 0.0 | Sacramento, California | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 7.6 | Salt Lake City, Utah | 12.7 | 32.3 |
| 0.0 | San Antonio, Texas | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 0.0 | San Diego, California | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 0.0 | San Francisco, California | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 0.0 | San Jose, California | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 1.4 | Seattle, Washington | 1.8 | 4.6 |
| 4.7 | St. Louis, Missouri | 5.7 | 14.5 |
| 0.0 | Tampa, Florida | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 0.1 | Tucson, Arizona | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 1.8 | Tulsa, Oklahoma | 1.9 | 4.8 |
| 1.7 | Virginia Beach, Virginia | 3.2 | 8.1 |
| 2.8 | Washington, DC | 4.9 | 12.4 |
Reference
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). Climate Normals.