| 1/1/2026 | AK-MS-22 | AK | Matanuska-Susitna |
Moderately Dry
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General Awareness
Agriculture
Fire
Plants & Wildlife
Tourism & Recreation
Water Supply & Quality
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| Only patches of snow in Chickaloon and no snow at all further west. Dry leaves on the ground as if it were September. We have had long stretches of cold weather, with only 5 days in November (after Nov 8th) and 5 days in December that started with mornings over 15F, 18 days in December starting at 6F or lower. Not "really cold", just longer stretches of cold. Very dry air; most days it is so dry there isn't enough moisture to see your breath. Unusually long stretches of clear nights - wonderful to see the bright stars, watch the moonlight track inside my yurt, occasional northern lights. Normally there are a lot more clouds.
Such extremely low snow pack could mean a lot less groundwater recharge and snowmelt in spring. We need snow! No snow and such cold temperatures could also affect agriculture in the spring, not having a good insulating layer on the ground for so long.
We have had four multiple-day high wind events in December, with steady winds over 30 mph and gusts up to 45 mph (estimated). Each event has lasted about four days. Between the cold and the wind, the land has dried out and there is very high fire danger.
Fish Lake is scoured clean of any snow and has a thick, clear layer of ice. Looking through it, the ice appears to be at least three feet thick. People have been ice-skating on it. I've been anxious to get out on the lake ice on my kicksled but with the cold temperatures and winds I've only been out once this month. The Matanuska River has lots of scoured-clean smooth-ice sections in Chickaloon. The river is still holding to the south bank as it moves through Sutton so there are wide gravel bars between the Glenn Highway and water. Lots of dust during the windstorms.
An occasional moose. Lots of birds at the feeder - boreal and black-headed chickadees, nuthatches, occasional pine grosbeak pair, Downy woodpecker. The spruce grouse that arrives every winter is here picking up black-oil sunflower seeds. A round of cold is expected over the next few days with highs near 0F then, finally, temperatures are expected into the teens and we may get snow. If temperatures do rise, that would be the first time into the teens in a month. |
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| 1/1/2026 | CO-WE-563 | CO | Weld |
Severely Dry
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General Awareness
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| There has only been about 1/3" of precipitation here since November 1, and only about 2/3" of precipitation since October 1, so conditions here have been very dry. I have had to add supplemental water, especially to trees in the yard, on multiple occasions over the last few months as temperatures have been above average and precipitation well below average. |
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| 1/1/2026 | LA-CD-12 | LA | Caddo Parish |
Near Normal
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General Awareness
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| No local fires (smoke app.) or bans in place, mowing active. No flooding observed, property damage from several days of <32Ff temperatures. Precipitation MTD=1.68", YTD= 60.47" |
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| 1/1/2026 | MI-SH-4 | MI | Schoolcraft |
Near Normal
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General Awareness
Business & Industry
Plants & Wildlife
Water Supply & Quality
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| Monthly snowfall of 31" exceeded normal (past 10 years 18"). Avg. snow depth for Jan. 1 (past 10 Years) 6" exceeded currently 16". Monthly precip. 2.61" a bit above normal. Ground not well frozen beneath snow. Superficially near normal but remains dry long term. Only local traffic. Travel and commerce a bit reduced by snowy/icy days. Appears most deer have moved SW. No irruptive finches at bird feeder, just year-round residents. Hoping roof shoveling will not be necessary later in the winter. |
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| 1/1/2026 | MN-SH-39 | MN | Sherburne |
Near Normal
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General Awareness
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| Snow and 5 Hi 12 Wind SW 5 mph. Snowfall most of today with wind gusts up to 9 mph.
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| 1/1/2026 | MS-HD-25 | MS | Hinds |
Moderately Dry
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General Awareness
Plants & Wildlife
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| Little rain, about an inch for the entire month of December. |
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| 1/1/2026 | MO-JF-21 | MO | Jefferson |
Severely Dry
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General Awareness
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| Less than an inch of rain in December and very little in November. |
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| 1/1/2026 | NY-CQ-22 | NY | Chautauqua |
Severely Wet
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General Awareness
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| We had 56% more precipitation (rainfall and SWE) than expected |
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| 1/1/2026 | NY-WY-11 | NY | Wyoming |
Near Normal
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General Awareness
Agriculture
Plants & Wildlife
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| Cloudy and cold with light winds and snow, then cloudy and cold overnight with snow and light winds. The high temperature was around twenty four degrees, and the low around seven degrees Fahrenheit. Songbirds are eating a feederful every 2 days. The local intermittent stream and nearby trout stream are flowing at Winter levels. Some streams are difficult to cross with ice build up. |
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| 1/1/2026 | NC-WK-13 | NC | Wake |
Moderately Dry
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General Awareness
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| The soil was moderately dry. Only 2.37 inches for December 2025. |
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| 1/1/2026 | NC-WK-283 | NC | Wake |
Severely Dry
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General Awareness
Agriculture
Fire
Plants & Wildlife
Water Supply & Quality
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| Not much happening in the garden. Very few birds. Everything extremely dry,received firecwarnings when days are windy |
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| 1/1/2026 | TX-ER-11 | TX | Erath |
Moderately Dry
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General Awareness
Agriculture
Plants & Wildlife
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| Usually the fall and winter bring rain much this year has been very dry with little but dew and condensate in the morning. The ground is hard, the stock tacks are low, the local creek is dry and the pastures are brown. |
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| 1/1/2026 | VA-RH-23 | VA | Rockingham |
Mildly Dry
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General Awareness
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| .012 bars on soil probe |
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| 1/1/2026 | WA-KG-248 | WA | King |
Moderately Wet
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General Awareness
Plants & Wildlife
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| HNY! The series of AR events mid month really boosted the precip totals; for the month: 9.81" an increase of 4.02" or 169% of normal; but for the year: 39.69" a very slight decrease of .39" or 99% of normal; and for the water year to date: 20.91" an increase of 4.74" or 129% of normal; we'll see what the new year has for precip |
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