Winter Strikes Back in January

Like the villain in a ‘90s action movie, winter struck back with a vengeance in January following the unusual warmth that closed out 2024. Several strong cold fronts delivered blustery winds, snow, ice, and some of the coldest air the state had seen since the generational freeze of January 2021.

The first major bout of winter weather hit on January 9-10, prompting Winter Storm Warnings for much of southeastern Oklahoma before expanding north and west. Snow covered nearly the entire state except for the far western Panhandle, with widespread totals of 2-6 inches. Heavier bands of 9-13 inches fell in parts of northwestern and southeastern Oklahoma, while Lehigh in Coal County claimed the highest official snowfall total with 14 inches. 

The next impactful storm delivered far less snow but packed a much colder punch. A powerful arctic front plowed through on January 17, dropping temperatures below freezing for more than 100 consecutive hours in some areas. January 21 stood out as the coldest day of the outbreak, bringing:

• Lowest temperature ever recorded on a January 21 in Oklahoma – -17°F in Beaver, dating back to the 1880s, a degree lower than Alva’s -16°F in 1984.
• Coldest temperature in the state since February 16, 2021 – also -17°F in Beaver, the coldest since Nowata’s -22°F on that date.
• Lowest wind chill since December 22, 2022 – -33°F in Beaver and Hooker, previously reached by Eva and Hooker on that date.
• Lowest statewide average low temperature since February 16, 2021 – -6.7°F, compared to -12.4°F that year.

The deep freeze finally broke on January 22, when Medford became the last Mesonet site to rise above freezing after 106 hours below the mark, just after noon. While snowfall was more sporadic in the latter half of the month, persistent cold kept winter firmly in place, making January 2025 one of the colder winter months of the last several years.

January by the Numbers

• Statewide average temperature: 34.0°F, ranking 27th-coolest since records began in 1895, and 4.3°F below normal.
• Temperature extremes: 75°F in Tipton (Jan. 17) to -17°F in Beaver (Jan. 21).
• Sub-10°F temperatures: The 119 Mesonet sites recorded 315 instances at 10°F or lower, including 67 below-zero readings.
• Wind chills: The Mesonet recorded 400 instances of below-zero wind chills, with 64 below -10°F.
• Statewide precipitation: 1.23 inches, 0.34 inches below normal, ranking as the 61st driest January since 1895.
• Wettest location: 6.61 inches in Valliant (southeast Oklahoma).
• Driest location: 0.07 inches in Kenton (far northwest Panhandle).
• Drought status: Despite the dry conditions, statewide drought coverage remained steady at ~5%, with small pockets in south-central and north-central Oklahoma.

Looking Ahead

The February outlook from the Climate Prediction Center (CPC) favors warmer-than-normal temperatures, with equal chances of above-, below-, or near-normal precipitation. As a result, CPC’s February drought outlook predicts no major drought relief or expansion across Oklahoma.