Brian Neben, Central Nebraska Today
GRAND ISLAND — New Year’s Day ushers in the climatologically-coldest month of the year – January. However, when examining weather over the past 120 plus years, one quickly finds that considerable variability often exists from one year to the next.
Just in the last 30 years, New Year’s Day high temperatures in Grand Island have ranged from four degrees to 61 degrees. This story features a wealth of New Year’s Day weather and climate information focused specifically on Grand Island, where January weather records date back to 1896 (official weather data recorded at Central Nebraska Regional Airport since 1938).
Temperatures: According to the entire period of record, the warmest New Year’s Day on record was 64 degrees in 1939 and the coldest low temperature was a bone-chilling minus 23 degrees in 1974.
Only 15-of-124 New Year’s Days on record (12%) have featured high temperatures of 50 degrees or warmer, and there actually hasn’t been one now in 21 years (60 degrees in 2004). On the other end of the thermometer, only 18-of-124 New Year’s Days (15%) have featured highs of 15° or colder, but interestingly, three of these have just occurred within the last seven years (2022, 2019, 2018). However, nothing in recent decades has topped New Year’s Day in 1974 in terms of brutal cold, with a high of only two degrees and the aforementioned record-setting low of minus 23 degrees.
Precipitation/Snowfall: As for wintry precipitation, there really isn’t anything “major” in the record books associated with New Year’s Day itself. According to the entire period of record, only 24-of-129 (19%) of New Year’s Days have featured measurable precipitation (including only once in the last 10 years).
Although much of the local region was dealing with the aftermath of an historic ice storm back on New Year’s Day 2007, nearly all of the actual precipitation from that storm fell a few days prior (mainly Dec. 29-30, 2006). Snowfall-wise, there are no major winter storms to speak of, with a daily total of “only” 5.4 inches in 1948 leading the way.
Somewhat surprisingly, measurable snow has fallen on New Year’s Day only twice in the last 25 years, but one of these was three years ago in 2022 when 1.5 inches fell. As for a few of the higher snow totals when combining New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day together, those two days in 1994-95 featured 6.2 inches of snow in Grand Island, with 3.0 inches actually falling on New Year’s Day 1995.
This 1994-95 snow event ranks as the second largest two-day combination of New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day snow on record, trailing only 7.0 inches in 1931-32.
News Years Day 2024 Recap: Quite honestly, there was nothing very memorable or remarkable about New Year’s Day 2024 weather in Grand Island. In short, it was a seasonably-chilly day (not-overly cold), but it was also fairly overcast/gloomy
Technically, the calendar day started with clear skies for the early morning hours, as the morning low temperature bottomed out at 13 degrees around 8 a.m. However, shortly after 9 a.m. a stubborn deck of low clouds (along with some light fog) moved in and hung around through the remainder of the daylight hours before finally vacating around 7:30 p.m. that evening.
The high temperature of 30 degrees occurred shortly after 4 p.m. Winds through the day were a little breezy, but not overly-strong, generally averaging 10-15 mph out of the south-southwest, and with a peak daily gust of 21 mph. Although there was no precipitation/snowfall, a trace of snow depth was officially noted on the ground, most of which lingered from a Christmas Day winter storm a week prior.
