January 2025 Forecast: Welcome to La Niña Winter

January 2025 Weather Predictions

Looking at January as a whole, we expect near- to above-average temperatures across New England, the Mid-Atlantic, and Florida. The Appalachians, Southeast, Great Lakes, and Ohio Valley will tend to be on the colder side of average. We also anticipate some colder weather from the Upper Midwest through the northern Plains, the northern Rockies, and the Pacific Northwest. Meanwhile, it will be on the warmer side from the southern Plains westward to California.

In Canada, we expect above-average temperatures in January from the Northwest Territories across Nunavut and into Quebec and the Maritimes, and colder than average temperatures elsewhere.

We’ll kick off 2025 on a fairly mild note across much of the East for  New Year’s Day. Rain and snow showers will be found across New England, with some rain from the Appalachians into the Southeast. There will be a good deal of sunshine across Florida to ring in the new year. There will be a few showers across the Great Lakes and the Deep South, where it will also be fairly mild. We expect the new year to start off quite sunny and warm in Texas–Oklahoma, whereas it will be sunny and fairly cold in the Upper Midwest and southern Heartland. There will be some snow from the High Plains through the Rockies, and there can be pockets of rain and snow across the rest of the West. Alaska looks mostly clear and cold, while there will be the potential for rain in Hawaii.

At the start of the year in Canada, the Maritimes will be mild with some rain and snow, while some snow is predicted across southern Quebec. It looks rather cold across the rest of the country, with pockets of snow.

In the United States, January 20 will be both Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday (observed) and the day of the presidential inauguration. At this point, it looks like a chilly day for the inauguration at the Capitol, but it will likely be dry with some sunshine. Much of the rest of the Northeast and Appalachians will be free of precipitation, while there will be some rain in the Southeast. Snow and/or snow showers are likely across the Great Lakes, Upper Midwest, Heartland, High Plains, and Intermountain West. There will be limited precipitation across the West.

Where’s the Snow?

For precipitation in the month of January, it will tend to be on the drier side across the Deep South, Ohio Valley, Great Lakes, and into the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Above-average precipitation is predicted across the Southeast. Precipitation will tend to be closer to average from the Upper Midwest through the Heartland and southern Plains. A fairly large area of above-average precipitation will likely develop from the High Plains westward through the Rockies and all through the West.

Across Canada, near- to below-average precipitation this month is expected across the Maritimes, southwestern Quebec, and Ontario. There will be some pockets of above-average precipitation from the Northwest Territories through the eastern Prairies and across southeastern Quebec. The pattern will tend to be on the drier side from the western Prairies through southern British Columbia, and the Yukon.

Goodbye El Niño, Hello La Niña

Looking at the forecast for the winter, we anticipate a La Niña through the winter—and sure enough, a weak La Niña is already starting to develop. The La Niña should help to bring a few cold shots southward, more so than we’ve seen during the past couple of winters. Even with these cold periods, we still expect much of the U.S. and Canada to end up with above-average winter temperatures overall. 

→ Learn more about El Niño and La Niña!

The high solar activity this year (the highest since the early 2000s), combined with a westerly Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO, an index measuring stratospheric winds near the equator), also indicates the potential for some cold blasts, especially later in the winter.

Don’t forget to order your copy of The 2025 Old Farmer’s Almanac!