The first month of 2025 was cold, dry, and windy. It was the coldest January since 2014, one of the driest of the past 131 years, dew points dropped below zero or into the single digits on 23 days, and winds gusted to 40 mph or higher on 16 days. No doubt, a profitable outcome for those in the lip balm business!

Statewide, precipitation (rain and melted snow) averaged 0.89”. This was 2.60” below the 1991–2020 normal and ranked as the 3rd driest since records commenced in 1895. Quite a difference from last year, when January 2024 came in with 6.20”, the 7th greatest total on record. This year’s total includes rain that fell during the afternoon and evening of December 31st as the majority of National Weather Service (NWS) Cooperative stations report shortly after dawn each day with subsequent precipitation recorded on the next calendar day. For that same reason, the January total does not include rain that fell at these stations during the second half of January 31st.

Click here to see the distribution of the top 5 NJ warm/cold and wet/dry months since 1895