Northern Hemisphere Endured Deep January Freeze; Sierra Braces For 100+ Inches; -52C In Canada; Snow Shuts Pakistan, Blizzard Hits Kazakhstan; + New Study: Warming Jumps Happened Without Rising CO2

According to Copernicus, Europe just shivered through its coldest January since 2010.

Northern Hemisphere Endured Deep January Freeze

January 2026 was dominated by sustained, continent-scale cold across much of the Northern Hemisphere, as Arctic air repeatedly plunged south into Europe, Siberia and North America.

Even according to Copernicus, which relies on the gap-filled, model-heavy ERA5 reanalysis, Europe averaged -2.34C (27.79F) for the month. That makes it the continent’s coldest January since 2010 and 1.63C below the 1991–2020 average.

The freeze was not confined to Europe.

A highly amplified, meandering jet stream displaced polar air deep into the mid-latitudes, producing widespread below-normal temperatures from Fennoscandia through Siberia and into large parts of North America.

In the United States, Washington, D.C. recorded its longest uninterrupted stretch of freezing weather since 1989.

From the evening of Jan 23 through Feb 2, temperatures at Reagan National Airport failed to rise above 0C (32F) — the capital’s most persistent deep freeze in almost four decades.

Farther north, the prolonged January freeze has left the Hudson River choked with massive ice floes:

Sierra Braces For 100+ Inches

A major pattern shift is setting up across the Pacific, and the Western US is about to cash in.