Climate Central’s Monthly Briefing Highlights from January 2026

January 2026 was the fifth-warmest January on record globally, characterized by significant temperature anomalies in the U.S. West and record-low snowpacks in several states. The document highlights the transition of NOAA to the Relative Oceanic Niño Index (RONI) to better account for climate change in ENSO tracking. Attribution analysis using the Climate Shift Index (CSI) indicates that extreme warmth in the northern U.S. and specific cities like San Juan and Honolulu was strongly driven by carbon pollution.

• January 2026 was the fifth-warmest January on record globally for combined land and ocean temperatures, with the Southern Hemisphere averaging the third-warmest January on record.
• The contiguous U.S. faced significant dryness and snowpack deficits, with at least 72% of the region experiencing abnormally dry or drought conditions as of February 10, 2026. Specifically, Colorado saw its worst snowpack in over 40 years, and Utah reached new record low levels for snow water equivalent by early February.
• NOAA has replaced the Oceanic Niño Index (ONI) with the Relative Oceanic Niño Index (RONI) as of February 1, 2026. This change is intended to reduce reliance on 30-year climate base periods that struggle to keep pace with warming tropical Pacific waters caused by climate change.
• Climate attribution analysis using the Climate Shift Index (CSI) found that temperatures across the northern U.S. from Washington to Minnesota were at least five times more likely due to carbon pollution in early and mid-January. Exceptional warmth driven by climate change (CSI level 5) was also noted in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Honolulu, Hawaii, and Juneau, Alaska.

APA

Di Liberto, T. (2026). Climate Central’s Monthly Briefing Highlights from January 2026. Climate Central. https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-briefings/january-2026

Chicago

Di Liberto, Tom. Climate Central’s Monthly Briefing Highlights from January 2026. Climate Central, 2026. https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-briefings/january-2026.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Di Liberto |first1=Tom |title=Climate Central’s Monthly Briefing Highlights from January 2026 |publisher=Climate Central |date=January 2026 |url=https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-briefings/january-2026 |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{diliberto2026climate, author = {Di Liberto, Tom}, title = {{Climate Central’s Monthly Briefing Highlights from January 2026}}, institution = {Climate Central}, year = {2026}, month = jan, url = {https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-briefings/january-2026}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }