Columbus hit a record low of -9°F and logged 13.1 inches of snow in January

January ended with record cold as a late-month storm drove most of the month’s snowfall

Columbus closed January with a burst of extreme winter weather that reset a long-standing cold record and produced a month of snowfall well above typical January totals.

On Jan. 31, Columbus recorded a low temperature of -9 degrees, establishing a new daily record for that date and surpassing the previous mark of -6 degrees set in 2004. The reading capped a stretch of late-month cold that followed a major snow event during the weekend of Jan. 24–25.

How much snow fell in January, and when it fell

Columbus measured 13.1 inches of snowfall during January 2026. A large share of that total came from Winter Storm Fern, which delivered nearly a foot of snow in a single day at the city’s primary observing site.

• Jan. 25 snowfall: 11.9 inches at Columbus (John Glenn area observing site).
• Two-day storm total (Jan. 24–25): 12.0 inches.
• January 2026 monthly total: 13.1 inches.

The Jan. 25 snowfall set a new daily record for that calendar date, exceeding the prior Jan. 25 record of 4.7 inches set in 1988. In addition to snow depth, the storm’s liquid-equivalent precipitation reached 1.09 inches on Jan. 25, also a daily record for that date.

Where the storm ranks in Columbus weather history

With 11.9 inches recorded on Jan. 25, the event ranked among the largest single-day snowfalls in Columbus’ period of record, tying a longstanding January daily benchmark in the city’s historical archive. The two-day total of 12.0 inches also placed the storm among the higher 48-hour snow events documented locally, though larger multi-day storms have occurred in other years.

The late-January storm combined record-setting daily snowfall for Jan. 25 with record daily precipitation on the same date, highlighting the intensity of the event.

Context: big month, but not the city’s biggest

While January’s 13.1 inches was substantial, it remained far below the city’s most extreme monthly totals. One benchmark frequently used for comparison is January 1978, when Columbus recorded 34.4 inches of snow during the month that included the Great Blizzard of 1978.

What happens next

Following the late-January cold, temperatures began a gradual moderation at the start of February, though winter conditions persisted across Central Ohio. The combination of heavy snowfall, record daily precipitation, and subzero temperatures has continued to shape travel, snow removal, and day-to-day conditions in the region.