January 2018 Features Extreme Weather
January 2018 featured quite a bit of wild weather across the United States. Perhaps none more so than the mudslides in California. A low pressure system from the Pacific Ocean dumped very heavy rain on Southern California January 8th and 9th, with the town of Monticello getting hit extremely hard. Since that area had just recently been scorched by massive wildfires, a large mudslide devastated the town. Sadly, twenty-one people lost their lives in the mudflows and over 150 people were injured.
Another wild event that occurred last month was a large snowfall in the Deep South. A coastal storm formed unusually far south and dragged very unusually cold air as far south as Northern Florida. Tallahassee recorded 0.1” of snow on January 3rd, which was its largest measurable snowfall since 1989 and enough – combined with freezing rain that also fell — for Florida State University to close classes for the day. Snowfall totals were even more impressive further north, with Charleston, SC recording 5.3” of snow for January 3rd, its largest single-day snowfall total in history.
