Actual monthly snowfall in December 2020 and January 2021 (denoted by the orange bars), compared to monthly average snowfall (teal bars) in Fairbanks, Alaska, as of Jan. 26, 2021.

(Data: NOAA/NWS; Graph: Infogram)

At a Glance

Fairbanks, Alaska, may have its least snowy January since the Great Depression.A persistent storm track to its south has kept precipitation away from Alaska's eastern interior.Seasonal snowfall in Fairbanks has declined, particularly in fall.

Fairbanks, Alaska, has struggled to pick up any snow this month, and may set a record least snowy January in what may be the nation's strangest snow drought so far in 2021.

Only one-tenth of an inch of snow has been recorded in Fairbanks this month, through Jan. 26.

That's not only 10 inches less than an average January there, but it's currently ahead of its of 0.7 inches in 1966, according to Brian Brettschneider, an Alaska-based climatologist.

As of this article's publication, there was a small chance of light snow in through the end of the month, but it's not clear it would be enough snow to miss setting the record.

The city's snow drought has been ongoing for over two months.

Only 3.6 inches of snow fell in December. The last time at least an inch of snow fell in the city was Nov. 15.

As with most droughts, a persistent weather pattern is to blame.

"The storm track has been to the south and east this month," Brettschneider told weather.com.

"The storm track that benefits southeast Alaska sends air from the south (warm) into the interior, but it dries out along the way (creating a) snow shadow."

Brettschneider said the stretch of the Alaskan coast from east of Anchorage to Juneau has been much wetter than usual.

"The Turnagain Pass SNOTEL station southeast of Anchorage had the deepest snow depth of any SNOTEL station in the U.S., as of a few days ago."

That snow depth had reached 146 inches on Jan. 19.

Less January Snow Than the South

What makes this anomaly truly bizarre is considering the amount of real estate in the Lower 48 that have out-snowed Fairbanks' paltry one-tenth inch in January.

As you can see in the map below, much of the contiguous U.S. that typically picks up snow at least once per winter has done so in January.

January estimated snowfall in Alaska and the Lower 48 states through Jan. 26, 2021.

Among these snowier-than-Fairbanks January cities are Tucson, Arizona (1 inch); Waco, Texas (4.4 inches); and Jackson, Mississippi (1.3 inches).

This doesn't mean there isn't snow on the ground in Fairbanks.

In early November, 19 inches of snow fell in a four-day stretch from Nov. 5-8.

The lack of winter daylight, when the sun doesn't rise high above the horizon, allowed Fairbanks to keep its early November snowpack in place.

Looking at the , you'd never know they were in a snowfall drought.

A published in 2020 by Climate Central found annual snowfall in Fairbanks has diminished since 1970, primarily in the fall. 80% of the U.S. cities examined in the study showed diminishing snow in the fall since 1970, 66% of them showed diminishing spring snow, but only 46% of them showed diminishing winter snow.

Snowfall trends by season from 1970 through 2019 in Fairbanks, Alaska.

(Climate Central)

The most populous city in Alaska's interior, Fairbanks is well known for its epic winter cold snaps, during which temperatures have plummeted into the minus 50s and 60s.

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