January in Maine is legitimate winter. There are hardly ever any warm days sprinkled in like there might be during November or December. It’s winter. It’s cold. There’s no way around it.
I remember our first winter in the state. That was back in 2013. Sometime during December, the temperature dropped below zero and by the time January rolled around, the forecast called for -18°. At our house, we reached -24°. The deep freeze lasted nearly a month. Oddly enough, such low temperatures didn’t initially feel all too low. The thing is with such cold, it isn’t how cold it feels as soon as you leave the warmth of your home, rather, it’s how quickly you’ll freeze to death if you remain outdoors, unprotected. So it’s the speed of things that matter most in cases such as these.
In our neck of the woods (Farmington), the average high temperature for January is 26° and the low is 4°. That sounds about right. Strangely enough, as cold as it can be, there’s definitely a phenomenon regarding the sunlight. There’s more of it. While December gets downright dark with seemingly a mere few hours of sunlight per day, things begin to brighten up in January. Also, there are plenty of crisp, clear days during the month, which is surprising. Before we moved to Maine, I was resigned to the fact that winters would be dull and dreary forever, but after we arrived, I noticed that the days up north really aren’t that bad. Today, for instance, was lovely. It was about 22° as a high, but there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Sunny winter days are my favorites, especially after a heavy snowfall.
Speaking of snow, I’d say January and February are the months to count on for that. While December can certainly surprise, the meat of the season occurs during the aforementioned months. And there’s ice as well. So any snow that’s already fallen packs down tightly until it becomes extraordinarily slippery and dangerous. Feet of snow can fall during January and for some weird reason, these feet usually fall on Tuesday nights when I teach Jiu-Jitsu. I know this because it’s been happening for years. It snows, I cancel class, and I feel horrible for the next day and a half due to guilt. Nature likes Tuesdays, that’s for sure.
We’ve got a big, beautiful lake in our town. It’s called Clearwater Lake and it’s allegedly spring fed, which keeps it from freezing if the ambient air temperature isn’t low enough. Usually, a week or two of sub-zero or near to zero temperatures will do the job, but I’ve seen winters when the lake hasn’t frozen over at all. In general though, you’ll enjoy ice fishing or snowmobiling across the western Maine lakes beginning in January.
Finally, I thought I’d discuss the issue of road buckling during January in Maine. With very cold weather comes bumpy roads. Some towns in our area don’t have roads that buckle because said roads were created with proper base layers and drainage, but in my town, yes, the roads are horrible during January, February, and March. Sometimes, if it stays cold enough, the buckles and bumps last all the way into April. Basically, the air needs to warm enough and there needs to be enough sunlight to thaw the saturated soil below that’s decided to freeze and heave. Many roads in rural areas weren’t developed with longevity in mind. Plus, small town budgets can’t cope with the high costs of beautifully laid luxurious roadways. So we suffer every year. But while the bumpy roads discourage yours truly from driving faster than 23 miles per hour, it seems as though the locals don’t mind their cars falling apart. They seemingly couldn’t care in the least. They speed around the area with reckless abandon. So be it. They’re paying the bills.
To sum up, January in Maine is freezing cold and lots of snow falls from the sky.
