Reykjavík Sees Rare January Without Snow

2026-02-04 - 10:38

Reykjavík experienced a January without any recorded snowfall this year, according to a local meteorologist reviewing long-term weather records. Einar Sveinbjörnsson, a forecaster at Blika, shared the observation in a recent social media post, noting that fully snowless Januaries in the capital are rare. What's the Story? No recorded snowfall in Reykjavík during January Information shared by Einar Sveinbjörnsson of Blika Comparable snowless January conditions noted for 1929 and 1940 Last full ground snow cover in Reykjavík on 16 December Two days of full snow cover recorded in the capital so far this winter Reykjavik houses. Credit: Golli Unusual Winter Pattern As reported by mbl.is, Einar compared the conditions to winters nearly a century ago. “It’s actually been a long time. As far as I can tell, the situation was similar in 1929 and 1940. One completely white day was recorded in January 1961 and again in 2002,” he wrote. He also reported that the last time the ground in Reykjavík was fully snow-covered was on 16 December, with only limited snow the day before. Those were the only days with measurable snow in the city during December. Winter in Iceland is typically considered to run from December through March. Similar low-snow conditions were recorded in the winter of 1976–77, when only five days of full ground cover were observed in the capital. So far this winter, just two such days have been recorded.