Mohawk Valley Almanac for January 2026
Holidays in January 2026
January 1 New Year’s Day
January 7 Orthodox Christmas, Julian
January 6 Epiphany, Twelfth Night; Three Kings Day
January 13 Stephen Foster Memorial Day
January 16 Religious Freedom Day
January 19. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, observed.
January 22 National Sanctity of Human Life Day
Winter Activities
After a colder and snowier winter of 2024-2025 compared to recent years, this year seems to be a repeat, with heavy snow and sub-zero temperatures in December. It looks like an early year for ice fishing, skiing, and snowmobiling and other outdoor winter activities.
The Val Bialis ski slope in Utica is undergoing major renovations and skiing and skating will likely be more available this year, after many years of neglect combined with poor conditions for these outdoor sports. With heavy and early snow, it looks like a good year for snow shoeing, as well as alpine and cross country, and ice fishing earlier than usual.
A highlight of regional winter sports is hockey of the Utica Comets, Utica University Pioneers and many other regional college and high school teams dominates the indoor sports arenas. And there is also high school and college basketball, especially the Syracuse Orange.
Winter also brings the theater season into focus with plays and performances at
the Players of Utica, Remington Stables Theater in Ilion, and the Rome Community Theater. Music of a variety of types, jazz, classical, folk or rock occur on many winter weekends at the Other Side in Utica, Unity Hall in Barneveld, the Kirkland Art Center in Clinton, as well as in Remsen and Holland Patent
Admittedly during this season of snow, combined with the commonality of flu and covid this time of year, many people do not like the cold and blustery weather and prefer to stay indoors as much as possible. However, it is a very good season for bringing the outdoors to you with bird feeders. This activity can be quite interesting if you have a suitable window for viewing birds on a feeder or two while keeping warm and dry inside with your coffee or tea.
And if you just can not stand the weather and shoveling snow, at least try one of the indoor activities mentioned at the many schools, cafes, clubs, sports arenas and museums in the area. While not yet apparent as this is being written near winter solstice in late December, the days are ever so gradually increasing in day light hours. This becomes much more obvious by mid-January.
Love it or hate it, enjoy the winter month of January. Longer and warmer days are coming sooner than you think.
In the Night Skies
Saturn is high up in the sky at sunset, but even with a telescope, its rings are nearly invisible as they are nearly angling towards Earth. Jupiter is visible nearly all night, and on the 10th is in opposition and at its brightest for the year. On the 27th, the Moon is to the left of the Pleides star cluster, best observed with binoculars. The 30th has an all-night conjunction of the waxing gibbous nearly full Moon with Jupiter.
Rising and Setting Times of the Sun, Moon and Visible Planets on January 21, 2026
Sunrise 7:25 A.M. Sunset 4:58 P.M.
Moonrise Waxing Crescent Moon 9:01 A.M.,E Moonset 8:12 P.M., W
Mercury Not visible
Venus Sets 5:12 P.M., SW
Mars Not visible
Jupiter Sets 6:53 A.M., NW
Saturn Sets 9:42 P.M., W
Phases of the Moon for January 2026
January 3 Full Wolf Moon Rises 4:51 P.M.,NW Sets Next Day, W
January 10 Last Quarter Moon Rises 12:05 A.M. Sets 11:09 A.M., W
January 18 New Moon Rises 7:42 A.M. SE Sets 4:42 P.M., SW
January 25 First Quarter Moon Rises 10:25 A.M., E Sets next day
