OBS: 1/25-26 Snow/Sleet

[jm1220]

12 minutes ago, Northof78 said:

Is it just me, or the radar in PA looking decent for some light snow later this morning/afternoon, maybe a coating to 0.5" later?

That’s what will probably fill in for Boston and nudge them over 20” but maybe some flurries here. But primarily looks good for SNE. 

[jm1220]

12 minutes ago, WestBabylonWeather said:

I thought I’d hate the sleet. Wasn’t as bad as I thought. It barely impacted the snow depth 

we had roughly 8-10” of snow and then freezing drizzle and then more heavy sleet ending with snow this morning. With drifts in the beginning parts of my yard are 15”

The sleet didn’t knock the depth down here either, guess there was 2” or so of sleet but it all counts and you can see now how much denser it made the snowpack. 

[Brasiluvsnow]

I luv where I live and BAM = New City, NY, recorded some of the highest snowfall in the region from the winter storm on January 25-26, 2026, with totals reaching 17.6 inches. This was the top, or near-top, total for New York State, following intense, fast-moving snow that created dangerous travel conditions throughout the Hudson Valley.

[Picard]

Now I'm questioning my own 12.2" total because it does seem a bit low compared to others around me.  Admittedly, I did not do the clearing technique which I should, so it was probably more (say 13-14") but it had compacted.  Mom in Lafayette is telling me 16" but admits it was hard to measure.  Either way, I'll take a foot plus.  It was a fun storm.

[bluewave]

I don’t have a dedicated snowboard spot where I live for consistent measurements like the official airport OBS and COOP sites. I took 50 measurements in a nearby open baseball dirt field and hour ago away from any obstructions which averaged at 9”. The field had completely lost any snowpack from the last event. Closer to the fence line the average was 10-12” with a maximum peak of 15” right behind the long fence. In closer to the houses here my average is also 10-12”. So I can understand the variability in the official NWS OBS from urban to rural locations and between the public, CO-OP, and other readings. Prior to this weekend I measured 13” from the collection of smaller events with marginal temperatures at times.

[MANDA]

Storm total snowfall and QPF:

Click to enlarge maps.

QPF clearly over performed even the wettest guidance, in some cases by 1/2" or more depending on the location and model of choice.  The models ticking up the QPF as we got closer to the event start time was clearly on the right track though.

Quick spot checks on ratios and nothing to write home about when averaged out over the storm duration....roughly 8:1 to 12:1 along the I78-I80 corridor and east across the city and LI.  Just did a quick spot check.

I'd have to give a nod to the higher QPF totals for getting storm total snowfall to near or over the high end ranges of the forecast.  If they had been more or less as modeled in the 1 to 1.25" and taking the actual ratios into consideration storm total snowfall would have been closer to the lower end of the forecast ranges.  Just my 2 cents.

[Dark Star]

6 minutes ago, Picard said:

Now I'm questioning my own 12.2" total because it does seem a bit low compared to others around me.  Admittedly, I did not do the clearing technique which I should, so it was probably more (say 13-14") but it had compacted.  Mom in Lafayette is telling me 16" but admits it was hard to measure.  Either way, I'll take a foot plus.  It was a fun storm.

always good to question our own measurement techniques.  This storm was difficult, especially with drifting.  I guess if I could sign up for 9" of snow, and then 2" of sleet on top of that, I would, 100% of the time.  Secondary did little for NE Jersey, except cause the dry slot.  Seems to be an "incongruity" in easter Bergen County, with measurements up to 16"?  While further west in Bergen county, snow measurements were more like 10"-12".  I first thought that the changeover was delayed there, but then theorized that a heavier band must have come through, before the changeover?

[Dark Star]

18 minutes ago, jm1220 said:

The sleet didn’t knock the depth down here either, guess there was 2” or so of sleet but it all counts and you can see now how much denser it made the snowpack. 

Shoveling 2" of sleet was no picnic.

[tdp146]

34 minutes ago, WestBabylonWeather said:

I thought I’d hate the sleet. Wasn’t as bad as I thought. It barely impacted the snow depth 

we had roughly 8-10” of snow and then freezing drizzle and then more heavy sleet ending with snow this morning. With drifts in the beginning parts of my yard are 15”

It was like granulated sugar and actually accumulated well (for sleet). 

[Dark Star]

6 minutes ago, MANDA said:

Storm total snowfall and QPF:

Click to enlarge maps.

QPF clearly over performed even the wettest guidance, in some cases by 1/2" or more depending on the location and model of choice.  The models ticking up the QPF as we got closer to the event start time was clearly on the right track though.

Quick spot checks on ratios and nothing to write home about when averaged out over the storm duration....roughly 8:1 to 12:1 along the I78-I80 corridor and east across the city and LI.  Just did a quick spot check.

I'd have to give a nod to the higher QPF totals for getting storm total snowfall to near or over the high end ranges of the forecast.  If they had been more or less as modeled in the 1 to 1.25" and taking the actual ratios into consideration storm total snowfall would have been closer to the lower end of the forecast ranges.  Just my 2 cents.

The 14.8" west of Elizabeth Nj appears to be an aberration?

[Nibor]

Morning from work looking up Broadway.

[jm1220]

10 minutes ago, tdp146 said:

It was like granulated sugar and actually accumulated well (for sleet). 

Here it mixed in often with needle flakes which probably helped the accumulation a little. But this will harden into a brick and if we get a lot more over the weekend we’ll have a 2010-11 type snowpack. 

[Tatamy]

49 minutes ago, Northof78 said:

Is it just me, or the radar in PA looking decent for some light snow later this morning/afternoon, maybe a coating to 0.5" later?

We are getting a burst of light snow now.  I would agree with it producing a coating to a half inch in places.

[Tatamy]

21 minutes ago, bluewave said:

I don’t have a dedicated snowboard spot where I live for consistent measurements like the official airport OBS and COOP sites. I took 50 measurements in a nearby open baseball dirt field and hour ago away from any obstructions which averaged at 9”. The field had completely lost any snowpack from the last event. Closer to the fence line the average was 10-12” with a maximum peak of 15” right behind the long fence. In closer to the houses here my average is also 10-12”. So I can understand the variability in the official NWS OBS from urban to rural locations and between the public, CO-OP, and other readings. Prior to this weekend I measured 13” from the collection of smaller events with marginal temperatures at times.

I do the same thing in my yard.  Even with pre-existing snow cover you can usually find an ice crust on its top under the new snow cover in order to obtain a measurement.

[snywx]

Lgt Snow falling here 

Temp 18° 

[TJW014]

I feel like some of these snowfall reports, especially public ones may be too high and too low. A lot of drifting took place. I have spots in my yard with drifts knee deep, and spots with bare ground. 

[binbisso]

12.5" here 28" for the season great storm and winter so far

[Dark Star]

Snowing very lightly in Garwood  (central Union County NJ).

[MANDA]

41 minutes ago, Dark Star said:

The 14.8" west of Elizabeth Nj appears to be an aberration?

There are a few of those I think on that map I posted.

[Stormlover74]

3 minutes ago, TJW014 said:

I feel like some of these snowfall reports, especially public ones may be too high and too low. A lot of drifting took place. I have spots in my yard with drifts knee deep, and spots with bare ground. 

Also if people waited til it was all over there would've been compaction from the sleet but I'm not sure if you're supposed to clear the board when the snow stopped and then add the sleet to that total

[Northof78]

48 minutes ago, Dark Star said:

The 14.8" west of Elizabeth Nj appears to be an aberration?

Yeah, that guy always go rogue...I'm within 5-6 miles NW of Elizabeth and had 11"

[SleetStormNJ]

48 minutes ago, Dark Star said:

The 14.8" west of Elizabeth Nj appears to be an aberration?

I would think so - I'm in Cranford/Kenilworth area and we got pretty uniform 11-12 inches in reports from folks around Union County (Cranford, Kenilworth, Roselle Park, Mountainside, Westfield).

I measured 5 times yesterday for total of 11.9 in Kenilworth, last measurement around 1030pm.

 

[weatherpruf]

2 hours ago, Big Jims Videos said:

Got another coating overnight - storm total 9.6 Point Pleasant Beach (not my observation) which exceeded my expectations 

used to work down at beaver dam rd in the 80s...the old fisherman magazine. fun times. they don't even have a building anymore, it's all online and i heard the office was too far gone after Sandy.

[weatherpruf]

14 minutes ago, MANDA said:

There are a few of those I think on that map I posted.

west of elizabeth could be the watchungs.....been on them and it was sleeting or snowing, come down to 22 and its raining......

[kat5hurricane]

I cleaned off my car and my spot last night and woke up to 1-2 more inches of snow added to it, didn't see that coming.

@ag3how much did you add up last night?

[weatherpruf]

20 minutes ago, TJW014 said:

I feel like some of these snowfall reports, especially public ones may be too high and too low. A lot of drifting took place. I have spots in my yard with drifts knee deep, and spots with bare ground. 

i had a hell of a time digging one of my cars out this morning. dam snow blower actually had a piece of ice blocking the tine mechanism. worked fine this morning, but yesterday i was screwed and my hands started to frostbite right through the gloves. i went back inside and warmed up first. reports near me are 10.8 in metuchen, but i think we had more than that over here in colonia. looked to be around a foot with some serious drifts. by the way its hard enough for my dogs to walk on top, and we had no zr that is saw; there was no glaze this morning. 

[SleetStormNJ]

8 minutes ago, weatherpruf said:

west of elizabeth could be the watchungs.....been on them and it was sleeting or snowing, come down to 22 and its raining......

Roselle always used to come in with high reports - almost became a running joke where we'd speculate there was a 1-2 inch add on rule for any storm under 10 inches and with the bigger ones, just make sure you're 3-4 inches more than anywhere else.

[Dark Star]

24 minutes ago, MANDA said:

There are a few of those I think on that map I posted.

Except this particular one is unverifiable.  The rest were farther north...

[TJW014]

2 minutes ago, weatherpruf said:

i had a hell of a time digging one of my cars out this morning. dam snow blower actually had a piece of ice blocking the tine mechanism. worked fine this morning, but yesterday i was screwed and my hands started to frostbite right through the gloves. i went back inside and warmed up first. reports near me are 10.8 in metuchen, but i think we had more than that over here in colonia. looked to be around a foot with some serious drifts. by the way its hard enough for my dogs to walk on top, and we had no zr that is saw; there was no glaze this morning. 

Times like these are when owning a 4WD vehicle is worth the 13 mpg I get year round. My winch and tow strap were busy yanking plowed in cars throughout the neighborhood. Also had to winch my brother's car out of the driveway at 4:30 this morning so he could make it to the police academy.

Currently out on the gas golf cart "plowing" (I strapped a shovel to the front) the sidewalks open. 

[weatherpruf]

1 hour ago, Dark Star said:

always good to question our own measurement techniques.  This storm was difficult, especially with drifting.  I guess if I could sign up for 9" of snow, and then 2" of sleet on top of that, I would, 100% of the time.  Secondary did little for NE Jersey, except cause the dry slot.  Seems to be an "incongruity" in easter Bergen County, with measurements up to 16"?  While further west in Bergen county, snow measurements were more like 10"-12".  I first thought that the changeover was delayed there, but then theorized that a heavier band must have come through, before the changeover?

the jersey shore did much better than i thought it would; you had to go down toward AC for some lesser amounts and even they reported over 6. at least the reports i saw.