Eastern Mass Gets Their Swag Back - SWFE on Steriods - Region wide Major Snowfall - Jan 25-26, 2026 Nowcast/Obs.

[Layman]

10 hours ago, rimetree said:

Spotter in Kittery, ME reported 27.8" and looking around the area, I tend to believe it. Ended up with 24" here. Body is sore from cleanup.

That's crazy!  I'm going to have to get out and about today to see the difference from where I'm at.  Maybe if I was doing legit clearing/measuring the total would be different, but my little snowstake has been untouched and reflected a storm total of about 14" roundtrip.  I'm probably no more than 8 miles max in a straight line from Portsmouth, Kittery and Dover and that seems like a huge difference.  

To be fair, we've got some massive snowbanks here and the plowing took some effort.  It's not impossible that my stake is too close to the house/patio and has some sort of blocking going on, but who knows...?

[DavisStraight]

43 minutes ago, Layman said:

That's crazy!  I'm going to have to get out and about today to see the difference from where I'm at.  Maybe if I was doing legit clearing/measuring the total would be different, but my little snowstake has been untouched and reflected a storm total of about 14" roundtrip.  I'm probably no more than 8 miles max in a straight line from Portsmouth, Kittery and Dover and that seems like a huge difference.  

To be fair, we've got some massive snowbanks here and the plowing took some effort.  It's not impossible that my stake is too close to the house/patio and has some sort of blocking going on, but who knows...?

I got  21.5 right next to Kittery, they must have spent some time in a heavy band that missed me.

[tamarack]

13 hours ago, dryslot said:

Kind of surprised by this really a bit by this, But your inland from the coast too and coastal track systems, Got lucky on the IVT here, Its rare to get 2- 18" ones here as well, Lot of variables being in the coastal plain with temps and ratios, But its been a cold winter so far, Further south down towards the grandkids was lower ratio stuff with some warm air aloft, This next one has big potential, Would be great if it trended right, It would give us 18"+ for a third system which is rare air.

Rare for sure.  Closest I've come since 60-61 is 00-01 (3rd largest 16") and 16-17 (3rd largest 15.5).  

Our 10 winters in Fort Kent averaged 134", and 140" in our 4 winters at the back settlement, 450' higher than in town.  We had 4 events of 18"+, one each in 76-77 and 80-81 and 2 in 83-84.   T
We now are up to a dozen 18"+ in 28 winters here, essentially the same rate as in FK.  The difference between FK's 134" avg and ours near 90" is all the 5-10" storms in the north.  Here the winters average 1.7 storms 10"+ and 5.8 of 5"+.  Fort Kent's averages are 2.4 and 8.7.

[WxWatcher007]

Wow! The piles down here in CT are impressive.

[amarshall]

NWS uppped their official total significantly for my area. The first map had 15 inches and then the second map had 24.


.

[DavisStraight]

1 hour ago, WxWatcher007 said:

Wow! The piles down here in CT are impressive.

I have paths around the house that could become almost tunnel like with another big one. The dogs can't see over the top as is, almost like a maze for them.

[Ginx snewx]

4 years ago tomorrow was the 2nd greatest blizzard of my life. 9 hrs of less than an 1/8 th mile visibility drifting 8 to 10 feet. Death band for hours 

[The 4 Seasons]

16 hours ago, Ginx snewx said:

4 years ago tomorrow was the 2nd greatest blizzard of my life. 9 hrs of less than an 1/8 th mile visibility drifting 8 to 10 feet. Death band for hours 

Ugh, that storm. I like to call it Jan 15 Lite. Essentially the same snowfall gradient with a few inches less across the board. You did great on both though. 

https://www.jdjweatherconsulting.com/jan-28-29-2022

I posted the Jan 25-26th, 2026 snowfall totals in the other thread if anyone's interested. Site is updated as well. 

 

[Devidbrain]

Good summary and I think this one is definitely a case of details that will not be ironed out until we are on the inside track of the event. The big picture is conducive to a broad snowfall event, but the 700 mb warm layer along the south shore and Cape appears to be the critical swing element, particularly with the warmer NAM/GFS solution versus the colder high-resolution models. A quick punch-out of the initial heavy dose of precipitation could quickly alter totals and this should become apparent through radar imagery and surface observations rather than model output. Snow growth and intensity will also be important, as heavy lift in the dendritic growth zone may help compensate for marginal temperatures for a short period of time. This is definitely a storm situation where real-time impacts, such as snowfall impacts on road access around Boston Logan and Boston Logan car service routes may provide early hints at accumulation efficiency. How much confidence do you have in the colder solutions at this point remaining in place along the south shore once the event is underway?