Southern New England Blizzard of 2026

 A widespread and high impact blizzard is expected to transpire and impact all of southern New England, beginning during the evening of Sunday, February 22, however, the worst of the storm impacts will be overnight Sunday into Monday afternoon. 

Technical discussion:

As of Saturday morning, zonal flow was in place across the Northeastern United States, however, shortwave energy was quickly diving south across Canada and into the northern Plains:

As this energy continues diving southeast across the northern Plains this will result in a rapidly amplifying trough with the development of a closed off circulation at 500mb digging into the base of the trough Sunday morning with a 100+ knot jet jet set to round the base of the trough:

The result will be cyclogenesis (surface low pressure development) off the Delmarva Sunday morning:

 A continuous feed of shortwave energy is forecast to feed into the main energy Sunday evening and Sunday night. This is going to result in explosive strengthening of the low pressure as it track northeast and passing south and east of Long Island:

Forecast models show an extremely potent low-level jet developing Sunday night into Monday morning with 70+ knots at 850mb (~5,000 feet above the ground) overspreading southern New England from the east. This is going to transport a large amount of moisture from the Atlantic into the storm, yielding heavy precipitation:

In addition, winds at 925mb (about 2,500 feet above the ground) strengthen to 50-60 knots and even 70-80 knots across coastal southeast Connecticut, coastal Rhode Island, and far southeastern Massachusetts. With forecast soundings exhibiting a well-mixed boundary layer, this will result in the potential for widespread damaging wind gusts with blizzard conditions, and potential for numerous power outages, especially along the coast.

As the system undergoes rapid intensification south of Long Island, this will become an extremely potent and vertically stacked storm. With southern New England on the north and northwest side of the developing closed low-level and mid-level circulations, a band of extremely heavy snowfall will push south to north across the region along with very strong winds. 

Anyways, I could go much deeper into all the science and fun stuff but let's get to the forecast:

• Snow showers and light snow overspread Connecticut and parts of Rhode Island Sunday afternoon and then into Massachusetts during the evening. 
• Snow will fall light-to-moderate at times Sunday night across the region but really begin to increase in intensity during the pre-dawn hours Monday.
• Extremely heavy snowfall with very strong winds impact the region Monday morning through the afternoon. Heavier snow may persist across northeast Massachusetts into the late afternoon or early evening.
• DO NOT TRAVEL MONDAY. Conditions will be extremely dangerous. Snowfall rates of 3-4 inches per hour are likely during the height of the storm to go along with winds gusting upwards of 50+ mph yielding near-zero visibility. Roads will be impassible as crews will not be able to keep up with the rates.
• Winds inland gusting 30-50 mph with gusts 50-70 mph across parts of the Connecticut Shoreline, coastal Rhode Island, and far southeast Massachusetts. Not only will this yield blizzard conditions, but this will yield numerous power outages and downed tree limbs. 

Below is my forecast:

Significant Snowstorm to Impact southern New England Sunday, January 25, 2026

A strong Arctic cold front is currently moving across the deep South, mid-Atlantic, and Northeast, ushering in bitterly cold arctic temperatures well into the deep South and East Coast. As of this writing, a shortwave trough was digging across the western United States with a closed 500mb low nearing Baja, California increasing ascent across the deep South, resulting in rain showers blossoming in central Texas. As the Arctic front continues sliding south towards the Gulf Coast, colder air will drain into the mid-South with an abundance of Pacific moisture overriding this cold air and low pressure development. The result will be a high impact winter storm across the mid-South tonight into Sunday with a large area of heavy snow and wintry mix with a narrow area of significant icing. 

This abundance of moisture lifts east-northeast across the country Saturday night into Sunday, moving into a deep Arctic airmass. Low pressure is expected to rapidly intensity off the Virginia coast as it slides south of Long Island. 

As the surface low continues strengthening and an 850mb low develops within the Northeast (there are uncertainties as to where this exactly occurs), a strong easterly low-level develops across the region which will transport an abundance of moisture off the Atlantic into the cold, Arctic airmass across the region, resulting in rapidly developing precipitation with increasing intensity.

Strong warm air advection will help to promote intense 850mb frontogenesis late Sunday afternoon and into the overnight, this will result in a several hour period of very heavy snowfall to push southwest to northeast across the region.

In fact, vertically averaged 800-600mb frontogenesis from the 12z run of the NAM Friday morning indicates the potential for an extremely potent band of heavy snow to lift south to north across the region:

This would indicate the potential for snowfall rates to range between 1-2 inches per hour during the peak of the storm with rates potentially even closer to 2.5-3 inches per hour. With a deep cold air mass in place the dendritic snow growth zone is expected to be very deep and with sufficient lift throughout the dendritic snow growth zone snow will be very light and fluffy with ratios averaging around 14:1 to 15:1 and potentially even briefly as high as 20:1 during peak intensity! 

Storm Impacts:

• Light snow begins to break out from southwest to northeast across the region, beginning within southwest Connecticut by mid-Monday morning and northeast Massachusetts by early afternoon. 
• The heaviest snow occurs in a window from about 1 PM to 1 AM 
• starting earlier in southwestern areas and later in northeast areas with intensity winding down earlier in southwestern areas and later in northeastern areas
• Snowfall rates peaking between 1 to 2 inches per hour and perhaps even 2-2.5 inches per hour for brief periods.
• A continuing feed of shortwave energy, plus the left exit of an intense upper-level jet streak, combined with continued development of the storm as it lifts away from the region may result in a narrow band of heavy snow persisting across northeast Massachusetts well into Monday morning, thus leading to the area of highest amounts. 
• There is potential for some sleet to mix in along the southern coast, maybe even a bit inland, however, this is not expected to greatly influence potential snowfall totals, however, this is something which needs to be monitored.

Below are my thoughts:

Friday, December 26, 2025 southern New England Winter Storm

Low pressure es expected to develop within the mid-western states Friday morning along a surface warm front which will lift northeast across the Ohio Valley through the day. This results in blossoming precipitation across the Great Lakes region. Low pressure rapidly pushes east towards the Northeast through the day and into a very cold and dry Arctic airmass. As a 700mb warm front moves into the region and into the colder and drier Arctic air, combined with the left exit region of a strong upper-level jet stream, heavy precipitation is expected to blossom within Pennsylvania and southern New York. 

A strong zone of frontogenesis is expected to develop in the vicinity of the 700mb warm front, resulting in the development of an intense band of heavy snow across far northeast Pennsylvania, extreme northern New Jersey, and southeast New York during the early evening with this band moving across western Massachusetts and Connecticut during the mid-to-late evening. Bufkit soundings exhibit a 2-3 hour period of strong lift into the dendritic snow growth zone, indicating the potential for snowfall rates to approach or exceed 2 inches per hour with snowfall ratios upwards of 15:1 to 18:1. Outside of the banding, snowfall ratios and rates will be significantly less. 

Forecast Challenges: There are numerous forecasting challenges which exist and likely will not be resolved until the event unfolds, resulting in a nowcasting situation.

•  Pre-storm dry air: 
• The airmass ahead of the storm will be exceptionally dry with dewpoints into the single digits and perhaps even below zero. The atmosphere is expected to saturate quickly as the storm approaches, however, this will only be the case just out ahead of the main precipitation shield. On the fringes of the precipitation shield, dry air could be a major problem, and one factor which would net a very sharp gradient in snowfall totals. 
• Storm speed:
•  This storm will be flying across the region, with the heaviest snow occurring in a 2-3 to at most a 4 hour window. This will play a significant factor in the upper ceiling of the storms potential in terms of maximum accumulations. 
• Mid-level dry air punch: 
• Dry air will be racing in on the backside of the storm and it is still unclear as to exactly what influence or roll this will have. The current thinking is this will aid in the rapid cutoff of snow and negatively impact the upper ceiling of the storms maximum accumulation potential. However, this dry air may also help to enhance snowfall rates along the leading edge of the dry air. How so? Dry air is more dense than moist air, thus dry air moving into moist air will force that moist air to rise. 
• Where does the heaviest banding occur?
• This is the $1 million question and will ultimately determine where and who sees the most snowfall. Because of these uncertainties, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible to really fine tune the snowfall forecast. 

Storm timing

• Start Time:
• Snow is expected to breakout between 5:00 - 8:00 PM EST, from west to east across the region. 
• End Time:
• Snow rapidly begins to taper off from northwest to southeast after 10:00-11:00 PM. 

Forecast

• Where the heaviest banding occurs, it is possible there is a narrow swath of accumulations in the 6-9 inch range, however, it is unclear where that will occur and some of the uncertainties mentioned above regarding storm speed and mid-level dry air may hold this potential down. 
• Across far southeast Massachusetts there are some signals for some ocean enhancement as the storm is passing south and pulling away which could yield potential for a quick inch or two.

 

February 8-9, 2025 southern New England Winter Storm (Overnight)

 We have entered an active stretch of weather with multiple winter storm threats between Super Bowl weekend and the upcoming week. Let's get right to it and discuss the Super Bowl weekend winter storm potential. 

Low pressure develops within eastern Colorado and central Plains Saturday along a baroclinic zone evolving into a frontal system as it rapidly tracks east-northeast across the country. Meanwhile an abundance of shortwave energy embedded within a fast zonal jet stream aloft traverses the northern Plains. This shortwave energy is expected to give a bit of a boost to the system as this shortwave energy has some interaction with the frontal system:

Moving into Saturday evening, computer forecast model guidance indicates very strong upper-level diffluence (faster jet stream winds moving into slower jet stream winds) with increasing upper-level divergence across the Northeast (evident by the wind barbs moving away from each other). The increasing upper-level divergence will help precipitation blossom within the region Saturday evening which will be further aided by increasing warm-air advection (supplying moisture) and strengthening area of surface low pressure:

Increasing precipitation Saturday afternoon and evening across the Northeast:

As the system lifts northeast and then east across the Northeast, we'll see a several hour window of strong upward vertical motion (lift) traverse the region:

Latest bufkit profiles across the region from the 18z/06 run of the GFS show a several hour period where omega values range between -20 to -30 ubar/s within the dendritic snow growth zone with snowfall ratios in excess of 10:1 and potentially greater than 15:1. This is suggestive of heavy snowfall rates (perhaps in excess of 1inch per hour) with excellent snow growth. Below is an example from Worcester, MA (ORH):

So, what can we expect? This will be another fast-moving, quick hitting winter storm with the brunt of the storm impact occurring in a 3-5 hour window. 

• Snow arrives from southwest to northeast across the region, beginning first across western Connecticut between 6:00-8:00 PM EST Saturday evening and 8:00-10:00 PM EST across northeastern Massachusetts. 
• Heaviest snowfall occurs between the hours of 11:00 PM - 4:00 AM EST. This is when snowfall rates could approach 1 inch per hour under the heaviest echo's. 
• Snow begins tapering off southwest-to-northeast during the pre-dawn hours southwest and around or shortly after daybreak Sunday northeast. 
• The fast forward speed of this storm limits accumulations. 
• Outside of the immediate coastal Plain and outer Cape, precipitation will be all snow. Sleet is expected to mix in across the immediate shoreline of Connecticut and Rhode Island and outer Cape Cod. This holds down totals slightly in these areas.
• Below is what I am currently expecting:

Sunday, January 19, 2025 Winter Storm

 Technical Discussion:

Low pressure develops within the mid-Atlantic region Sunday afternoon ahead of a southeastward advancing cold front. Computer forecast models are all in great agreement in shortwave energy rounding the base of an amplifying upper-level trough aiding in the development and strength of the low pressure. However, there are some uncertainties on the strength of this shortwave energy, however, there is a consensus towards this piece of energy to be on the stronger side:

Low pressure is then expected to pass to the south and east of Connecticut, a very favorable track for moderate-to-heavy snow to traverse much of the state. However, with some warmer in place out ahead of this system; particularly along the shoreline and southeastern Connecticut, this will ultimately cut down on snow potentials there:

Despite being so close to the storm, there are some uncertainties regarding the overall track and this could have a big impact on snowfall totals; particularly across south and eastern sections which are on the line between colder and warmer temperatures and where the heaviest banding and subsequent totals may reside. One of the more consistent forecast models with the evolution of this system has been the GFS. The GFS advertises potential for some heavy banding to traverse much of southern New England:

In fact, the latest 12z GFS bufkit for Worcester, MA (ORH) exhibits a crosshair signature with as much as -40 to -50 ubar/second within the dendritic snow growth zone. This is indicative of tremendous lift and would likely result in snowfall rates in the 2-3 inch per hour range with snowfall ratios of 15:1:

Forecast:

• Light snow begins to breakout across western Connecticut and western Massachusetts between 1-3 PM Sunday and the remainder of the region by 5-6 PM. 
• Snowfall rates intensify rapidly during the evening with the heaviest snowfall rates between 7-10 PM (hold on as late as 12-1 AM across northeast Massachusetts). Snowfall rates will approach 1 inch per hour and as much as 2-3 inches per hour under the heaviest banding. 
• Snow tapers off during the early overnight. 
• This will be a quick hitting and fast moving storm.
• There are some uncertainties; particularly around the Boston market and where the heaviest banding occurs. 
• Where the heaviest banding occurs, we will likely see a swath of snowfall accumulations more in the 8-12 inch range. 
• There will also be some mesoscale subsidence zones where snow growth and intensities struggle. Where this occurs totals will end up closer to the lower ends of the ranges. 
• Frigid temperatures and dangerously cold wind chills build in for Sunday night and Monday behind the system. 
• Below is what I am currently thinking. Keep in mind, where the heaviest banding snowfall occurs, totals will be in the 8-12 inch range, however, it is very difficult to determine where that will occur.

Wednesday, December 11, 2024 Southern New England Rain/Wind Event

 General Synoptic Overview: A northern stream shortwave trough with an associated surface cold front amplifies (strengthens) as it digs across the upper-Midwest interacts with shortwave energy and an associated frontal system lifting northeast out of the southern Plains overnight Tuesday:  

As these two systems interact the result will be a rapidly developing and deepening area of low pressure at the surface along a strengthening cold front. Low pressure begins developing within the mid-Atlantic early Wednesday morning and strengthens as it lifts northeast towards New England late in the afternoon:

With surface low pressure passing to the west of southern New England and strengthening while doing so, this should propel a warm front through much of the region yielding a surge of unseasonably strong theta-e characterized by surface temperatures climbing into the upper 50's to lower 60's and dew points into the mid-to-upper 50's across much of the region Wednesday afternoon:

With an intensifying system the response will be an increase in jet stream dynamics aloft, characterized by a potent 50-60 knot jet at 925mb (about 2,500 feet above the ground) overspreading much of southern New England through the day Wednesday with as much as 70-80 knots overspreading costal Connecticut and eastern southern New England:

What to Expect: Heavy rain is expected across the entire region Wednesday with a widespread 2-4 inches of rain and locally higher amounts. While this is great news for the drought situation there will be concern for flash flooding, particularly within typical flood prone areas and northern portions of the region where the is snow cover and some frozen ground. 

In addition to heavy rain, strong winds are expected, both sustained and potential gusts. A strengthening pressure gradient from the deepening low pressure and strong pressure falls should result in sustained winds of 20-30 mph within the region. Winds will be less in more sheltered areas, however, towards the coast (but just a bit inland) and towards eastern sections of New England winds could become sustained as high as 30-35 mph. 

There is also potential for widespread damaging wind gusts of 50-60 mph which could yield downed tree limbs and scattered power outages. As usual with these setups, the wind gust potential will be contingent on the strength of a temperature inversion just above the surface. Given the potential for temperatures to push 60 with dew points well into the 50's this may limit any inversion; increasing potential for damaging wind gusts. Another factor which could inhibit the max gust potential is stability produced by rainfall. 

With such a vigorous weather system, combined with the anomalously warm temperatures and higher dew points, there atmosphere will also become weakly unstable. Some forecast model guidance suggests a fine line of intense rainfall, potentially accompanied by thunder/lighting will develop across eastern Pennsylvania, northwest New Jersey, and southeast New York and strengthen as it progresses across southern New England during the late afternoon and evening. Should this materialize, this would increase the potential for wind gusts as high as 55-65 mph on the leading edge of it as it crosses the region. 

The worst of the weather conditions are expected to be from about noon to midnight Wednesday with improving conditions from western southern New England during the evening and eastern southern New England around midnight. 

Clipper System to Bring Accumulating Snow within southern England overnight 12.04.24 into 12.05.24

A shortwave trough entering the upper-Midwest early Wednesday afternoon amplifies (strengthens) as it traverses the Great Lakes region through the evening and overnight. 

As the shortwave trough amplifies, an area of surface low pressure across southeast Canada will continue strengthening as it progresses southeast and slides across northern New England during the overnight hours. With strong upper-level divergence just south of New England, combined with strong warm air advection in the lower-levels of the atmosphere. precipitation is expected to blossom later this evening and overnight within the region:

Where the thermal profile is expected to support all snow, snow will come down moderate at times. While this 18z/Dec 4 NAM bufkit run for Worcester, MA doesn't show impressive upward vertical motion, it does show around -5 units of omega bisecting the snowgrowth zone (purple and yellow contours) for much of the late evening and overnight:

The solid light blue line shows snowfall ratios. Farther inland, away from the coast and northwest of the I-84 corridor snowfall ratios should be as high as 12:1 to 15:1 during the peak of the snowfall.

What to Expect:

• Due to warmer air at the surface and within the lowest 2,500 feet of the atmosphere, areas south and east of the I-84 corridor are expected to be a rain/snow mix with all rain likely for the immediate coastal areas. 
• The heaviest snow and greatest accumulations will be within Berkshire County of Massachusetts into the northwest hills of Connecticut. Here precipitation will fall as all snow. A second area of greatest accumulations will be within the higher elevations of Worcester County Massachusetts into the northeast hills of Connecticut where there will be greater precipitation totals and stronger upward vertical motion. In fact, some areas just northwest of Worcester, Massachusetts could pick up 6-7''.
• Precipitation begins to break out anywhere between 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM EST Wednesday from a west to east direction with the heaviest snowfall rates (and rainfall rates for the coast) occurring between 1:00 AM - 7:00 AM EST Thursday morning. 
• Expect a very slow Thursday morning commute and give yourself extra travel time. 
• Precipitation winds down early Thursday morning, however, scattered snow squalls are expected throughout the day which can quickly lead to brief, but quickly diminished visibility and dangerous travel and even drop a quick inch of snow. Some thunder and lighting is also possible with the more intense squalls. 
• Below is what I am thinking: