Winter Storm — Southern Berkshire, Massachusetts

2026-01-25 to 2026-01-26 · Southern Berkshire, Massachusetts

Event narrative

Zone average snowfall of 15.8 inches.

Wider weather episode

A blockbuster winter storm that impacted millions across the lower 48, bringing a combination of ice; sleet; snow; rain; and strong winds, brought widespread heavy snowfall accumulations to all of western Massachusetts from January 25-26th, 2026.

An arctic blast made for dangerously cold conditions across western Massachusetts from January 23-24, creating a requisite cold airmass that supported snow as the primary precipitation type with this storm. The connection of the northern and southern stream flow regimes then steered a potent, Gulf-originating low pressure system to the northeast. Strong to anomalous low- to mid-level dynamics drove impressive moisture transport from the Gulf and western Atlantic in and across the region the morning of the impending storm, Sunday January 25th. Snow began Sunday morning, initially with a large dendritic growth zone courtesy of persistent arctic air being filtered into the region from northerly flow about a nearby surface high to the northeast. However, as the storm tracked closer, its associated warm nose modified the thermal profile and shrunk and lifted the dendritic growth zone into the mid and upper levels of the atmosphere by the afternoon. Snowfall rates that initially looked to reach up to 2-4 per hour within laterally translating snow bands therefore became limited to 1-2 per hour courtesy of the disconnect between the best low-level forcing and the dendritic growth zone. Still, a widespread 10-20 of snow fell across the region between Sunday, January 25th and Monday, January 26th.

The Governor of Massachusetts, Maura Healey, declared a state of emergency prior to this event which authorized additional local resources as well as orders for travel restrictions. NWS Albany additionally received reports of numerous school and road closures in addition to traffic accidents across western Massachusetts.

Key Impacts: state of emergency declarations, road closures, school closures, traffic accidents.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1313252. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.