Storm Coordination Message #1 – Sunday 1/25/26-Monday 1/26/26 Major Winter Storm & Friday Evening 1/23/26-Saturday 1/24/25 Extreme Cold Potential

Hello to all…

..Arctic air will cause bitterly cold temperatures across Southern New England Friday Night into the weekend followed by a major winter storm that will potentially affect Southern New England Sunday into Monday. We are still 3+ days out from this potential and subtle track changes, intensity changes etc. can occur but it is prudent to at least begin messaging on this potential major winter storm which is also expected to impact much of the Southeast and South-Central US with heavy snow and ice..
..Overachieving accumulating snowfall fell over portions of Southern New England Wednesday Night into early Thursday AM over portions of North-Central CT into Central and Northeast Mass. Snowfall reports from this event are welcome and being monitored via SKYWARN Self-Activation..
..An Extreme Cold Warning is in effect from 7 PM Friday Evening to 1 PM Saturday for Western Franklin, Western Hampshire and Western Hampden Counties of Massachusetts for dangerously low wind chills to 25 below zero. A Cold Weather Advisory is in effect from 10 PM Friday Evening to 10 AM Saturday Morning for the rest of the NWS Norton coverage area low wind chills to 20 below zero. Wear layers if going outside due to the extreme cold conditions..
..A Winter Storm Watch is in effect from Sunday Morning to Monday Evening for at least 6-12″ of snow with bands to potentially a widespread area of 12″ or more of snow particularly across area north and west of the Cape Cod Canal. At this time, this storm looks to be a heavy dump of snow but does not appear to be accompanied by damaging wind gusts or blizzard conditions though some wind gusts are possible at the coast depending on storm intensity and will monitor this aspect..
..SKYWARN Self-Activation with Amateur Radio Call-Up Nets are likely Sunday into Monday and perhaps into Tuesday AM for snowfall reports for the major winter storm potential. An Amateur Radio Net Schedule will be announced by Sunday AM. Pictures/videos of the storm can be sent as a reply to this message via our WX1BOX Facebook/X/Bluesky feeds or to the email address pics@nsradio.org with credit given to the spotter unless otherwise indicated..

An overachieving snowfall occurred Wednesday Night into early Thursday AM across portions of North-Central Connecticut, Central and Northeast Massachusetts and additional snowfall reports are welcome. Report log from this event can be seen below:

WX1BOX Amateur Radio/non-Amateur Radio SKYWARN Spotter Report log:
https://wx1box.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/reports_1_21_26_1_22_26.pdf

The headlines above reflect the current thinking on the major winter storm potential which if it verifies would be the largest storm since the Blizzard of 2022 for much of the area with some exceptions over in Western and North-Central Mass which received a heavy snowfall in the March 2023 timeframe. Key factors include:

1.) Track of the storm and whether its inside the benchmark, at the benchmark or south of the benchmark as that will dictate how much, if any, mixing occurs particularly along Cape Cod and the Islands possibly into Southeast coastal New England.
2.) The intensity of the system which will dictate any strong wind gusts at the coast. At this time, we do not think winds are large factor for any kind of damage or will be able to cause whiteout/blizzard conditions but this will bear watching.
3.) Duration of the system as many models show this lasting through Monday Evening which means an extended period of snow for the region.

SKYWARN Self-Activation with Amateur Radio Call-Up Nets are likely Sunday into Monday and perhaps into Tuesday AM for snowfall reports for the major winter storm potential. An Amateur Radio Net Schedule will be announced by Sunday AM. Pictures/videos of the storm can be sent as a reply to this message via our WX1BOX Facebook/X/Bluesky feeds or to the email address pics@nsradio.org with credit given to the spotter unless otherwise indicated. The next coordination message will be posted by 11 AM Friday Morning.

NWS Boston/Norton Extreme Cold Warning/Cold Weather Advisory:
https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=NWS&issuedby=BOX&product=NPW&format=CI&version=1&glossary=1&highlight=off

NWS Boston/Norton Winter Storm Watch Statement:
https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=NWS&issuedby=BOX&product=WSW&format=CI&version=1&glossary=1&highlight=off

NWS Boston/Norton Area Forecast Discussion:
https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=NWS&issuedby=BOX&product=AFD&format=CI&version=1&glossary=1&highlight=off

NWS Boston/Norton Enhanced Hazardous Weather Outlook:
https://www.weather.gov/erh/ghwo?wfo=box

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
https://ares.ema.arrl.org
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