January 2025 marked the coldest and snowiest month of the winter so far, with snow falling from Florida to Maine. Despite a couple of moderate snow events, overall snowfall remained relatively light, attributed to a persistent northwest weather pattern.

As February begins, a shift in weather patterns is expected. Above-normal temperatures are forecasted, with a 30-60% likelihood of persisting throughout the month. Similarly, precipitation patterns are set to vary, with a 30-50% chance of above-normal precipitation, particularly favoring areas near the Great Lakes.

Read on to learn more about the weather in January and the February forecast.

January 2025 Review:

It's been a very active month of weather across the Eastern US. Consistent northwest flow favored upslope snow showers and lake effect snow. This brought widespread light snow through the western Mid-Atlantic, the Great Lakes region, the Green Mountains, and the White Mountains. 

• Upslope snow tends to favor higher elevations, which brought nearly 120 inches to Jay Peak and 78 inches to Snowshoe in January.

A couple of coastal storms brought heavier snow to the southern half of the East Coast, which has not seen much snow over the past few winters. The wildest storm was a coastal storm that brought 1-12 inches of snow through Texas to Florida.

Check out the OpenSnow season snow depth map from October 2024 through January 2025 and a look at the current snow depth on the ground as of February 1, 2025.

Unfortunately, the last day of January brought a warm storm with rain through the Mid-Atlantic and southern New England. This melted most of the Mid-Atlantic snowpack that developed during January!

Temperatures during January were below normal due to the cold air mass that brought favorable snow shower conditions. The southern half of the East experienced the most significant temperature departures below-normal, while parts of New England remained near or slightly above normal.

Despite favorable northwest flow that brought cold temperatures in January, precipitation was mostly below-normal. Eastern US precipitation primarily comes from larger storm systems that did not occur frequently in January. This below-normal precipitation was okay by most of us because northwest flow kept temperatures cold with consistent light snow. We will take that over rain and mixed precipitation any day!

February 2025 Outlook:

In February, the weather pattern is expected to shift, bringing a 30-60% chance of above-normal temperatures across the Eastern US. This change will be driven by a dominant southerly and westerly flow, which will transport warmer air into the region. The southern half of the East is projected to have the highest likelihood of above-normal temperatures as a result of this warming trend.

Northern New England will be the exception with an equal chance of above and below-normal temperatures. In the middle of winter, these 'normal' and 'above-normal' temperatures in New England will still be cold enough for snow to fall.

The precipitation outlook in February forecasts a 30-50% chance of above-normal precipitation across much of the Eastern U.S., with the highest probabilities near the Great Lakes. Precipitation chances will lower near the coast and to the south due to the strong southerly push of the weather pattern. The storm track will primarily move through the Mid-Atlantic and central New England, creating several chances of mixed precipitation events.

 

Make sure to stay posted on the Mid-Atlantic and New England Daily Snows in February. Zach and Jay will be sure to give you the latest and greatest information on all things weather, snow, and slope conditions! 

Thanks for reading, I will have the next monthly review at the start of March.

Zach Butler