Winter Storm Forecast — Snow Totals & Warnings
Where winter storm warnings are in effect, how much snow is expected in inches, and what it means for the roads and for school. Official watches and warnings come from the National Weather Service — see active alerts for the legal text.
Winter watches & warnings in effect · 6
ExtremeSevereModerateMinor
Snow expected in the next 3 days
1 cities
Warning, watch or advisory?
Winter storm watch — conditions are favourable, 12 to 48 hours out. Make a plan.
Winter storm warning — it is happening or about to: usually 5–7 inches of snow in 12 hours, or damaging ice. Travel becomes dangerous.
Blizzard warning — snow plus sustained 35 mph wind and visibility under a quarter mile for three hours. The wind, not the snow total, is the criterion.
Ice storm warning — a quarter inch of accretion or more. This is the one that takes down power lines.
Will school be cancelled? Run the snow day calculator →
Reading a snowfall forecast
Snow totals are the least certain number in meteorology, because a two-degree error near the freezing line turns eight inches of powder into an inch of slush. That is why forecasts come as ranges, and why the range widens the further out you look. Our totals are model guidance converted at a ten-to-one ratio — ten inches of snow for every inch of liquid — which holds for typical cold storms but understates fluffy lake-effect snow and overstates wet coastal snow near 32°F. Watch the trend rather than any single run: if each update nudges the number the same way, that is signal.