Source: National Weather Service Eastern Region Headquarters

Updated Snowfall Totals in the Eastern U.S. and Arctic Air Invasion Outlook

5 min readJan 30, 2023

When it comes to Eastern U.S. snowfall, this winter has featured some overachievers and many underachievers.

Buffalo, New York, has received nearly double its average snowfall (through late yesterday afternoon), Caribou in northern Maine has seen above-average snowfall and Concord, New Hampshire, has had average snowfall, according to the National Weather Service’s Eastern Region Headquarters.

But Boston, Massachusetts, has received only about one third of its average snowfall, and my hometown — Rochester, New York — has seen less than a third of its average.

“While recent storms have brought parts of northern New England closer to normal, seasonal snowfall totals for most of the Eastern US continue to run well below normal,” the Eastern Region office tweeted yesterday.

Snow Shortage Persists in Much of the East

With only a trace of snow so far this season, Central Park in New York City broke its previous record for the latest date of measurable snowfall on record (since 1869), according to the weather service office that covers the city. The previous record was set on Jan. 29, 1973, when 1.8 inches of snow was recorded there. “The record will continue to be broken every day until measurable snow is observed.”

Several factors have led to the mainly mild pattern so far this winter, according to the weather service office in Mount Holly, New Jersey. They include mild Pacific air, a lack of Arctic air intrusion southward most of this winter and few coastal storms in the East.

Climate and Weather Highlights in 2022 in New England and the Northeast

January temperatures have averaged well above normal, the Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center says. “And with warm temperatures comes a lack of snow.”

Source: Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center via NOAA Regional Climate Centers

However, extremely cold weather is expected later this week and weekend.

The late week cold snap will bring the coldest air of the season and possibly since 2016. Temperatures are expected to fall well below zero by Friday night along with dangerously cold wind chills, says the weather service office that covers New Hampshire and western Maine.

Much below normal temperatures will “shift into the Northeast by late week, with the possibility of highs below zero in northern New England by Saturday, and bitterly cold lows potentially setting daily records,” a Weather Prediction Center forecast discussion says.