Latest Weather Updates For Western & Central Massachusetts | Route 20 Weather

A Major Winter Storm Will Dump 10 To 18 Inches Of Snow Accumulation Across Western & Central Mass From Sunday Through Monday (Issued: Friday Afternoon 1/23/2026)

Jan 23

3 min read

For Tonight & Saturday: Clear to partly cloudy skies are expected tonight & it’s going to be very cold. Low temperatures will be between 5 below zero and 10 below zero. Winds will be West to Northwest at 15 to 25 mph. Wind chill temperatures will be between 20 and 30 below zero.

Saturday will be sunny and very cold with high temperatures around 10 Degrees. Winds will be West to Northwest at 10 to 20 mph. Wind chill temperatures will be between 15 and 30 below zero in the morning and between 5 and 10 below zero in the afternoon.

Saturday night looks partly cloudy with low temperatures between 5 below zero and 10 below zero. Winds will be Northwest at 6 to 12 mph.

A Major Winter Storm Is Expected From Sunday Through Monday: A major winter storm is expected to impact all of Western and Central Mass during Sunday, Sunday night and Monday, although the worst part of this storm looks to occur from about mid-afternoon Sunday until about midnight Sunday night.

All of the ingredients continue to be there to support a major snowstorm across the entire area. This includes:

- A low pressure system that will track near or just east of Nantucket by Sunday night into Monday.

- An abundant amount of moisture, energy and forcing pushing over a very cold air mass into Southern New England.

- An Arctic air mass will produce a very light, fluffy and powdery snow that will have no problems accumulating quickly.

Here Are The Details On How This Storm Will Impact Western & Central Mass: There continues to be more than enough evidence in the data to support a major snowstorm for all of Western & Central Mass from Sunday through Monday. That being said, I’m nervous about going crazy with snow total forecasts as I do have questions as to the exact water content of the snow & exactly how long it’ll snow really hard late Sunday afternoon and Sunday evening. Should the snow have a little more water content with a slightly less snow to water ratio or should the heavy snow get shut off earlier than forecast, then we’d end up with lower snow totals. Still though, even if these two things do occur, we’d still have no problems receiving at least a foot of snow accumulation across all of Western and Central Mass.

Snow is expected to overspread all of Western and Central Mass during the mid and late morning hours of Sunday. The snow is then expected to continue through all of Sunday afternoon, all of Sunday night and all day Monday.

When Will The Worst Part Of This Storm Be: The worst part of this storm where there will be heavy to very heavy snow producing 1 to 3 inch per hour snowfall rates is expected from about mid-afternoon Sunday through late Sunday afternoon and Sunday evening. This period of heavy to very heavy snow should come to an end around midnight Sunday evening. Travel from mid-afternoon Sunday through late Sunday afternoon and Sunday evening is expected to be extremely difficult due to rapid accumulation of snow on roads, very low visibility and extremely hazardous travel conditions.

The snow is then expected to continue through all day Monday and not come to an end until early Monday evening.

Our latest snowfall forecast map for this storm is attached to this post. Additional changes to the amount of snow that I’m forecasting, including possible additional increases in the amount of forecast snow, is possible over the next day or so.

My recommendation to you is that you need to be planning for a lot of snow with accumulations of over a foot likely for Sunday, Sunday night and Monday. This winter storm will definitely impact any plans that you have on Sunday, Sunday night and Monday.

Additionally, this is going to be a very cold storm. Temperatures on Sunday will only be around 15 Degrees. Temperatures on Sunday night will be between 5 and 10 Degrees and temperatures on Monday will rise to only about 20 Degrees.

Finally, it appears that the winds shouldn’t be that strong with this storm & because of this, blizzard conditions ARE NOT expected. In fact, any blowing and drifting snow should be fairly minimal.

Winds on Sunday will be Northeast at 5 to 10 mph. Winds on Sunday night will be Northeast at 10 to 20 mph. Winds on Monday will be North at 10 to 20 mph.

It goes without saying that I continue to keep extremely close tabs on the progress of this winter storm. So, keep checking back for the latest updates!!

A Major Winter Storm Is Looking More & More Likely For Sunday Through Monday Across Western & Central Mass (Issued: Thursday Afternoon 1/22/2026)

Jan 22

5 min read

For Tonight: Generally partly cloudy skies are expected throughout tonight. Low temperatures will be between 15 and 20 Degrees. Winds will be West at 10 to 20 mph.

Friday Through Saturday: An Arctic cold front is expected to push through the region during Friday afternoon. It still looks like this will be a “dry front” and because of this, no snow shower activity is expected with its passage. Dangerously cold temperatures are expected to then invade the entire area during Friday night and Saturday. In fact, the Arctic air mass will bring some of the coldest temperatures we’ve seen in at least the last couple of years during Friday night, Saturday and Saturday night.

Friday looks to feature partly sunny skies to start the day, but varying amounts of clouds can be expected during the late morning and afternoon hours. High temperatures will be between 25 and 30 Degrees. Winds will be West at 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 35 mph.

Friday night looks to feature partly cloudy skies during the before midnight hours and clear skies during the after midnight hours. Dangerously cold wind chill temperatures are expected throughout Friday night. Low temperatures will be between 5 below zero and 10 below zero. Winds will be West to Northwest at 15 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph. Wind chill temperatures on Friday night will be between 20 and 30 below zero.

Saturday looks sunny and very cold with high temperatures between 5 and 10 Degrees. Winds will be West to Northwest at 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph. Wind chill temperatures on Saturday will be in the 15 to 25 below zero range in the morning and around 10 below zero in the afternoon.

Saturday night looks partly cloudy with low temperatures between 5 below zero and 10 below zero. Winds will be North to Northwest at around 10 mph.

A Major Winter Storm Is Looking More & More Likely For Sunday Through Monday: So, are we getting a snowstorm on Sunday through Monday? YES!!! How big of a snowstorm it’ll be is yet to be determined.

All of the signals are now pointing towards the likelihood of a potentially high impact winter storm that impacts all of Western and Central Mass during Sunday, Sunday night and even through a large part of Monday.

All of the latest weather forecast guidance are forecasting AT LEAST 6 to 12 inches of snow accumulation with this storm. In fact, there are some models that are strongly pointing towards well over a foot of snow to accumulate across a large part of the area.

One thing that is very evident is that all the ingredients seem to be there to support a major snowstorm across the entire area. This includes:

- A low pressure system that will track near or just east of Nantucket by Sunday night into Monday.

- Plenty of moisture and energy being pushed northward into Southern New England.

- An Arctic air mass will produce a very light, fluffy and powdery snow that will have no problems accumulating quickly.

- Strong forcing pushing into the region leading to at least several hours of heavy to very heavy snow with snow rates of at least 1 to 2 inches per hour possible.

Here Are My Thoughts: While I think there is more than enough evidence in the data to support a major winter storm impacting Western and Central Mass from Sunday through Monday, I’m not yet ready to pull out all of the stops & go crazy with snow total forecasts. That being said, widespread snow totals of well over a foot to possibly as much as 18 inches is quite possible.

For now though, I do think that we’ll see snow overspread all of Western and Central Mass during the mid and late morning hours of Sunday. The snow is then expected to continue through all of Sunday afternoon, all of Sunday night and probably all day Monday.

There is likely to be a period of heavy to very heavy snow with snow rates of at least 1 to 2 inches per hour throughout Sunday afternoon and Sunday evening. Should this occur, travel during Sunday afternoon and Sunday evening would be extremely difficult due to rapid accumulation of snow on roads, very low visibility and extremely hazardous travel conditions.

Current indications seem to point towards the snow continuing through all day Monday and not ending until sometime late Monday afternoon or Monday evening.

The ceiling in terms of potential snow accumulations for this storm is very high. The reason why is because the Arctic air mass will be able to produce a very light, fluffy and powdery snow that has no problems at all adding up quickly.

My first snowfall forecast map for this storm is attached to this post. I want to caution you that these forecast snow totals will very probably need to be increased in future forecasts as more high-resolution weather data arrives.

My recommendation to you is that you need to be planning for a lot of snow with potential accumulations of over a foot likely for Sunday, Sunday night and Monday. This will most definitely impact any plans that you may have on Sunday, Sunday night and Monday.

Additionally, this is going to be a very cold storm. Temperatures on Sunday will only be between 10 and 15 Degrees. Temperatures on Sunday night will be between 5 and 10 Degrees and temperatures on Monday will rise to only 15 to 20 Degrees.

Finally, it appears that the winds shouldn’t be that strong with this storm & because of this, blizzard conditions ARE NOT expected. In fact, any blowing and drifting snow should be fairly minimal. Overall, I’m expecting wind speeds to be around 10 mph on Sunday, between 10 and 15 mph on Sunday night and between 10 and 15 mph on Monday.

It goes without saying that I continue to keep extremely close tabs on the progress of this winter storm. So, keep checking back for the latest updates!! I'M ASKING FOR YOUR HELP IN SUPPORTING COSTS TO OPERATE ROUTE 20 WEATHER: First, I’d like to thank everyone once again for your continued support. If it were not for you, I would not be able to do a job that I love so very much – forecasting the weather for Western and Central Mass.

I’m reaching out to you to ask if you would help us out in alleviate the costs required for producing these weather forecasts for Western and Central Mass.

I do not get paid for the weather forecasts and the weather updates that I post on the Route 20 Weather website or on this Facebook page. It’s completely a public service to help out this area of the state which is vastly under served when it comes to weather coverage.

So, any donations are extremely helpful to offset the cost of the data that I pay for to analyze the weather and also for the amount of time I put into analyzing and forecasting the weather.

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Again, THANK YOU SO MUCH for following me here at Route 20 Weather.

There Is A Increasing Chance For A Major Winter Storm For Sunday Through Monday Across Western & Central Mass (Issued: Wednesday Afternoon 1/21/2026)

Jan 21

5 min read

For Tonight: A frontal system is expected to push through the area during tonight. This frontal system will introduce some moisture, forcing and a temporary shift in the air mass leading to the likelihood of steady light snow to occur for a few hours tonight.

Some steady light snow looks to overspread the region between about 9 pm and midnight. This light snow then looks to continue through the after midnight hours of tonight before it comes to an end by about sunrise Thursday morning.

Snow amounts tonight look to average around one inch or so across the entire area.

Low temperatures will be around 25 Degrees. Winds will be Southwest at 10 to 20 mph.

Thursday: Thursday is likely to be the mildest day for quite a while as once that Arctic air moves into our area it’ll hang around for quite a while.

Skies throughout the day on Thursday will be partly sunny with high temperatures around 40 Degrees. Winds will be West to Southwest at 15 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph.

Friday Through Saturday: An Arctic cold front is expected to push through the region during Friday afternoon and Friday evening. It appears that this front will be a “dry front” and because of this, little or no snow shower activity is expected with its passage. What this front will do is usher in the coldest air seen so far this season for this weekend.

Friday looks to feature partly sunny skies during the morning and varying amounts of clouds during the afternoon. High temperatures will be around 30 Degrees. Winds will be West at 15 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph.

A significant Arctic outbreak will impact all of Western and Central Mass beginning on Friday night and lasting through all of this weekend. This will lead to not only the coldest temperatures thus far this winter, but also some of the coldest temperatures in the last 2-3 years or so.

Friday night looks clear to partly cloudy with low temperatures between 5 below zero and 10 below zero. Winds will be West to Northwest at 15 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph. Wind chill temperatures on Friday night will be between 20 and 30 below zero.

Saturday looks sunny and very cold with high temperatures between 5 and 10 Degrees. Wind chill temperatures on Saturday will be in the 15 to 25 below zero range in the morning and around 10 below zero in the afternoon.

Saturday night looks clear with low temperatures between 5 below zero and 10 below zero.

A Major Winter Storm Is Looking Increasingly More Possible For Sunday Through Monday: As I mentioned in my previous post, it appears that we may be looking at a big snowstorm from Sunday through Sunday night and Monday.

An area of low pressure system is expected to track from the North Carolina coast on Sunday morning to near the south coast of New England by Sunday night. This low pressure system is then forecast to head northeastward towards the area south of Atlantic Canada by late Monday. The track of this storm system is much closer to our area than what was previously thought. The reason for this seems to have to do with the expectation of the Arctic high pressure system shifting to the northeast towards Quebec province just as this storm system approaches. This leads to this storm to track much closer to our area rather than being suppressed to the south.

All of the weather forecast guidance, including the GFS, Canadian and European models now seem to agree that this could be a big winter storm for all of Western and Central Mass. These models are now forecasting over a foot of snow accumulation, which looks to be very light, fluffy and powdery due to the Arctic air mass that’ll be over us.

Here Are My Thoughts: It goes without saying that I’m starting to think that we could see quite a significant winter storm here across Western and Central Mass during Sunday, Sunday night and Monday. That being said, I’m not yet buying into the idea of well over a foot of snow to accumulate with this storm. I’d like to see the data continue to agree with the idea of a big snowstorm before I go that route.

As of right now, I think that we’ll see snow overspread all of Western and Central Mass by or just before midday Sunday. The snow is then expected to continue through all of Sunday afternoon, all of Sunday night and possibly all day Monday. There could be a period where the snow is moderate to heavy in intensity from Sunday afternoon through Sunday night.

The snow may not end across the entire area until sometime later Monday afternoon.

I want to emphasize that the ceiling in terms of snowfall amounts for this storm is very high. The reason why is because the Arctic air mass will be able to produce a very light, fluffy and powdery snow that has no problems at all adding up quickly.

For now though, my thinking is for widespread snow totals of 8 to 12 inches across all of Western and Central Mass. That being said, these forecast snow totals may need be increased in future forecasts & my recommendation to you is to plan for a significant snowstorm that impacts your plans on Sunday, Sunday night and Monday.

Finally, it appears that the winds shouldn’t be that strong with this storm & because of this, blizzard conditions ARE NOT expected. In fact, any blowing and drifting snow should be fairly minimal.

Many more updates on this winter storm will be posted in the coming days. So, stay tuned for the latest!! I'M ASKING FOR YOUR HELP IN SUPPORTING COSTS TO OPERATE ROUTE 20 WEATHER: First, I’d like to thank everyone once again for your continued support. If it were not for you, I would not be able to do a job that I love so very much – forecasting the weather for Western and Central Mass.