Winter Storm Fern Recap: How Much Snow, Ice In South, Midwest, Northeast
- - Winter Storm Fern Recap: How Much Snow, Ice In South, Midwest, Northeast
weather.com meteorologists January 27, 2026 at 8:26 AM
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The expansive, major winter storm left its mark on a large swath of the South, Midwest and East as one of the most significant snow and ice storms in years.
Below is a recap of some of the notable snow and ice reports we've seen from Winter Storm Fern, according to reports from the National Weather Service.
Ice
Over 700 reports of freezing rain accumulation or ice storm damage were received by the National Weather Service during Fern from Jan. 23-25. Those are plotted on the map below.
Ice accumulations were reported as far south as Corpus Christi, Texas, and as close to the Southeast coast as Goose Creek, South Carolina, just northwest of Charleston, as well as in Myrtle Beach and in Wilmington, North Carolina.
At its peak, over 1 million customers were without power on the afternoon of Jan. 25, according to poweroutage.us.
Data: NOAA/NWS
Several locations reported 1 inch of accumulated ice from freezing rain:
- Northwestern Alabama: Cherokee, Underwood-Petersville and Waterloo
- Northern Louisiana: Rayville (Richland Parish)
- Northern Mississippi: Belzoni, Glen, Lexington, Oxford and Rolling Fork
- Oklahoma: Near Idabel
Almost 80 other locations measured damaging ice accumulations of at least one-half inch, including:
- Byllesby, Virginia: 0.8 inches
- Clayton, Georgia: 0.75 inches
- Hall Summit, Louisiana: 0.75 inches
- Nashville, Tennessee: up to 0.75 inches in metro area
- Seneca, South Carolina: 0.75 inches
- Cedar Park, Texas (near Austin): 0.5 inches
(MORE: What Ice Accumulations Mean For Impacts | America's Worst Ice Storms)
Snow
Winter Storm Fern dumped over 6 inches of snow across 26 states from New Mexico to New England and into eastern Canada.
NOAA/NWS
Fern was the heaviest snowstorm in 10 years in both Baltimore (11.3 inches at BWI Airport) and Philadelphia (9.3 inches at Philly Int'l Airport), since Winter Storm Jonas in late January 2016.
It was also the heaviest snowstorm in Pittsburgh (11.2 inches) since the early February 2010 "Snowmageddon" storm, and the second heaviest calendar-day snow, there, this century, so far.
On January 25, Fern dumped 56 centimeters (22 inches) of snow in Toronto, topping an all-time record in the city's downtown area that had stood since 1944.
Fern was also the heaviest snowstorm in 12 years in Indianapolis, where 11.1 inches of snowfall was measured at the city's airport.
Some other notable reports out of the Northeast included:
- Boston (Logan Airport): 16.7 inches (Sunday was also Boston's 9th snowiest day on record)
- Portland Jetport: 14.1 inches
- New York City (Central Park): 11.4 inches
- Washington, D.C.: 7.8 inches at Dulles Airport; 6.9 inches at National Airport
- New Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: 23 inches (peak total east of the Rockies)
AP Photo/Heather Khalifa
And here are some notable totals out of the Midwest and South at the primary reporting stations (usually airports):
- Cincinnati: 10.2 inches
- Cleveland: 7.6 inches
- Louisville: 5.9 inches
- Chicago: 4.4 inches at O'Hare, but up to 10 inches at the loop downtown
- St. Louis: 8.2 inches
- Kansas City: 5.2 inches
- Memphis: 3.6 inches of snow and sleet (There was even one person skiing downtown. Really.)
- Little Rock: 6.7 inches
- Tulsa: 8.7 inches
- Oklahoma City: 8.5 inches
- Dallas-Ft. Worth: 2.4 inches of snow and sleet
- Lubbock: 6.8 inches
- Near Bonito Lake, New Mexico: 31 inches (peak total from Fern anywhere in the U.S.)
Kevin Wurm / AFP via Getty ImagesStorm History
The genesis of Winter Storm Fern came from an unusually low latitude off the coast of California and western Mexico around Jan. 22. The low-pressure system dipped southward and made landfall on Mexico's Baja California peninsula late on Jan. 23 while spreading deep subtropical moisture across Mexico and the southern U.S.
The Hurricane Hunters investigated the system in the Pacific to learn about its moisture, position and track before reaching Mexico.
(NEWS AS IT HAPPENED: January 23)
By midday on Jan. 24, snow and ice had surged from the Central and Southern Plains into the mid-Mississippi Valley. Freezing rain and sleet coated roads as far south as Del Rio, Texas, on the Mexican border.
(NEWS AS IT HAPPENED: January 24)
For many, the wintry mess came in two rounds, one early in the day for places like Dallas, Little Rock and Memphis, followed by a drier slot of lighter precipitation, then a heavier final round that swept from Texas and Oklahoma eastward through the South.
By Sunday, Jan. 25, much of the South was encased in ice, but especially so in Mississippi and Tennessee.
Middle Tennessee received 0.50-0.75 inches of ice through the night and into the early parts of Jan. 25. Power outages in Davidson County, where Nashville is located, spiked to 92% of the county.
Mother nature unleashed a battle of temperatures across the South through mid-afternoon.
To the east of the Appalachians, frigid air took hold in the cold air damming zone from the western Carolinas to northeast Georgia.
All the while, springlike air from the Gulf spread northward through the Deep South and fueled severe thunderstorms with about three dozen reports of either strong wind gusts or damage.
At least one apparent tornado touched down in southern Alabama. Winds as strong as 66 mph caused tree and roof damage, including in Montgomery, Alabama, where power was also knocked out.
You can see a depiction of that meteorological setup here.
(NEWS AS IT HAPPENED: January 25-26)
Source: “AOL Breaking”
