Winter Storms Hammer the East as the Western United States Faces One of Its Slowest Snow Starts on Record

Eastern Storms Arrive Early

Winter has settled firmly over the eastern half of the United States. Snow, ice, and dangerous travel conditions stretched from Pennsylvania to Maine, covering roads before dawn and forcing school closures across the region. In Portland, ME, the storm moved in with heavy bands of snowfall and pockets of freezing rain that glazed highways and turned the morning commute into a slow crawl.

Reports came in from West Virginia, where a tractor-trailer dangled off a bridge after sliding on snow-covered pavement. State troopers in New York documented multiple crashes along Interstate 87 north of Albany as visibility dropped and roads iced over.

Residents felt the first sustained blast of the season.
“The snow started before sunrise and the roads were slick right away," one commuter said as plows struggled to keep up.



The National Weather Service warned that parts of Pennsylvania, NY, Massachusetts, and Maine could see up to a foot of snow. The agency urged coastal Maine to avoid unnecessary travel until Wednesday morning.

In New Hampshire, the season’s first wallop revived a local tradition: residents were invited to submit names for the state’s annual name-a-plow competition. A lighter moment inside a storm that stretched across thousands of miles.

Storm Strengthens Near the Coast

Meteorologists tracked the storm as it evolved from a weaker central-U.S. system into a more powerful coastal event. Ashton Robinson Cook from the Weather Prediction Center noted that these rapid intensification patterns are “not too far out of the realm of possibility," though still uncommon.

The storm’s expansion continued through the day. By mid-afternoon, hazardous conditions spread into Ohio, where 3 to 5 inches of snow fell in southern counties. Portions of Interstate 70 west of Cleveland were closed as emergency crews cleared a crash. Vehicle restrictions were put in place across eastern Pennsylvania, including long stretches of the Northeast Extension of the turnpike.

“We really prepare for snow all year long," said Marissa Orbanek, spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Her comment captured the steady rhythm of winter readiness as plows rolled across the state.

Chicago, IL Breaks a November Record

While the East dealt with its first major storm, the Midwest was only beginning to emerge from its own holiday disruptions.
Chicago, IL recorded more than 8 inches of snow at O’Hare International Airport, marking its snowiest single November day since records began in 1951.

Flights were delayed or cancelled across the region. Hundreds of passengers waited through the afternoon as O’Hare reported delays averaging five hours. Roads across the city were partly covered with snow, according to state transportation data.

A Different Story in the Western United States

Farther west, a very different winter pattern was unfolding.
Denver, CO did not record its first measurable snowfall until November 29, more than a month later than normal and among its latest first-snow events on record. Snowpack levels across much of the West were well below average on December 1, 2025.

Hydrologist Adrienne Marshall from Colorado explained that early-season snowfall is notoriously unpredictable. A late start does not necessarily signal a low-snow winter. Several atmospheric patterns influence snowfall, including La Niña, which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projects for this winter.

La Niña tends to bring cooler, wetter conditions to the Pacific Northwest and warmer, drier weather to parts of the Southwest, although variability remains high. Forecast maps show Colorado and Utah positioned between these opposing climate signals, leaving forecasters with roughly equal chances of above- or below-normal snowfall.

Climate Change and Long-Term Trends

Long-term records dating to the 1920s show that snowfall has decreased in most of the western United States. Surveyors measuring spring snowpack have documented declining totals and evidence of more frequent midwinter melt events.

Research in recent years has linked some of these changes directly to human-caused climate change, particularly in the Southwest, where spring snowpack has seen significant losses.

Warmer temperatures influence snow accumulation in two ways:

• They increase the likelihood that precipitation falls as rain instead of snow.
• They accelerate midwinter and early-spring melting, reducing total snowpack.

Climate projections show that continued warming will further reduce snow levels in future decades, especially under high-emission scenarios.

Water Supply Uncertainty in the West

Snowpack acts as a natural reservoir, storing winter snowfall and releasing it slowly into rivers and lakes through spring and summer. California, for example, depends on snowpack for roughly one-third of its annual water supply.

But warming temperatures are shifting this balance. Earlier snowmelt is forcing water managers to make challenging decisions. If reservoirs fill too early, operators must release water to reduce the risk of flooding. If they release too much, they face shortages later in the dry season.

In the Colorado River basin, major reservoirs such as Lake Powell and Lake Mead reveal a long-term pattern of decline amid increasing demand and a history of drought punctuated by a few good water years.

A Nation Split by Snow

As the eastern half of the United States digs out from its first major winter storm, the western states wait for their snow season to find its footing. The contrast underscores the complexity of winter weather patterns shaped by ocean temperatures, atmospheric conditions, and long-term climate change.

For now, plows roll in the East while the mountains of the West wait under open skies.