This past weekend, we had our first major winter storm of 2026, unofficially dubbed “Winter Storm Fern” by The Weather Channel. The colossal storm system stretched across most of the nation, leading to winter storm warnings for over 200 million Americans from Texas, across the Great Plains to the Great Lakes region, over Appalachia striking Chesapeake Bay and the Northeast. The nor’easter has led to, as of the time of writing, over one million power outages and 50 fatalities including a man in Marshfield and a woman in Norwood.
Rochester averaged about 16.5″ of snow through Sunday, January 25 and into Monday, with Marion and Mattapoisett averaging a bit less, relatively speaking, due to proximity to the sea, according to the National Weather Service. Boston Logan Int. Airport reported nearly 2 feet, with hundreds of flights cancelled and numerous others delayed throughout the week. The ripple effect of the hub airport, and other northeastern airports’ scheduling changes will affect flights throughout the week.
Forecasts show varying and ever-changing predictions, though this weekend looks to yield more snow with parts of the Tri-Town possibly getting up to an additional 6”.
By Sam Bishop