A persistent polar airmass created a prolonged period of frigid conditions across southern Vermont for the final days of January into the very beginning of February. Bitter cold air temperatures combined with periods of gusty winds and fresh, deep snowpack made for several days worth of dangerously cold conditions.
Every event with a place to put it; 6 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS ALY wrote it up.
A persistent polar airmass created a prolonged period of frigid conditions across southern Vermont for the final days of January into the very beginning of February. Bitter cold air temperatures combined with periods of gusty winds and fresh, deep snowpack made for several days worth of dangerously cold conditions.
The cold outbreak began early on January 29th where minimum wind chill values, or feels-like temperatures, were cold, but not quite to dangerous levels. Feels-like temperatures this first night ranged from about -18 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit. However, by the following night, widespread dangerously cold temperatures overtook the region with minimum air temperatures ranging from -13 to 0 degrees Fahrenheit and minimum feels-like temperatures spanning -36 to -8 degrees Fahrenheit. A brief respite came on January 30th when extensive cloud cover maintained sufficient insulation to limit temperature falls, but by the next night, February 1, minimum feels-like temperatures once again fell to -30 to -5 degrees Fahrenheit.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Albany, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 29, 6:33 PM EST, 27 minutes earlier.
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</html>The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 cold/wind chill, 2 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
Minimum low temperature of -11 degrees Fahrenheit recorded with a minimum wind chill of -36 degrees Fahrenheit.
Minimum low temperature of 0 degrees Fahrenheit recorded with a minimum wind chill of -18 degrees Fahrenheit.
Minimum low temperature of -9 degrees Fahrenheit recorded with a minimum wind chill of -32 degrees Fahrenheit.
Minimum wind chill of -30 degrees Fahrenheit recorded.
Minimum wind chill of -12 degrees Fahrenheit recorded.
Minimum wind chill of -25 degrees Fahrenheit recorded.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Vermont in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Vermont, January 2026
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1313558, 1313559, 1313561, 1313562, 1313563, 1313564.