4 Regions Getting Hit With Winter Storms This New Year’s
With the final hours of 2025 ticking away, there’s a decent chance you have big plans for New Year’s Eve. Unfortunately, while the idea of a comfortably balmy night is always the ideal, Mother Nature might have other plans for you—especially if you’re expecting to travel. Meteorologists warn that cold and snowy conditions will blow through parts of the U.S. over the next few days. But where will the temperature be dropping as fast as the countdown ball? Read on for the regions getting hit with winter storms this New Year’s.
RELATED: 4 U.S. Regions Most Likely to Experience the Harshest Winter This Year.
1. The Northern Plains
After an unseasonably warm Christmas, much of the central U.S. is getting back to brisk weather on the heels of a new arctic blast pushing in from Canada. This includes the Northern Plains states, with snow potentially hitting northeastern Montana, most of North Dakota, and parts of South Dakota on New Year’s Eve, according to a holiday forecast from AccuWeather.
With lingering cold temperatures, snowfall isn’t expected to be too intense, with the potential for about one to three inches to fall between Tuesday, Dec. 30, and Thursday, Jan. 1. However, frigid conditions could still create holiday hazards.
“This is a true Arctic blast to close out 2025,” Alyssa Glenny, AccuWeather meteorologist, warned in the forecast. “Relentless winds and blowing snow have sent AccuWeather RealFeel Temperatures tumbling to dangerous levels in some areas.”
2. The Midwest
As the big night approaches, so will a pair of clipper storms that will bring wintry conditions to much of the northern central U.S. The lake effect could bring one to two feet of snow to parts of Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, bringing the week-long total to as much as four to five feet.
Meanwhile, places like Minnesota, the Ohio Valley, northern Indiana, and northern Illinois could get one to three inches between now and the first day of 2026, per AccuWeather. Though the area is no stranger to these conditions, this could also be where travel snarls begin, even if there isn’t any snow accumulation.
“Gusty winds combined with deicing operations may lead to more flight delays this week,” Gelnny warned in the forecast. “When key hubs like Chicago, Minneapolis, and Detroit are impacted, delays and disruptions can cascade well beyond the snow zone.”
Still, the forecast clarifies that the system will likely cause fewer delays than last week’s holiday storm.
RELATED: 4 U.S. Regions Most at Risk of “Deadly Flooding,” New Data Shows.
3. Northern Appalachia
The interior South Atlantic region could be in for a blustery send-off for 2025. The double-whammy clipper system is expected to pass through West Virginia, bringing one to three inches of snow over the course of the holiday to the state. Things are even more drastic in higher elevations, with six inches up to two feet of snow expected in the mountains.
4. The Northeast
The clipper storms are also expected to continue pushing east as 2026 approaches. Lake effect snow could bring heavy drops to parts of upstate New York, with one to two feet possible in places like Buffalo, Syracuse, and Watertown. Other interior parts of the state could see anywhere from one to six inches.
Meanwhile, the pair of storms could also bring quick rounds of snowfall to Times Square in New York City. Similar snowy conditions are also expected to hit most of Pennsylvania, with one to three inches possible in most of the state, with pockets of lake effect snow potentially bringing one to two feet to western areas.
Most of New England could also see snowfall on the first day of 2026, with storms expected to hit Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, and Connecticut on Jan. 1.