January 24-25: Massive Winter Storm Brings Multiple Inches of Accumulating Snow With Notable Lake Enhancement

Overview

• An Arctic air mass clashing with a substantial amount of Gulf and Pacific moisture led to the development of a massive winter storm that crippled a large swath of the central and eastern U.S. between January 24th and January 26th.

• Locally, the winter storm delivered a broad 2 to 6" of snowfall to locations near and east of I-55 and the Fox River from the evening of the 24th through the evening of the 25th. However, lake effect and lake enhanced snowfall produced localized accumulations up to about 10" in Cook County within a few miles of Lake Michigan and up to 6-9" in Lake and Porter counties in northwest Indiana.

• Elsewhere, significant snow, sleet, and ice accumulations were observed from the southern Plains through the Deep South and Ohio River Valley into the Mid-Atlantic and New England.

Map of national snowfall reports from the morning of January 24th through the morning of January 26th.	Map of national ice accumulation reports from the morning of January 24th through the morning of January 26th.

• Another period of bitterly cold wind chills followed into the morning of January 26th, with minimum wind chills between -15°F and -25°F observed across northern Illinois and northwest Indiana.

Official Snowfall Totals

• Chicago O'Hare International Airport: 4.4".

• Rockford International Airport: Trace.

• 3 miles SW of Chicago Midway International Airport: 5.9".

• NWS Chicago Office in Romeoville: 2.5".

Snowfall

Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Chicago IL
205 PM CST Mon Jan 26 2026

...48 HOUR SNOWFALL REPORTS...

Location                     Amount    Time/Date       Provider

...Illinois...

...Cook County...
1 NE Chicago Loop            10.5 in   0350 PM 01/25   Emergency Mngr
2 WNW Chicago Loop           9.1 in    0500 PM 01/25   Public
2 ENE Garfield Park-Chicago  9.1 in    0530 PM 01/25   Trained Spotter
Avondale - Chicago           9.0 in    0523 PM 01/25   Public
1 NW Bridgeport - Chicago    9.0 in    0530 PM 01/25   Broadcast Media
2 SSW Lincoln Park - Chicago 8.8 in    0305 PM 01/25   Public
Glenview                     8.8 in    0500 PM 01/25   Public
1 NW Douglas - Chicago       8.7 in    0500 PM 01/25   NWS Employee
1 SE Logan Square - Chicago  8.5 in    0527 PM 01/25   Public
1 S Douglas - Chicago        8.0 in    0200 PM 01/25   Broadcast Media
2 W Chicago Loop             8.0 in    0208 PM 01/25   Broadcast Media
1 NNE Evanston               8.0 in    0315 PM 01/25   Public
1 WSW Douglas - Chicago      8.0 in    0528 PM 01/25   Public
Evanston 1 E                 7.2 in    0800 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Hometown                     7.0 in    0457 PM 01/25   Public
1 ENE North Center - Chicago 7.0 in    0500 PM 01/25   Public
Oak Park 1 NNE               6.4 in    0615 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Chicago - West Ridge         6.0 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Bridgeview 1 WNW             6.0 in    0730 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Midway 3 SW                  5.9 in    0500 AM 01/26   COOP
Thornton                     5.7 in    0545 PM 01/25   Emergency Mngr
Oak Forest 1 NNW             5.5 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Lansing                      5.5 in    0700 AM 01/26   COOP
1 NNE Niles                  5.3 in    0500 PM 01/25   Public
Palos Park 2 WSW             5.0 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
La Grange Park 1 SSW         4.9 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Homewood                     4.8 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Mount Prospect 0.2 NNE       4.7 in    0600 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Park Ridge 1 WNW             4.6 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Chicago-O`Hare               4.4 in    0600 AM 01/26   NWS Official Ob
Wheeling 1.0 NW              4.5 in    0800 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Elk Grove Village 1 ESE      4.2 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Harwood Heights              4.1 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Schaumburg 2 E               3.2 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Hoffman Estates              1.6 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS

...DuPage County...
Elmhurst 0.8 ESE             4.3 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Darien 2 SE                  3.5 in    0730 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Downers Grove 1.8 SSE        2.4 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Glen Ellyn 1 W               2.1 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Naperville                   2.0 in    0100 PM 01/25   Broadcast Media
Lombard                      2.0 in    0800 AM 01/26   COCORAHS

...Grundy County...
Carbon Hill 3 NNW            2.6 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Morris 2 W                   2.1 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Mazon 2 SE                   2.0 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS

...Kankakee County...
Kankakee 1.4 WSW             4.5 in    0600 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Herscher 3 E                 2.0 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS

...Kendall County...
Oswego                       1.6 in    0424 AM 01/26   COCORAHS

...La Salle County...
Grand Ridge 0.2 SSW          3.4 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Ottawa 1 N                   2.2 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS

...Lake County...
Highwood                     6.3 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Riverwoods 1 NE              5.3 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Buffalo Grove 2 N            2.5 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Mundelein 1 NNE              2.5 in    0835 AM 01/26   COCORAHS

...Livingston County...
Chatsworth                   4.0 in    0700 AM 01/26   COOP

...Will County...
Monee Reservoir              6.5 in    0900 AM 01/26   COOP
Mokena                       4.5 in    0500 PM 01/25   Public
Peotone                      4.2 in    0353 PM 01/25   Emergency Mngr
Crete 3 E                    4.1 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Homer Glen 1 NNE             3.7 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
NWS Chicago - Romeoville     2.5 in    0600 AM 01/26   NWS Official Ob
Rockdale 1 NW                2.4 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Lakewood Shores 1 SE         2.3 in    0630 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Plainfield 2 SSE             2.3 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS

...Indiana...

...Jasper County...
Collegeville                 5.3 in    0600 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Remington                    5.0 in    0800 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Collegeville 5 SE            4.5 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
DeMotte                      4.2 in    0600 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
De Motte 6 S                 4.0 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS

...Lake County...
1 SSW Hobart                 8.1 in    0508 PM 01/25   Public
Merrillville 1.4 S           7.4 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Cedar Lake                   6.0 in    0535 PM 01/25   Public
Crown Point                  6.0 in    0730 AM 01/26   COOP
Gary 5 ENE                   5.1 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Dyer                         5.1 in    0800 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Hobart                       4.5 in    0200 PM 01/25   Public
St. John                     4.5 in    0600 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
St. John 3 SSE               4.5 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS

...Newton County...
Mount Ayr 2 NNE              4.2 in    0825 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Morocco                      4.0 in    0600 AM 01/26   COOP

...Porter County...
Valparaiso 1 N               9.0 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Porter                       7.9 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
3 NNW Valparaiso             7.5 in    1100 PM 01/25   Trained Spotter
Valparaiso 3.0 NNE           7.5 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Ogden Dunes                  7.0 in    0550 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Valparaiso 2.7 ENE           7.0 in    0815 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Boone Grove 2 WNW            5.3 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS
Boone Grove 4 NNE            4.5 in    0700 AM 01/26   COCORAHS

Observations are collected from a variety of sources with varying
equipment and exposures. We thank all volunteer weather observers
for their dedication. Not all data listed are considered official.

$$

Additional Information

Photos

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Links

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