[VIDEO] Direct Weather Winter 2025-26 First Snowfall Forecast: When to Expect Snow, Month-by-Month

Direct Weather’s first snowfall forecast video for the USA in the winter 2025-26 season varies regionally by mountain ranges and states, showing a progression from limited high-elevation snows in September to more widespread snowfall by January. Here is a summary broken down by regions and mountain areas. For more details, check out the full winter 2025-26 first snowfall forecast video.

• Related: SnowBrains Winter 2025-26 Forecast: Month-by-Month and Region-by-Region — Where it’s Going to Snow This Winter
• Related: Median Dates for First Measurable Snowfall of the Year in North America

Early Snowfall (September to Early October)

• September: Snowfall is minimal, mostly confined to extremely high elevations in parts of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. Some exceptions include early snow in the high peaks of the Sierra Nevada and Utah mountains, though these are rare.
• Early October: Expanded to more of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and parts of Utah, South Dakota, and Idaho. Snow remains at high elevations and affects under 1% of residents.

Late October Snowfall

• Snow spreads to the Cascade Mountains in Washington and Oregon, some mountains in Nevada, Idaho, Utah, New Mexico, and parts of the northern Plains, including North Dakota and Nebraska.
• Northern Montana, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Adirondack Mountains (NY), Green Mountains (VT), White Mountains (NH), and northern New England (northern NH and Maine) also see their first snow this period.
• Variability is high with occasional early snow systems pushing into the northern Plains around this time.

November Snowfall

• Early November: By this time, most western mountain ranges have seen their first snowfall, along with much of the northern Plains, Upper Midwest, Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast.
• Late November: Snowfall shifts to lower and mid-elevations out west, including the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, southern Minnesota and Wisconsin, northern Illinois, Indiana, northern Ohio, southeastern Michigan, the Appalachian regions, much of New England, New York State, and northeastern Pennsylvania.

December Snowfall

• Early December: The majority of western areas have seen snow by now. The central and southern Plains, including Missouri, central Illinois and Indiana, southern Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, Pennsylvania (except far southeast), northern New Jersey, and southern/coastal New England (Connecticut, Rhode Island, southeastern Massachusetts) get their first snow.
• Late December: Adds a thin strip of new snow coverage west, but larger expansions in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, southern Kansas and Missouri, northern Arkansas, southern Illinois and Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina mountains, central Virginia, and the core Mid-Atlantic (D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, Delaware, southern New Jersey).

January Snowfall

This month typically sees the deepest cold and snowfall in the nation.

• Northern regions of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, southeastern Virginia, and northern South Carolina expect the first snowfall.
• If these areas have not seen snow by mid-January, they likely will not see measurable snowfall that season.

Regions with No Average Annual Snow

• The Deep South and coastal Southeast—including Florida—generally do not average measurable annual snow, although rare events may occur every few years to decades.
• Some areas, like the Florida Keys, might see snow on timescales of centuries.

Temperature Impact on Snowfall Timing

• Fall and winter temperature forecasts show above-normal temperatures in much of the West, which could delay first snowfalls in those higher elevation areas.
• Cooler-than-normal conditions in the central and eastern U.S. are expected to bring earlier snowfall timing, potentially even to some borderline no-snow regions.
• Overall, the East and Midwest may see earlier snows, while the Western mountains might experience a somewhat later start to their snow season.

This forecast highlights the seasonal shift from isolated high alpine snows in early fall across northern mountain ranges to widespread snow cover by January across much of the country, providing essential timing insights for powder chasers planning their trips for the 2025-26 ski and snowboard season.