SYRACUSE, N.Y. – While not the level of the massive 24.2″ dumping of snow in December, Syracuse and Central New York need to prepare now for the biggest storm of 2026 so far. Latest computer models show a start to the storm with light snow between 8 and 11 AM Sunday, with steady moderate to heavy snow in spots during the afternoon hours and through much of Sunday night. Storm totals will reach a foot to a foot and a half for much of the area by late Sunday night, and more will come Monday with lake effect snow kicking in as the storm departs.
Winter Storm Warnings have been issued by the National Weather Service for all of New York State starting at either 1 AM or 7 AM on Sunday, and continuing until 7 PM Monday, or even later into Tuesday for some locations.
The stage is set as a powerful storm system is rounding the deep south from Texas to the Gulf Coast as of Saturday. We have an arctic airmass in places with sub-zero temperatures early in the day, and most locations are seeing highs in the single digits. It was only a handful of degrees away from a record low temperature early today. And keep in mind the normal high temperature is 31 degrees.
More frigid feeling temperatures are expected for Saturday night, with a low of 0 in Syracuse, but wind chill temperatures will be around -5. Many spots to the north and east of Onondaga County will see wind chills more severe in the -10 to -15 degree range. Although this is not quite as low as Friday night and early today.
How much snow will Central New York be digging out from? The short answer is 12-16″ between 7 AM Sunday and 7 AM Monday, as of my forecast Saturday morning. This is likely to be tweaked up or down a little, but I’m confident most places will pick up over a foot. Amounts will be higher closer to the track of the storm system to the south and southeast of Onondaga County, where 16-21″ are possible. Meanwhile, further north and northwest of Onondaga County, they will only pick up 10-12″… only 🙂
Of note, there will be more snow accumulation coming Monday into much of CNY as the storm exits early on, but lake effect snow kicks in. I’m thinking the lake snow will get heavier for Monday afternoon and evening, but as with lake effect snow, it is very difficult to pinpoint locations and amounts so far out in time. That is something we will be more defined on within the next 24 hours.
You can watch my complete 7-day forecast video from Saturday morning on NBC3 with the futurecast and my trusted forecast of the timing of the storm system and amounts of snow below…