Boston weather forecast: 'Pretty good dumping' of snow expected

Grace Zokovitch, Boston Herald on Jan 21, 2026

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BOSTON — The weekend is set to see dangerously cold temperatures across Boston, as well as a potential storm with a “pretty good dumping” of snow.

“Make sure that you’re bundling up and limiting your time outdoors Saturday and heading into Sunday,” National Weather Service meteorologist Emily McMinn told the Herald.

“And making sure that you have appropriate equipment on your vehicle for any time during the snow Sunday into Monday,” McMinn added.

The weekend is expected to kick off Friday with temperatures starting to plummet, forecasts show. The Friday high may reach up into the low 30s, while the low falls to around six degrees during the night.

Icy winds are expected to whip throughout the day and night, reaching gusts of up to 26 mph, NWS forecasts.

“Those feel like temperatures are going to be even more brutal,” McMinn said. “We’re looking at minus 10 to minus 15 for most of the coastal area, the Boston-area included. The higher elevations, we’re looking closer to minus 20 at this point for early Saturday morning for those feel like temperatures.”

Saturday will likely be sunny, with a high in the mid-teens and gusty winds once again chilling Boston, NWS states. The nighttime is forecasted to dip down to around six degrees and turn mostly cloudy.

“That cold surge is going to really lead into the snow for this weekend,” McMinn said. “And we’re pretty confident there’s going to be a good snowfall, but the confidence in those snow totals right now is very, very low, so I can’t really give numbers at this point.”

Snow is expected starting Sunday and lasting into Monday, forecasts show. Temperatures are preliminarily expected to jump up to the mid-20s, as gusty winds continue.

All of southern New England is forecasted to get a “pretty good dumping,” said McMinn, including areas around northern Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Heading into the weekend, McMinn recommended residents limit their exposure time to avoid frostbite and to check in on friends and neighbors.

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