Weather

The 2025 New Year opened with the mercury reaching 48 degrees in Boston. This reading turned out to be the high temperature for the month. Heavy rain unfortunately occurred on New Year’s Day, dampening the typical rush of birders to start a new-year list. Boston recorded nearly an inch of rain that day. There were 11 days of precipitation in January. During the month, Boston recorded a total of 1.66 inches of rain and 8.2 inches of snow. Historically, Boston averages 14.3 inches of snow in January. Communities northwest of Boston, such as Fitchburg, received 4.0 inches of snow on January 11, but most of eastern Massachusetts saw just a coating from the same storm. An arctic air mass with frigid temperatures arrived in our area on January 19. A low temperature of 17 degrees below zero was recorded in Hardwick, and Athol recorded 13 degrees below zero. A snowstorm on January 19–20 resulted in totals of 7–9 inches in western Massachusetts. Essex County towns generally received 4–6 inches, Boston received 5.5 inches, and parts of Cape Cod saw less than an inch.