ForecastWatch January Wrap-up and News

A look back at ForecastWatch reports and blog posts, and ClimateWatch newsletters over the last month.

February 04, 2026

January Wrap-Up

December 28-29th Blizzard Forecast Analysis

Blizzard Warnings and Winter Storm Warnings were hoisted for portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan ahead of a rapidly strengthening winter storm that impacted the region on December 28-29, 2025. The potential for some of the biggest snow impacts of the season led major weather forecast providers to publish snowfall forecast maps calling for upwards of two feet of snow much of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. What happened, and were the predictions accurate? Find out in our blog.

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NOAA Launches New Suite of Weather Models

On December 17, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration launched a groundbreaking new suite of operational, artificial intelligence-driven global weather prediction models. This effort marks a significant advancement in forecast speed, efficiency, and accuracy, while using a fraction of the computational power. Additionally, NOAA is working on the next generation of convection-allowing, rapidly-updating models.

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Check out the newsletters from January:

Florida is No Longer the Lightning Capital of the U.S.

Florida has officially been dethroned as the lightning capital of the United States. AEM, with the help of its 1,800 sensor lightning detection network, announced that one of the Great Plains states had the highest concentration of lightning in 2025, with approximately 73 lightning flashes per square mile last year. Find out who holds the title now in our blog.

Global Climatology of Very Large Hail Events

A study led by the European Severe Storms Laboratory provides the first comprehensive global analysis of very large hail (>5cm). The study analyzed very large hail events from 1950 to 2023 and found that northern Argentina was the global hotspot for very large hail events, followed by Uruguay, Paraguay, southern Brazil, the U.S. Great Plains, and South Africa. Europe has seen the sharpest rise in frequency of very large hail events, driven by increasing low-level moisture and atmospheric instability.

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