January 25, 2026
We’re just reaching the tail end of one of the biggest winter storms I can remember.
This storm is over 2,000 miles long and will affect over 200 million Americans. It’s the closest thing to a monocultural event until the Super Bowl next month. It’s on Wikipedia already!
Meteorologists had followed this storm’s formation for at least a week. Social media hype really picked up in the last 48 hours. The Internet’s most trusted voice in all things weather, Ryan Hall, was pulling massive numbers on his YouTube channel and X posts. His live streams were getting 80-100k live concurrent viewers. If there are any winners coming out of this, it’s your online weathermen.
Here in the D.C. area, early reports indicated we could expect a foot plus of snow and up to an inch of ice. The final tally is roughly seven inches of a snow / sleet mix. With sleet falling most of the day, it was a long day around the house cooking, baking, NFL football, cleaning up, and lots of playing with the baby. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday.
I do wonder about my neighbors and how they’re handling this type of weather sometimes. Growing up in Northwestern Wisconsin, wintery conditions are part of life. However, I suspect it might wear on folks less acquainted with its challenges.
For example, I watched one of our nearby neighbors come out and shovel his driveway and front steps no less than three times today. It was still snowing / sleeting every time. I’m just left to wonder about that; perhaps he needed a break from the family or being inside. I could actually understand that.
One big storm per winter season has been the standard since I moved to the area in 2021. It’s all the snow I need. I got my fill and more growing up. I had to publish this for the record so I can look back next year and see how the big storm in ‘27 compares.