Precipitation for the contiguous United States during January 2007 was near average, with sharply contrasting conditions across the country. According to the NOAA Satellite and Information Service, near-average  to drier-than-average conditions occurred along much of the East Coast, Southeast, Upper Midwest and the northern High Plains to the Pacific Northwest. Precipitation was above average from southern Texas and New Mexico to the Midwest and parts of the Northeast, while much-drier-than-average conditions were present in parts of the Intermountain West and California.

A series of snow and ice storms struck the central United States in January, with severe winter weather as far south as San Antonio and Houston, Texas. For much of the mountainous West, below-average seasonal snowfall totals persisted. Snowpack was below average throughout most of the West through early February, with only portions of the Northern Cascades and the Front Range of the Rockies in Colorado and New Mexico above average.

Then in February 2007 a severe winter storm affected most of the eastern half of North America, starting on February 12, 2007, and peaking on February 14. The storm produced heavy snowfalls across the midwestern United States from Nebraska to Ohio and produced similar conditions across parts of the northeastern United States, and into Canada in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. Significant sleet and freezing rain fell across the southern Ohio Valley and affected portions of the east coast of the United States, including the cities of Boston, Baltimore, Washington D.C., New York City and Philadelphia.

The southern portion of the storm produced severe thunderstorms with numerous tornadoes reported. One tornado hit a subdivision of New Orleans that was still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Katrina, which hit the region in August 2005. In total, this storm system was responsible for 35 deaths across 13 states and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Ontario, and Quebec. The NOAA classified the storm as a Category 3 "Major" storm. The National Weather Service has determined that this storm was one of the three largest snowstorms to hit the inland areas of the northeastern United States since 1940.