Feb. 24, 2026 — Providence, R.I. A historic nor’easter, dubbed Winter Storm Hernando by some outlets, struck the Northeast United States starting February 22, blanketing the region in 2 to 3 feet of snow, with Providence recording 37.9 inches amid blizzard warnings, winds over 70 mph and bomb cyclone conditions affecting New England, New York City and New Jersey.
The storm caused widespread disruptions, including over 5,700 to 10,000 flight cancellations nationwide—primarily at New York City, Boston and other Northeast airports—with thousands more delays reported Tuesday. Power outages peaked at more than 571,000 customers, impacting over 300,000 in Massachusetts, more than 100,000 in New Jersey and others in New York due to tree damage from heavy, wet snow.
Schools shut down across major cities including New York City and Boston, while New York City enacted its first travel ban in over a decade, New Jersey Transit suspended service and the National Guard was activated. Broadway theaters closed, and at least two deaths were reported amid states of emergency declared in New York.
WeatherNation video shows 2 feet of snow, power outages and NYC travel ban impacts.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani declared a state of emergency, leading to a traffic shutdown as noted in Al Jazeera English coverage. To aid cleanup, the city boosted pay for snow shovelers to $30 per hour, according to ABC News.
Southeast Massachusetts saw over 30 inches of snow, exacerbating outages, per CBS Boston updates. The New York Times live blog tracked record New England snowfall and ongoing dig-out efforts in NYC and NJ, while BBC reports highlighted 90,000 New Jersey outages and 5,500 flight cancellations.
The event dominated U.S. headlines, overshadowing other national stories.
