Feb. 24, 2026 — Northeastern United States A bomb cyclone nor’easter, known as the Blizzard of 2026 or Winter Storm Hernando, struck the region starting February 22, delivering 2-3 feet (24-36 inches) of snow across the Northeast megalopolis from Virginia to Maine and prompting blizzard warnings for over 40 million people, states of emergency, travel bans, and thousands of flight cancellations.
The storm shattered snowfall records, including 37.9 inches (96 cm) at Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport, 32.8 inches (83 cm) in Providence, Rhode Island—surpassing the 1978 blizzard mark—and 27.9 inches (71 cm) in Carlstadt, New Jersey. Other records fell in New York City-area spots like Babylon (29.5 inches) and Newark Liberty International Airport (27.1 inches), as well as Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware, according to the Wikipedia entry documenting the event.
Hurricane-force wind gusts reached 98 mph (158 km/h) at Wellfleet, Massachusetts, contributing to widespread power outages affecting over 600,000 customers at peak, with more than 511,000 still out in Massachusetts alone by February 23 morning. Transportation ground to a halt with roughly 8,000 flights canceled at airports including JFK, LaGuardia, Newark, and Boston Logan, plus over 30 Amtrak cancellations and suspensions of NJ Transit services, as reported in live coverage.
States including New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware declared emergencies or activated National Guard units. New York City saw a statewide travel ban and its first traditional snow day since 2019 (or six years per AP News), with Mayor Zohran Mamdani declaring a state of emergency and ordering shutdown of the city’s traffic network for non-emergency travel.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has declared a state of emergency, ordering the shutdown of the city’s entire traffic network for all but emergency travel as a severe snowstorm hits the northeast US.
Roads were deserted amid whiteout conditions, exemplified by ABC News chief meteorologist Ginger Zee reporting from Manhattan’s empty West Side Highway.
ABC News’ Ginger Zee is on Manhattan’s West Side Highway, a usually packed street that is deserted this morning amid an historic blizzard that has prompted travel bans and school closures.
— ABC News
The storm ranks among the most intense in decades, surpassing the 1978 blizzard in areas like Providence and the Northeast blizzard of 1996 in scope, per ABC News comparisons. Meteorologists noted ideal conditions for heavy, wet snow.
“The storm hit the ‘Goldilocks situation’ of just the right temperature for wet, heavy snow.”
— Owen Shieh, National Weather Service, via AP News
At least two fatalities occurred in Maryland from a tree falling on a car, with hundreds of crashes reported.
