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Blizzards rage across the northeastern US

A grey outline of the northeastern US states, with colored dots, indicating where 24-38 inches of snow has fallen in a 24 hour period

A massive snowstorm pummeled the northeastern part of the US, from Maryland to Maine on Monday, forcing millions of people to stay home amid strong wind and blizzard warnings, transportation shutdowns, and school and business closures. The storm dumped up to 2 feet (60 centimeters) of snow in parts northeast, and officials have declared emergencies from Delaware to Massachusetts, and hundreds of thousands of people grappling with power failure from downed electrical lines. From New York through Massachusetts, snow fell at a rate of 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.6 centimeters) an hour early Monday, and some areas have gotten well over a foot (30 centimeters) of snow since Sunday. In Mystic, Connecticut, at least 2 feet (60 centimeters) of snow has fallen. Even as the snowstorm moved northward, the National Weather Service said it is tracking another storm that could bring more snow to the region later this week.

“Reported snowfall:

22.5 inches (57 centimeters) at New York, Long Island MacArthur Airport

About 15 inches (38 centimeters) fell in New York City’s Central Park

About 18 inches (46 centimeters) in Newark, New Jersey

17 inches (43 centimeters) in New London, Connecticut

17 inches (43 centimeters) in North Kingstown, Rhode Island”

(IZAGUIRRE et al.).


An image showing a pedestrian walking past multiple rows of parked, snow-covered vehicles, during a winter storm in New York.
A pedestrian passes snow-covered vehicles during a winter storm in the Brooklyn borough of New York, US (Image from CNBC)

New York City and Boston canceled public school classes for Monday, while Philadelphia switched to online learning. “New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani called it the “first old-school snow day since 2019.” But class would be back in person on Tuesday,” (IZAGUIRRE et al.). People begin digging out, even as snowfall continues. In Lower Manhattan, snow shovelers appeared to outnumber commuting office workers, and pedestrians walked freely in streets, normally blocked by morning traffic.

This storm is also fueling power outages all over the northeast, with New York, Philadelphia and other cities declaring emergencies. Power outages related to the storm have plunged more than 500,000 [1] people into darkness along the East Coast, early Monday, including over 212,000 people in Massachusetts and 128,000 [1] people in New Jersey, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide. About 10,000 people were without power Monday morning on suburban Long Island, and even with utility crews trying to restore power as soon as possible, winds of 50 mph (kph 80) or higher could delay action.

More than 5,000 flights in and out of the United States were canceled for Monday. Most were canceled in New York, New Jersey and Boston. For those cancelled flights, U.S. airlines are required to provide refunds for flight cancellations and carriers like JetBlue, Delta, Southwest and American are already offering options for select impacted customers to rebook their trips at no cost. Rhode Island’s T.F. Green International Airport announced on Monday, that it was temporarily ending all airport operations. Public transit has also ground to a halt in some areas.


[1] - As of 1:55PM, MST, 2/23/2026, those numbers are 287,771 and 106,856 respectively (numbers from PowerOutage.us).

Works Cited

Associated Press. “Snowfall intensifies in Northeast, with many stuck at home under blizzard warnings and travel bans.” CNBC, 21 February 2026, https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/21/blizzard-warnings-issued-for-new-york-city-new-jersey-connecticut.html. Accessed 23 February 2026.

IZAGUIRRE, ANTHONY, et al. “Associated Press.” Millions are stuck at home due to blizzard warnings and travel shutdowns in northeastern US, 32 February 2026, https://apnews.com/article/us-east-coast-winter-storm-blizzard-c32d60af1f146359664d6688a2dcdada. Accessed 23 February 2026.

IZAGUIRRE, ANTHONY, et al. “Blizzard 2026: Snowfall intensifies in Northeast as many are under blizzard warnings and travel bans.” New York Amsterdam News, 23 February 2026, https://amsterdamnews.com/news/2026/02/23/snowfall-intensifies-in-northeast-with-many-stuck-at-home-under-blizzard-warnings-and-travel-bans/. Accessed 23 February 2026.





An image a Simon Story, the writer of this article. He is in front of a grey background, he has a red shirt on, with the logo: Live Generously, and there is a white heart with a cross in it.

Simon Story is a 11th grader at Poudre High School, and this is his first year with the Poudre Press. The column he is working on is about war. He is not currently involved in any school activities, but he has interests in filming, video games, and reading. Some of his plans for post-graduation are either going into a trade, or doing something in the food industry, or in IT. 

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