February 2026 OBS & Discussion

[RU848789]

With the Ft. Dix radar down, I missed the start of some light pixie dust snow (my wife saw it first, lol) and we now have a dusting on the ground.  Would love to get at least 1/2".  

[jm1220]

Light snow, dusting on the car and unsalted ground. 

[Tatamy]

1 hour ago, NorthShoreWx said:

Smithtown 8:30 pm 28/20  Flurries

Due to the developing flizzard emergency, we are suspending the hourly ISP 1978 re-enactment.  Here for your perusal is the complete set of metars (decoded) from that once in a lifetime event:

 

KISP - Islip, NY
Date	Time (EST)	Temp		Dew Point		Humidity		Sea Level Pressure		Visibility		Wind Dir		Wind Speed		Gust Speed		Events
2/6/1978	12:00 AM	23.0		3.0		42		30.26		7.0		North		11.5		-
2/6/1978	1:00 AM	26.1		1.9		35		30.20		7.0		NNE		17.3		-
2/6/1978	2:00 AM	25.0		1.0		36		30.22		7.0		NNE		13.8		-
2/6/1978	3:00 AM	25.0		19.9		81		30.19		2.0		NE		15.0		-		Snow
2/6/1978	4:00 AM	25.0		19.9		81		30.15		3.0		NE		16.1		-		Snow
2/6/1978	5:00 AM	25.0		21.0		85		30.12		2.0		NE		23.0		-		Snow
2/6/1978	6:00 AM	24.1		19.0		81		30.09		2.0		NNE		23.0		-		Snow
2/6/1978	6:25 AM	-9999.0		-9999.0		N/A		30.08		1.0		NNE		23.0		-
2/6/1978	7:00 AM	24.1		19.9		84		30.07		0.5		NNE		23.0		-		Snow
2/6/1978	8:00 AM	24.1		21.0		88		30.01		0.2		NE		25.3		-		Snow
2/6/1978	8:11 AM	-9999.0		-9999.0		N/A		30.00		0.5		NE		20.7		-
2/6/1978	9:00 AM	26.1		21.9		84		29.99		0.2		NE		21.9		-		Snow
2/6/1978	9:15 AM	-9999.0		-9999.0		N/A		29.94		0.2		NE		19.6		34.5
2/6/1978	10:00 AM	27.0		24.1		89		29.94		0.1		NE		23.0		34.5		Snow
2/6/1978	11:00 AM	27.0		25.0		92		29.88		0.1		NNE		25.3		40.3		Snow
2/6/1978	12:00 PM	27.0		25.0		92		29.78		0.1		NNE		23.0		34.5		Snow
2/6/1978	12:05 PM	-9999.0		-9999.0		N/A		29.74		0.0		NE		29.9		39.1
2/6/1978	1:00 PM	27.0		26.1		96		29.69		0.0		NNE		32.2		41.4		Snow
2/6/1978	2:00 PM	28.0		26.1		92		29.63		0.0		NE		32.2		40.3		Snow
2/6/1978	3:00 PM	28.9		28.0		96		29.54		0.0		NE		40.3		56.4		Snow
2/6/1978	4:00 PM	30.0		28.0		92		29.49		0.0		NE		46.0		59.8		Snow
2/6/1978	5:00 PM	30.0		27.0		88		29.46		0.0		NE		28.8		47.2		Snow
2/6/1978	6:00 PM	28.0		27.0		96		29.44		0.1		NE		34.5		-		Snow
2/6/1978	7:00 PM	27.0		26.1		96		29.40		0.0		NE		38.0		46.0		Snow
2/6/1978	8:00 PM	26.1		26.1		100		29.34		0.0		North		28.8		43.7		Snow
2/6/1978	9:00 PM	21.9		19.9		92		29.30		0.0		North		28.8		48.3		Snow
2/6/1978	10:00 PM	23.0		21.9		96		29.26		0.1		North		23.0		40.3		Snow
2/6/1978	10:30 PM	-9999.0		-9999.0		N/A		29.24		5.5		NNE		23.0		40.3
2/6/1978	11:00 PM	32.0		30.0		92		29.24		0.6		NNE		25.3		-		Snow
2/7/1978	12:00 AM	33.1		30.9		92		29.24		0.8		NNE		28.8		-		Snow
2/7/1978	1:00 AM	33.1		30.9		92		29.28		0.2		NE		18.4		-		Snow-Thunderstorm
2/7/1978	1:05 AM	-9999.0		-9999.0		N/A		29.26		0.2		NE		19.6		27.6
2/7/1978	2:00 AM	30.0		28.9		96		29.28		0.1		NNE		26.5		-		Snow
2/7/1978	3:00 AM	27.0		26.1		96		29.31		0.3		NNE		28.8		-		Snow
2/7/1978	4:00 AM	25.0		24.1		96		29.33		0.2		NNE		28.8		40.3		Snow
2/7/1978	5:00 AM	24.1		23.0		96		29.35		0.2		NNE		25.3		-		Snow
2/7/1978	5:05 AM	-9999.0		-9999.0		N/A		29.35		0.4		North		23.0		34.5
2/7/1978	6:00 AM	23.0		21.0		92		29.38		0.5		North		23.0		-		Snow
2/7/1978	7:00 AM	24.1		19.9		84		29.40		5.0		North		23.0		29.9		Snow
2/7/1978	8:00 AM	24.1		19.9		84		29.43		1.0		North		23.0		-		Snow
2/7/1978	9:00 AM	25.0		21.0		85		29.47		0.5		North		26.5		-		Snow
2/7/1978	9:10 AM	-9999.0		-9999.0		N/A		0.00		0.1		NW		19.6		26.5
2/7/1978	10:00 AM	24.1		21.0		88		29.50		0.1		NNW		20.7		27.6		Snow
2/7/1978	10:04 AM	-9999.0		-9999.0		N/A		0.00		0.6		NNW		20.7		27.6
2/7/1978	11:00 AM	24.1		21.0		88		29.52		0.1		NNW		20.7		-		Snow
2/7/1978	12:00 PM	24.1		21.9		91		29.55		0.1		NNW		25.3		35.7		Snow
2/7/1978	1:00 PM	25.0		21.9		88		29.57		0.2		NNW		20.7		35.7		Snow
2/7/1978	1:15 PM	-9999.0		-9999.0		N/A		29.57		1.0		NW		23.0		36.8
2/7/1978	2:00 PM	26.1		21.9		84		29.60		0.2		NNW		23.0		38.0		Snow
2/7/1978	3:00 PM	26.1		21.9		84		29.63		0.2		NNW		23.0		-		Snow
2/7/1978	3:30 PM	-9999.0		-9999.0		N/A		0.00		3.0		NNW		23.0		32.2
2/7/1978	4:00 PM	26.1		24.1		92		29.66		1.0		NW		20.7		-		Snow
2/7/1978	4:10 PM	-9999.0		-9999.0		N/A		29.68		5.0		NW		20.7		-
2/7/1978	5:00 PM	26.1		24.1		92		29.71		5.0		NNW		20.7		28.8		Snow
2/7/1978	6:00 PM	27.0		24.1		89		29.76		5.0		NNW		23.0		31.1		Snow
2/7/1978	7:00 PM	26.1		23.0		88		29.79		10.0		NW		17.3		-		Snow
2/7/1978	8:00 PM	26.1		21.9		84		29.83		10.0		NW		18.4		-
2/7/1978	9:00 PM	26.1		23.0		88		29.86		10.0		NW		19.6		-
2/7/1978	10:00 PM	26.1		23.0		88		29.90		10.0		NW		15.0		-
2/7/1978	11:00 PM	26.1		21.9		84		29.94		10.0		NW		15.0		-

 

I experienced the storm in East Northport.  The things that I remember about it are the consistently low visibility that lasted through out that day.  It averaged between 1/8 to 1/4 mile sometimes less all day.  The flakes were quite small probably because of the strong winds whipping in off LI Sound.  I measured 30” in that storm.  I didn’t see a storm like that again until 2016 when I also measured 30” where I am in Bethlehem, PA.  

[jm1220]

56 minutes ago, Rmine1 said:

DOA for LI. Maybe a flurry at best 

Look outside. The best will clearly be NE of here which has been clear for 48 hours but it’ll freshen up the snowpack for a couple days. 

[wthrmn654]

Snowing here

[lee59]

Steady light snow now, starting to stick

[psv88]

In manhattan and it’s snowing nicely. Coating on cars etc 

[jm1220]

Snowing decently here, nice coating on most surfaces. 

[ag3]

Solid coating here.

[wthrmn654]

Exploding over eastern Suffolk

[jm1220]

2 minutes ago, wthrmn654 said:

Exploding over eastern Suffolk

Yep, Montauk might get an advisory event. Exciting from there into eastern New England. Meh here but better than zero. 

[psv88]

Snowing nicely at home now. A little enhancement in Suffolk. Streets snow covered per my cameras 

[wthrmn654]

It's coming down really good now

[NorthShoreWx]

2 hours ago, Tatamy said:

I experienced the storm in East Northport.  The things that I remember about it are the consistently low visibility that lasted through out that day.  It averaged between 1/8 to 1/4 mile sometimes less all day.  The flakes were quite small probably because of the strong winds whipping in off LI Sound.  I measured 30” in that storm.  I didn’t see a storm like that again until 2016 when I also measured 30” where I am in Bethlehem, PA.  

Thanks for sharing that memory.  Do you have any photos from that?  The ones I have are here:

https://www.northshorewx.com/19780207.html

The storm did a loop south of LI, but talk about a benchmark track:

 

[NorthShoreWx]

26/23 at midnight S- pcpn very light.

0.3" new snow, Snow depth 8"

Question: do any of the short term models input any Nexrad data?

[Prue11]

17 minutes ago, NorthShoreWx said:

26/23 at midnight S- pcpn very light.

0.3" new snow, Snow depth 8"

Question: do any of the short term models input any Nexrad data?

CAM models rely heavily on nexrad data to initialize their forecasts…whoops misread your question 

[Volcanic Winter]

 

Steady very light snow, diamond dust style. Coating appearing on our cul-de-sac. Cool and pretty out at the moment, beautiful sparkle on the pack from the small flakes. 26F 23DP. 

No complaints! Winter vibes always welcome. 

[NorthShoreWx]

23 minutes ago, Prue11 said:

CAM models rely heavily on nexrad data to initialize their forecasts…whoops misread your question 

Was wondering if DIX being down is affecting the solutions.  Sounds like it could be.

[psv88]

1/2” down and radar looks good. I think we clear an inch here 

[Nibor]

[nycsnow]

Models all over the place next week. Hopefully it settles down by Monday. 

[nycsnow]

Euro ai and gfs ai like Presidents’ Day…. Little warm for nyc south big totals north and New England 

[sussexcountyobs]

Picked up a little less than an inch I would say. Impossible to measure with the strong winds. Down to 10.0F

[bluewave]

On 2/5/2026 at 6:21 PM, NorthShoreWx said:

Its a huge trade-off when it is showing the 64th longest streak as the top 18.

To illustrate with an extreme example, imagine a series where all of the values were 100 except the latest, which was 10.  To say it is the second highest ever is not useful information.

NYC had gone 15 days so far not reaching 40°. That is the 14th longest streak for NYC no matter how many years tied since we are ranking the number of days and not the individual years. With the coming cold next several days this will result in the longest streak in 20 years. 
 

Number of Consecutive Days Max Temperature < 40 
for NY CITY CENTRAL PARK, NY
Click column heading to sort ascending, click again to sort descending.

1	35	1945-02-08
2	34	1886-02-08
3	33	1948-02-11
4	26	1879-01-17
5	25	1881-02-08
6	23	1940-01-13
-	23	1936-02-14
-	23	1885-02-09
7	22	1968-01-17
-	22	1924-02-25
-	22	1918-02-06
-	22	1912-02-15
-	22	1893-01-24
-	22	1883-01-17
-	22	1881-01-06
8	21	2004-02-03
-	21	2000-02-06
-	21	1978-02-16
-	21	1940-02-05
-	21	1901-02-15
-	21	1895-02-16
-	21	1877-01-06
9	20	1905-02-11
-	20	1902-02-22
-	20	1888-02-03
10	19	2003-02-01
-	19	1981-01-18
-	19	1977-01-09
11	18	1970-01-16
-	18	1914-02-25
-	18	1904-01-12
-	18	1887-01-12
12	17	2005-01-31
-	17	2001-01-05
-	17	1977-01-27
-	17	1966-02-07
-	17	1961-02-04
-	17	1948-01-08
-	17	1934-02-14
-	17	1918-01-11
-	17	1910-01-01
-	17	1875-01-21
13	16	2011-02-04
-	16	1963-12-25
-	16	1884-01-30
-	16	1870-03-09
14	15	2026-02-06
-	15	2018-01-08

[Roger Smith]

Binghamton NY is -3 F with NW winds gusting to 48 mph. Sustained wind is only 18 mph suggesting very squally conditions. Even at the lower wind speed wind chill there is -25 F, probably closer to -40 during stronger gusts, 

Expect a rapid increase in wind speeds in lower Hudson as gradient tightens, once the frontal boundary moves beyond the Berkshires.

 

[psv88]

1” new snow, down to 22. Nice enhancement with these snow showers out here all event. Wind picking up and lots of blowing snow. 

[nycsnow]

Overnight models and now 6z models lost 14th storm but now focusing on Presidents’ Day. Verbatim would be warm for NYC south. But It seems like 14-16 something is becoming likely wether wet or white tbd

[CPcantmeasuresnow]

37 minutes ago, bluewave said:

NYC had gone 15 days so far not reaching 40°. That is the 14th longest streak for NYC no matter how many years tied since we are ranking the number of days and not the individual years. With the coming cold next several days this will result in the longest streak in 20 years. 
 

 

Number of Consecutive Days Max Temperature < 40 
for NY CITY CENTRAL PARK, NY
Click column heading to sort ascending, click again to sort descending.

1	35	1945-02-08
2	34	1886-02-08
3	33	1948-02-11
4	26	1879-01-17
5	25	1881-02-08
6	23	1940-01-13
-	23	1936-02-14
-	23	1885-02-09
7	22	1968-01-17
-	22	1924-02-25
-	22	1918-02-06
-	22	1912-02-15
-	22	1893-01-24
-	22	1883-01-17
-	22	1881-01-06
8	21	2004-02-03
-	21	2000-02-06
-	21	1978-02-16
-	21	1940-02-05
-	21	1901-02-15
-	21	1895-02-16
-	21	1877-01-06
9	20	1905-02-11
-	20	1902-02-22
-	20	1888-02-03
10	19	2003-02-01
-	19	1981-01-18
-	19	1977-01-09
11	18	1970-01-16
-	18	1914-02-25
-	18	1904-01-12
-	18	1887-01-12
12	17	2005-01-31
-	17	2001-01-05
-	17	1977-01-27
-	17	1966-02-07
-	17	1961-02-04
-	17	1948-01-08
-	17	1934-02-14
-	17	1918-01-11
-	17	1910-01-01
-	17	1875-01-21
13	16	2011-02-04
-	16	1963-12-25
-	16	1884-01-30
-	16	1870-03-09
14	15	2026-02-06
-	15	2018-01-08

But there have been 46 individual instances of longer periods. That would be a much better way to put it into historical context. 

[bluewave]

Just now, CPcantmeasuresnow said:

But there have been 46 individual instances of longer periods. That would be a much better way to put it into historical context. 

But I like to rank the actual temperatures and not the instances. This is why there are multiple ways of sorting. But if you like to rank the instances then you are free to. My focus is more in the weather element than how many ties there have been. Both ways are technically correct. 

[donsutherland1]

Some blowing snow from last night's powder: