The Allsnow Blizzard of 2026

[jm1220]

4 hours ago, donsutherland1 said:

NOUS41 KOKX 062000
PNSOKX
CTZ005>012-NJZ002-004-006-103>108-NYZ067>075-078>081-176>179-
080800-

Public Information Statement
National Weather Service New York NY
300 PM EST Fri Mar 6 2026

...BLIZZARD CONFIRMED FOR NEW YORK CITY, LONG ISLAND, COASTAL 
WESTCHESTER, COASTAL CONNECTICUT, AND PORTIONS OF NORTHEASTERN 
NEW JERSEY...

The National Weather Service in New York, NY can preliminarily 
confirm that blizzard criteria was met on February 23rd across the
following counties...

Manhattan, NY
Queens, NY
Kings, NY
Richmond, NY
Bronx, NY
Nassau, NY
Suffolk, NY
Southern Westchester, NY
Southern Fairfield, CT
Southern New Haven, CT
Southern Middlesex, CT
Southern New London, CT
Eastern Bergen, NJ
Eastern Essex, NJ
Eastern Union, NJ
Hudson, NJ

Blizzard criteria are met when sustained winds or frequent gusts 
of at least 35 mph accompanied by falling and/or blowing snow 
frequently reduce visibility to less than 1/4 mile for 3 or more 
hours during an event.

The exact start and end times of blizzard conditions in these 
areas will be documented in NWS StormData. Further analysis will
also be conducted to determine if any additional zones reached
blizzard criteria with this event. All verification data are 
considered preliminary until certified in NWS StormData.

Please see the following preliminary storm event webpage for more
details on this event: https://www.weather.gov/okx/20260222_23

$$

Lots of tree damage around here mostly from the blizzard that’s becoming more clear as the snow melts. The night of the blizzard a huge tree came down across Jericho Turnpike a couple miles west of my house, and lots of smaller trees/large branches came down either in this storm or other times during the winter. 

[MJO812]

On 2/17/2026 at 12:39 PM, TJW014 said:

Steve D says it's not coming. That means a jackpot for Freehold

Bingo 

On 2/18/2026 at 2:42 PM, Brian5671 said:

Very rare for us to get a SECS/MECS without the Euro showing it 4 days out

Umm 

On 2/19/2026 at 1:28 PM, jerseyshorewxguy said:

are you repeating the same sentence over and over again in hopes that it will become reality?


.

And it became a reality. Euro isnt a superior model anymore. 

[MJO812]

I miss tracking 

[NEG NAO]

3 minutes ago, MJO812 said:

I miss tracking 

we are tracking the Ana Front in the new Ana Front thread - and I think we are going to have more to track before this crazy winter is over - this stretching of the Polar Vortex will have a few tricks up its sleeve

[MJO812]

47 minutes ago, NEG NAO said:

we are tracking the Ana Front in the new Ana Front thread - and I think we are going to have more to track before this crazy winter is over - this stretching of the Polar Vortex will have a few tricks up its sleeve

Models are not showing anything in the mid to long range but I also think we get 1 more snow event .

[MJO812]

This wasn't a bad forecast from Upton

[IrishRob17]

7 hours ago, MJO812 said:

This wasn't a bad forecast from Upton

It was IMBY but that is typical with storms like that, the cutoff will getcha wherever it sets up. 

[jm1220]

13 hours ago, MJO812 said:

This wasn't a bad forecast from Upton

Too high up here but it's impossible to predict in advance where the best banding sets up. The RGEM maybe showed it best with the western snow max then second one over eastern LI. You have the western band with high ratios then the second max with the highest QPF and semi-shaft zone in between in most storms like these. 

[WeatherGeek2025]

[bluewave]

On 2/27/2026 at 7:06 AM, bluewave said:

Just try being a little less triggered by me pointing how our winters have been changing as our climate has been warming. I am very happy how this winter has turned out as it matched one of my scenarios issued a while ago about a potential rebound winter coming after the series of duds that we had in recent years.

So far my guess that it would be a struggle to reach 50” in NYC has turned out to be correct. Notice that NYC, LGA, and JFK are all in the 43-45” range and places like EWR and ISP are over 50”. Also mentioned that ISP reached over 50” in 2017-2018 and that it would be easier for them to do it again in the future which happened this year.

Also pointed out how the banding effects with major benchmark snowstorms and the heat island contribute to  give areas east and west of NYC more snowfall. I also believe it’s related to the terrain effects in the NY Bight allowing a snowband over NNJ and across Long Island. I also said that we haven’t had a winter near 32° since 2014-2015. So I am happy that we finally got one this year.

But you will notice that we had 4 winters around 32° during the 2010s and 50”+ of snow and only 1 during the 2020s so far. So winters like this have been declining in recent years with how much warmers our winters have become.

Was also pointing out how after the 2015-2016 jump in winter temperatures it would be a challenge for our region to rival 1995-1996 snowfall, PA to see their all-time snowfall matched again like in 1993-1994, places around Detroit and the Great Lakes to match 2013-2014 snow and cold, DC to Philly to match 2009-2010 snowfall, and Boston to rival their 2014-2015 snowfall.

My guess why none of these locations could even come close with the extended cold this winter is due to how small the geographic area of the cold was during this winter. This was the first time a cold and snowy winter like this in the Northeast occurred against the background of one of the warmest CONUS winters and Northern Hemisphere winters. So it put those legacy winters out of reach due to how small an area was covered by the shrinking cold pool.

Since I am a big winter weather enthusiast, it would make me very happy for NYC to go over 50” before the season ends. By mentioning that it would be a challenge to reach 50” isn’t the same thing as saying impossible which I would never do. 

The reason that I even started this discussion years ago was due to the fact that at least in NYC, they need a winter near 32.0° as a prerequisite to reach 50” of snow. I also pointed out to you that this wasn’t the case for other stations outside the heat island.

So it’s necessary for NYC to average near 32.0° to have a shot at 50” but not always sufficient. The fact that we get fewer winters this cold in a warming climate shrinks the number of chances NYC gets to reach this winter milestone. 

We don’t really know how long we’ll have to wait again to see another winter this cold and snowy again since the last one was 11 years ago.

Instead of you misrepresenting others ideas, why don’t you try to issue some of your own. 

 

 

 

Looks like NYC will finish the season at 43.4”, LGA at 45.6”, and JFK 45.4”. 

[MJO812]

Beautiful pic

[Brian5671]

Had it been colder-all locations would have had another 2-4 inches-Sunday daytime was rain/white rain for most areas

[bluewave]

 

 

[IrishRob17]

51 minutes ago, bluewave said:

 

 

 

That map is laughable for my neck of the woods.

[bluewave]

46 minutes ago, IrishRob17 said:

That map is laughable for my neck of the woods.

Probably due to the lower local resolution when trying to show regional snowfall. It would be nice if they were able to develop a map with local zooming capability. These types of maps are nice for broad overviews but not necessarily great locally. 

[The 4 Seasons]

Newark EWR changed their snowfall from 27.2 to 23.9" for some reason. Not sure if this was mentioned, but i just discovered it. @donsutherland1

[donsutherland1]

6 minutes ago, The 4 Seasons said:

Newark EWR changed their snowfall from 27.2 to 23.9" for some reason. Not sure if this was mentioned, but i just discovered it. @donsutherland1

This is the first I heard about it. Thanks for sharing this update.

[The 4 Seasons]

Since Newark was changed to 23.9" i updated all the maps to reflect this. I also wanted to fix Westchester county and lower the amounts there and make some other slight adjustments. 

https://www.jdjweatherconsulting.com/feb-22-23-2026

 

[MJO812]

I still look through the thread to this day.

[bluewave]

On 4/28/2026 at 9:43 PM, The 4 Seasons said:

Newark EWR changed their snowfall from 27.2 to 23.9" for some reason. Not sure if this was mentioned, but i just discovered it. @donsutherland1

Thanks for pointing this out. There was some talk on social media that the total was being reviewed since it was higher than the other surrounding sites. The same thing happened back in 2016.

https://www.facebook.com/danzarrow/posts/blizzard-of-2026-recap-the-numbers-are-in-and-they-have-now-been-thoroughly-chec/1443908300437997/

The historic 27.2" total at Newark Airport does appear on this map, but it is highly suspect when compared to its neighbors - it is being investigated.

https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/review-of-jan-2016-blizzard-preliminary-snow-totals-validates-dc-measurement

The snow team invalidated the preliminary record measurement of 28.1 inches at New Jersey’s Newark International Airport. The team found that snow was measured hourly instead of the standard procedure of measuring every six hours, which led to an inflated preliminary total. Meteorologists at the National Weather Service will follow a scientific method to determine the accurate total before it is sent to NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information for certification. The old Newark snowfall record of 27.8 inches set in 1996 stands.

Maximum 2-Day Total Snowfall 
for NEWARK LIBERTY INTL AP, NJ
Click column heading to sort ascending, click again to sort descending.

1	27.8	1996-01-08	0
2	26.0	1947-12-27	0
3	25.9	1947-12-26	0
4	24.3	2016-01-23	0
5	24.2	2010-12-27	0
-	24.2	2016-01-24	0
6	23.9	2026-02-23	0
7	22.6	1961-02-04	0
8	22.3	2003-02-17	0
9	21.3	2006-02-12	0
10	20.8	1921-02-21	0
-	20.8	1921-02-20	0

 

[rclab]

On 4/28/2026 at 9:51 PM, donsutherland1 said:

This is the first I heard about it. Thanks for sharing this update.

 

1 hour ago, bluewave said:

Thanks for pointing this out. There was some talk on social media that the total was being reviewed since it was higher than the other surrounding sites. The same thing happened back in 2016.

https://www.facebook.com/danzarrow/posts/blizzard-of-2026-recap-the-numbers-are-in-and-they-have-now-been-thoroughly-chec/1443908300437997/

The historic 27.2" total at Newark Airport does appear on this map, but it is highly suspect when compared to its neighbors - it is being investigated.

https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/review-of-jan-2016-blizzard-preliminary-snow-totals-validates-dc-measurement

The snow team invalidated the preliminary record measurement of 28.1 inches at New Jersey’s Newark International Airport. The team found that snow was measured hourly instead of the standard procedure of measuring every six hours, which led to an inflated preliminary total. Meteorologists at the National Weather Service will follow a scientific method to determine the accurate total before it is sent to NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information for certification. The old Newark snowfall record of 27.8 inches set in 1996 stands.

 

Maximum 2-Day Total Snowfall 
for NEWARK LIBERTY INTL AP, NJ
Click column heading to sort ascending, click again to sort descending.

1	27.8	1996-01-08	0
2	26.0	1947-12-27	0
3	25.9	1947-12-26	0
4	24.3	2016-01-23	0
5	24.2	2010-12-27	0
-	24.2	2016-01-24	0
6	23.9	2026-02-23	0
7	22.6	1961-02-04	0
8	22.3	2003-02-17	0
9	21.3	2006-02-12	0
10	20.8	1921-02-21	0
-	20.8	1921-02-20	0

 

 

On 5/1/2026 at 8:05 AM, The 4 Seasons said:

Since Newark was changed to 23.9" i updated all the maps to reflect this. I also wanted to fix Westchester county and lower the amounts there and make some other slight adjustments. 

https://www.jdjweatherconsulting.com/feb-22-23-2026

 

Good morning Don, BW, T4S’s. I m curious, when looking at Central Parks 19.7 and considering surrounding totals, if it’s measurement is accepted? Stay well. As always ….