More than 40 million Americans are under blizzard warnings as a major winter storm began lashing the northeast US, prompting a travel ban in New York City and leaving tens of thousands of properties without power.
Some areas in New York witnessed nearly 15 inches of snowfall overnight, as per the National Weather Service (NWS). In Long Island, snow fell at a rate of three inches per hour for parts of the night, NWS informed on X, adding that heavy snow is "still falling".
5:28am: We observed a 3"/hr snowfall rate between 4am-5am in the large heavy band over eastern Long Island. Our snowfall total stands at 14.9" as of 5am. Heavy snow still falling.
— NWS New York NY (@NWSNewYorkNY) February 23, 2026
The blizzard warnings stretch from Maryland to Maine.
According to FlightAware, more than 5,500 commercial flights in the US scheduled for Monday have already been cancelled. About 90% of the arrivals and departures have been suspended at major hubs, such as Kennedy Airport, LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport in the New York area, as well as Boston Logan International Airport.
Children across major areas of the US Northeast will stay at home on Monday, since the powerful winter storm forced school closures and pushed offices and transit systems onto emergency schedules, Reuters reported.
The NWS predicted that heavy rainfall would continue over the Pacific Northwest and North-Central California through mid-week.
"The latest satellite imagery this morning highlights a major Nor'easter taking on a classic 'comma-head' shape as it rapidly intensifies off the Delaware/New Jersey coastline," it stated.
On Monday, very heavy snowfall, upwards of 2-3 inches per hour, along with gusty winds of 40-70 mp,h will continue to batter the Northeast, the NWS has warned.
It will further spread into New England as the storm begins to accelerate. By Tuesday, several areas near the coastline might wake up to a storm, with total snowfall amounts of 1-2 feet as the low departs into the Canadian Maritimes.
Notably, Nor'easters are strong areas of low pressure that deepen off the US' east coast. They are common and usually develop due to strong temperature contrasts, since cold polar air collides with warmer maritime air, heated by the Gulf Stream, BBC reported.
In the US, a winter storm warning is issued in cases where the threat is "predominantly snow or a mix of snow and sleet". Moreover, the blizzard warning involves "sustained or frequent gusts to 35mph (56km/h) or greater and considerable falling and/or blowing snow", as per NWS.
Data from poweroutage.us highlights that over 2,60,000 customers in the Mid-Atlantic region are without power, mostly in New Jersey and Delaware, due to the storm.
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