The historic East Coast Blizzard of 2026 smashed all-time records in Rhode Island, and was the heaviest snowstorm in at least a decade in several other cities, including New York City.
This storm was named Winter Storm Hernando by The Weather Channel.
All-Time Records Smashed
The heaviest snow totals from Hernando were in a swath from New Jersey to southeast Massachusetts, but particularly in Rhode Island, where numerous 30 to 37-inch snowfall reports.
The highest total — 37.9 inches — from T.F. Green International Airport in Warwick, obliterated that station’s record heaviest snowstorm in over 121 years, which had been the infamous Blizzard of ’78, when 28.6 inches of snow fell from Feb. 6-7, 1978.
Incredibly, 35.5 inches of that snow fell on Monday, Feb. 23 alone. That appeared to top the all-time calendar-day state snowfall record (previously 30 inches in Woonsocket on Feb. 7, 1978), according to NOAA.
It was also the state’s highest snowfall in any 24-hour period (34 inches in Foster from Feb. 8-9, 1945), verified by a committee of scientists from the National Centers For Environmental Information (NCEI), various National Weather Service Offices and the Rhode Island Dept of Environmental Management.
These records are preliminary, for now, and will likely be reviewed by an ad hoc committee of meteorologists at a later date.
The T.F. Green snowfall was just 0.1 inch shy of the all-time heaviest Rhode Island snowstorm, 38 inches in Woonsocket during the Blizzard of ’78.
Other more mind-boggling stats from Rhode Island:
– The entire 37.9 inches at T.F. Green Airport fell in less than 24 hours, from 9 p.m. on Feb. 22 until 5 p.m. the following day.
– That’s more snowfall than their average for an entire winter season (36.6 inches) and also tops their previous record snowy month (36.7 inches in January 2005).
– At one time, snow was falling at the rate of 4 inches per hour.
– Their February 24 snow depth of 39 inches also obliterated their previous record heaviest snowpack of 30 inches from 65 years ago, Feb. 5, 1961.
– Hernando was also an all-time record 24-hour snowfall and snowstorm on Block Island, Rhode Island, where 28 inches of snow was reported. The previous records — 21.7 inches in 24 hours and 22 inches storm total — were set during the Jan. 19-20, 1978 storm, according to Christopher Burt.
AP Photo/Mark Stockwell
Other Notables
Hernando wrung out at least a foot of snow in parts of 11 eastern states from West Virginia to Downeast Maine. Five states from New Jersey to Massachusetts reported at least 30 inches of snow.
Four locations in southeast Massachusetts reported at least 31 inches of snow, including at the National Weather Service office in Norton. According to the NWS-Norton office, these snowfall totals will also be investigated to see if any of them will be accepted as a new calendar-day state record, currently 31.9 inches in Worcester on Jan. 27, 2015.
NOAA/NWS
Newark, New Jersey, tallied 27.2 inches of snow, just 0.6 inches shy of their all-time snowstorm record from the January Blizzard of 1996.
Atlantic City, New Jersey’s 16.9 inches was their heaviest snowstorm in over 15 years, since the post-Christmas 2010 East Coast storm. It was also less than 5 inches from their record Feb. 15-18, 2003 snowstorm (21.6 inches), and almost equal to their average snowfall for an entire season (17.4 inches).
Hernando was the heaviest snowstorm since Winter Storm Jonas just over 10 years ago at New York’s Central Park (19.7 inches), Philadelphia (14 inches) and Trenton, New Jersey (16.4 inches).
Snowfall rates up to 3 inches per hour were observed on Long Island, and blizzard conditions were confirmed by the National Weather Service in multiple locations, including Boston and Newark, New Jersey. This snow was even accompanied by lightning strikes, at times.
Peak snow totals, by state:
– Connecticut: 30.8 inches in N. Stonington
– Delaware: 21 inches in Long Neck
– Maryland: 16 inches in Bishopville
– Maine: 12 inches in Cutler and Trescott
– Massachusetts: 37 inches near Bliss Corner
– New Hampshire: 9.8 inches near Barrington
– New Jersey: 30.7 inches in Lyndhurst
– New York: 31 inches in Central Islip
– North Carolina: 9.3 inches on Beech Mountain
– Pennsylvania: 22.1 inches in Lower Makefield Township
– Rhode Island: 37.9 inches in Warwick (T.F. Green Airport)
– Vermont: 6.8 inches in Bennington and Readsboro
– Virginia: 15 inches at Wintergreen
– West Virginia: 22.5 inches in Holly River State Park
And, overall, NOAA rated Hernando a Category 3 out of 5 winter storm, using an index based on snowfall, the extent of snowfall and how much population was affected.
Gary Hershorn/Getty Images
Peak Winds
The peak reliable wind gust was a 98 mph gust in northern Cape Cod at a weather station 88 feet above the ground in Wellfleet.
Over a dozen other locations on land clocked at least 60 mph wind gusts, including Boston’s Logan Airport (68 mph), New York’s JFK Airport and Atlantic City, New Jersey (both 60 mph).
Other peak gusts over 70 mph:
– Marshfield, Massachusetts: 90 mph
– Norwell, Massachusetts: 89 mph
– Montauk, Long Island: 84 mph
– Nantucket, Massachusetts: 83 mph
– Dennis, Massachusetts: 82 mph
– Stony Brook, New York; N. Kingstown, Rhode Island: 74 mph
– Chatham, Massachusetts: 73 mph
– Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts: 71 mph
– Barnegat Light, New Jersey: 70 mph
Gusts to at least 50 mph were recorded at LaGuardia Airport (51 mph) and Newark-Liberty Airport (54 mph).
Blizzard conditions were confirmed at dozens of locations along the Northeast coast, including Boston, Providence, Rhode Island; New Haven, Connecticut; Newark, New Jersey; Islip, New York; and New Haven, Connecticut, according to the National Weather Service.
Along with the blizzard conditions the high winds and heavy, wet snow combined to down trees, some onto vehicles, even homes, from the New York City tri-state into southeast New England. At one time, over 650,000 customers were without power in the Northeast during the storm.
States of emergency were issued for seven states. A full travel ban was issued throughout Rhode Island to help clear roads, and over a dozen smaller airports including Atlantic City, Islip and Providence shut down for a time during the storm.
The low-pressure system has intensified rapidly enough to be deemed a bomb cyclone. This nor’easter’s central pressure plunged 41 millibars in 24 hours ending at 7 a.m. ET on February 23, according to analyses from NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center.
Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.
