A powerful winter storm has cut off New York City, grounding thousands of flights and straining transport networks, as 41 million people along the US East Coast brace for blizzard conditions in what could be one of the city’s worst storms on record.
The storm, named Hernando, is “potentially crippling” for a lot of areas across the Northeast, said Brian Hurley, a senior branch forecaster at the Weather Prediction Center. For New York City, Long Island, New Jersey, most of Rhode Island and eastern Massachusetts, it has the potential to bring extreme impacts, topping the five-step scale used by the agency to predict winter systems.
More than 10,000 flights into and around the US were canceled through Tuesday — most of them originating or terminating in New York, Boston and Philadelphia, according to data from FlightAware. Delta Air Lines Inc. said it expects to suspend operations at New York’s LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy International airports and Boston Logan International Airport into Tuesday.
Heavy snowfall, combined with high winds could lead to cascading travel delays on the ground too, as well as power outages that will likely spread across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. US natural gas futures jumped as much as 6.8%, with the colder weather set to boost demand for heating.
“Blizzard conditions are expected and will make travel treacherous and potentially life-threatening,” the New York branch of the US National Weather Service said in a notice late Sunday.
Intense bands of snow peaking at 2 to 3 inches per hour fell in the city early Monday morning, according to the National Weather Service. The forecaster said the snowfall was expected to slow, but blizzard conditions are expected to last through daybreak.
Anything more than 14.8 inches in 24 hours would rank in the top-10 storms for the city. The most New York got in a day was 27.3 inches on Jan. 23, 2016.
“These are blizzard conditions,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on Sunday, adding that some areas may see as much as 28 inches of snow. “New York City has not faced a storm of this scale in the last decade. We have activated additional high-water rescue teams should flooding grow dire.”
Mamdani announced that highways, bridges and streets into New York were closed as of 9 p.m. on Sunday, with schools staying shut on Monday. Meanwhile, train and bus services have been crimped by the threat of more than 18 to 20 inches of snow falling from roughly Philadelphia to Maine.
“No one is going into or out of New York City,” said Frank Pereira, a senior branch forecaster at the Weather Prediction Center. “New Jersey, Long Island, New York City and southern New England will take the brunt of the heaviest snowfall.”
US forecasters have also warned that snow could fall quickly in some areas, with visibility reduced by winds that could gust to nearly 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour in New York City and 70 mph along the coast. Philadelphia may get 16 inches of snow, while Boston is forecast to see as much as 20 inches, the National Weather Service said. Washington was expected to get 3 inches.
The weather is forecast to “rapidly deteriorate” as snowfall intensifies and brings whiteout conditions, the agency’s New York branch said.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority subway system is operating with local service, while Metro-North Railroad is running on a weekend schedule. Service on the Long Island Rail Road, however, will be suspended.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency for New York City, Long Island and parts of the Hudson Valley. New Jersey also declared an emergency and Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont banned commercial vehicle travel starting at 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Hochul warned New Yorkers about possible widespread power outages. In preparation, approximately 6,000 utility workers have been positioned to respond and restore service as quickly as possible.
“It is just too dangerous for them to go up a pole and risk their own lives to get the power on,” she said at a news conference. “So please be patient if you lose power.”
The governor expanded the state of emergency to 22 counties, up from 17. Over 100 National Guard members have been deployed, she added, and more than 2,000 plows are prepared to clear and treat roadways.
More than 225,000 customers in New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia were without power around 4:45 a.m. local time on Monday, according to PowerOutage.com.
In Boston, all public schools will be closed on Monday, as will City Hall and other municipal buildings, including Boston Public Library branches.
Kevin Heald, who owns Malt & Mold, a wine, beer and cheese bar in Gramercy Park in New York City, said he was planning to stay open late “because people will want to go somewhere when it snows.”
On the other hand, Oscar Sanabria, owner of dog grooming and daycare business PetStar in the same neighborhood, said that some pets will be boarding longer because of flight cancellations. He decided to close his business Monday since his workers would have trouble getting in.
The widespread snow across the Northeast and extensive ice on the Great Lakes may keep the region locked into a stormy winter pattern for weeks to come, said Rob Carolan, owner of Hometown Forecast Services.
“I think it is going to take until April for us to break out of this pattern,” Carolan said.
Top Photo: Pedestrians on the Brooklyn Bridge during a winter storm in the Brooklyn borough of New York, US, on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. New York City has been isolated by a powerful winter storm that threatens to be among its worst on record, while across the region 41 million people are facing blizzard conditions that have already crippled air and ground transportation. Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg
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