- Providence shatters records: Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport confirmed a massive 37.9 inches of snow, crushing the previous city record of 28.6 inches set in 1978.
- Massive power outages: Over 375,000 customers remain in the dark across the Northeast as of Tuesday morning. Massachusetts is the hardest hit, accounting for roughly 250,000 of those outages.
- Travel chaos persists: While airlines hope to resume limited service today, more than 2,000 flights for Tuesday have already been canceled. Total cancellations since Sunday have now surpassed 12,000.
- Staggering snow totals: Record-breaking accumulation includes 31 inches in Central Islip, NY, over 29 inches in Babylon, NY, and 19.7 inches in Central Park—the 9th biggest storm in NYC history.
- New threat looms: Even as digging out begins, FOX Weather is tracking an Alberta Clipper system expected to bring 5–8 inches of lake-enhanced snow to parts of New York and the Great Lakes by Wednesday.
- Transit restoration: Most NYC subway lines are running, although delays are expected through the day. Commuter rails like the LIRR and Metro-North are operating on limited schedules for the morning commute, while NJ Transit works to gradually resume service.
Governor Mikie Sherrill said more than 90 percent of customers who lost power are back online. More than 360,000 were without electricity at the height of the storm — more outages than in any storm in recent years, concentrated mostly along the Jersey shore.
Sherrill said the state of emergency will likely last through Wednesday.
{{#rendered}}Governor Kathy Hochul responded after NYPD officers were pelted by snowballs during an incident in New York City's Washington Square Park in Lower Manhattan on Monday.
"Our NYPD officers put themselves on the line to protect us every day. It is never acceptable to throw anything at a police officer, full stop," Hochul wrote on social media Tuesday.
A magnitude 3.0 earthquake shook the area just southeast of Cathcart, Washington around 5:40 a.m. local time.
Light shaking was felt in the nearby Seattle metro area, according to the USGS.
There's been no word on the extent of any damage.
{{#rendered}}A striking satellite image from the GOES-19 satellite captures the sheer scale of the Blizzard of 2026 as it rapidly intensified into a powerful bomb cyclone off the East Coast.
The high-resolution view shows a classic comma-shaped storm system with a defined swirling eye, bringing hurricane-force wind gusts and heavy thundersnow to the Northeast.
A Ground Stop is currently in effect at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York as crews work to clear significant accumulations of snow and ice that have left the airport restricted to single-runway operations.
Ground Stops are used by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to hold planes from taking off to the airport under the stop. So if you're flying to JFK this morning, chances are your flight is being held at its origin.
An official advisory from the FAA suggests that these operational constraints could continue throughout most of today as subfreezing temperatures make it difficult to keep even primary surfaces clear.
Approximately 40% of all scheduled flights at JFK have already been disrupted today. As of this morning, data shows at least 426 cancellations and 63 significant delays as airlines struggle to position aircraft and crews amid the limited runway capacity.
While some international and priority flights are still moving, travelers are strongly urged to check their flight status through their airline's mobile app before attempting to head to the terminal.
As the Northeast continues to dig out from the historic Blizzard of 2026, a new Alberta Clipper system is already diving out of the Great Lakes to threaten the region.
Snow showers are expected to spread across Upstate New York and Pennsylvania later today as the system pushes eastward. By Wednesday morning, light to moderate snow is forecast to impact the commute for major hubs including Syracuse, Boston, and Portland.
While this clipper is significantly less powerful than the recent bomb cyclone, it is expected to bring a fresh 1 to 3 inches of accumulation to a widespread swath from Central Pennsylvania through New England, including Boston.
Higher totals are possible in the interior Northeast and downwind of the Great Lakes, where lake-enhanced bands could drop 5 to 8 inches in parts of New York by Wednesday.
Farther south in New York City and Philadelphia, slightly warmer temperatures may result in a messy mix of snow and rain for the Wednesday morning commute.
{{#rendered}}The historic blizzard of 2026 has grounded more than 11,000 flights, leaving thousands of travelers searching for a way home. If your flight was among those scrubbed, airlines have issued travel waivers that allow you to rebook without the usual fees. Use this guide to understand your options and the specific deadlines for major carriers.
Understanding how waivers work
A travel waiver is a special policy issued during severe weather that allows you to change your flight for free, provided you meet certain criteria.
- Change fees: These are almost always waived during major storm events.
- Fare differences: Many waivers also waive the difference in ticket price if you rebook within a specific window and stay in the same cabin.
- Eligibility: Waivers typically apply to tickets purchased before the storm began for travel to, from, or through affected Northeast airports.
Rebooking deadlines by airline
Airlines have set different windows for when you must book your new flight and when that travel must be completed.
- American Airlines: You must book your new flight by February 26. New travel must be completed within one year of your original ticket date.
- Delta Air Lines: For travel through February 25, the fare difference is waived if you rebook by February 28 and travel in the same cabin.
- JetBlue: You can rebook flights for travel through March 4 without fees or fare differences, as long as your original travel was between February 22 and February 26.
- United Airlines: Customers originally scheduled to fly through February 25 can reschedule with fees and fare differences waived for new flights departing by February 27.
- Southwest Airlines: If your flight was delayed or canceled, you can rebook or travel standby within 14 days of your original date without paying a change in fare.
How to claim your refund
If your flight was canceled by the airline and you choose not to travel at all, you can request a full refund to your original form of payment.
- Avoid phone holds: Most airlines allow you to process cancellations and refunds directly through their website or mobile app under "manage trips."
- Refund vs. Credit: Be careful when clicking through prompts; airlines may offer travel credit first, but you can insist on a cash refund if the airline initiated the cancellation.
- Timeline: Once requested, refunds are generally processed back to your original payment method within seven business days.
The Blizzard of 2026 has officially moved into the cleanup phase, but a social media is lighting up over how New York City is bringing students back to the classroom today.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that all public schools are open for in-person learning today following Monday's historic blizzard. This decision stands in sharp contrast to Boston, where Mayor Michelle Wu has opted to keep all public schools closed for a second day to ensure the safety of students and staff as crews widen roadways and clear sidewalks.
The move in New York has drawn pushback online from parents and local officials who argue that many neighborhood streets remain dangerous and impassable. While city officials say they are plowing and salting the streets, they acknowledged that driving and even walking will remain a challenge over the next couple of days from this historic storm.
Despite this, Mayor Mamdani has defended the reopening, jokingly telling students they can still "pelt him with snowballs" when they see him.
In Boston, Mayor Wu explained that schools will remain closed today so city teams can sufficiently clear sidewalks and widen main roadways for the district's 700-bus fleet to maneuver safely. While Boston is managing a state of emergency and an active parking ban until at least 6 p.m. tonight, New York City officials noted that thousands of staff have been working around the clock to ensure school sidewalks are cleared down to the asphalt.
As New York City teachers and students navigate the first commute after the historic blizzard, the debate continues over whether reopening so quickly is a sign of resilience or a risk to public safety.
Mayor Mamdani has urged families to allow for extra travel time and to use their own judgment regarding safety, emphasizing that school officials have been working overtime to prepare buildings for the return of nearly 900,000 students.
The Blizzard of 2026 will go down as one of the most disruptive travel events of the year, turning the Northeast into a virtual "no-fly zone." While travelers are eager to get moving again, the aviation industry is facing a logistical nightmare as it attempts to reset a system that saw more than 12,000 flights canceled between Sunday and Tuesday.
The sheer volume of grounded flights and delays has created a backlog that will take days, if not a full week, to resolve. Sunday saw over 4,000 flights scrapped, followed by a peak of more than 6,100 on Monday. Even though the snow has stopped, an additional 2,000+ flights were preemptively canceled for Tuesday to manage the recovery.
Beyond the outright cancellations, at least 12,750 flights have been delayed nationwide due to the domino effect that major hub closures have on the rest of the country.
Restarting an airline after a complete hub shutdown is a complex puzzle with three major pieces out of place:
- Planes that were supposed to be in New York or Boston are currently sitting in Florida or California, and they cannot return until ramps and taxiways are fully cleared of 20+ inches of snow.
- Thousands of pilots and flight attendants are out of position, often timing out of their federally mandated work hours after being stuck in hotels or delayed at other airports.
- And because it is the end of the busy winter break period, many flights were already fully booked. This means there is no room to simply move thousands of canceled passengers onto the next available flight, often resulting in wait times of 48 to 72 hours for a confirmed seat.
Airports like JFK and Newark are facing subfreezing temperatures that have slowed de-icing throughput to a crawl. With limited ramp space and snow rates that repeatedly forced runway closures, the turnaround time for a single aircraft has nearly doubled, leading to further delays even after the sun has come out.
Airlines including Delta, United, and American have issued flexible rebooking waivers through the end of the month, but forecasters warn that with a new clipper system approaching on Wednesday, the path to a normal schedule remains incredibly narrow.
{{#rendered}}Millions across the Northeast are barely beginning the monumental task of digging out from the historic Blizzard of 2026, but the atmosphere isn't offering much of a break.
The FOX Forecast Center is tracking a fast-moving Alberta Clipper system that will dive out of the Great Lakes today, threatening to drop a fresh layer of snow across the region tonight through Wednesday.
This system is far less powerful than the record-shattering bomb cyclone that just exited, but it brings its own set of challenges for recovery efforts.
Snow showers will begin to spread across Upstate New York and Pennsylvania as the system pushes eastward. Light to moderate snow is expected to impact the morning commute for major hubs including Syracuse, Boston, and Portland.
Farther south in New York City and Philadelphia, temperatures may be just warm enough for snow to mix with rain, potentially creating a messy, slushy commute.
The FOX Forecast Center says the heaviest accumulations with this clipper will be concentrated in the interior Northeast and downwind of the Great Lakes. A widespread swath of 1 to 3 inches is forecast from Central Pennsylvania through Upstate New York and into much of New England.
Higher elevations in Vermont, New Hampshire, and the Maine mountains could see slightly higher totals (3-5 inches) as the system picks up moisture.
While 1 to 3 inches would normally be a minor event, it carries higher stakes today. In cities like Providence and Islip, where 30+ inches of snow are already on the ground, any additional accumulation makes clearing drains and widening narrow, snow-walled streets even more difficult.
The Blizzard of 2026 earned its historic status not just through record-breaking snow, but through the sheer, violent power of its winds. As the storm bombed out off the coast, it intensified into a system comparable to a Category 1 hurricane, fueling gusts that approached 90 mph in the hardest-hit coastal communities.
While the entire Northeast corridor faced 40–60 mph winds, the immediate coastline saw truly extreme conditions that knocked weather stations offline:
- Newport, RI: Recorded a staggering peak gust of 89 mph, the highest in the region.
- Montauk, NY: Clocked in at 84 mph, the highest in New York state.
- Nantucket, MA & Dennis, MA: Reported gusts of 83 mph and 82 mph, respectively.
These hurricane-force winds, combined with heavy, wet snow, created a perfect storm for infrastructure damage. The wind load was so intense that it caused structural strain on buildings and snapped utility poles like toothpicks.
The historic Blizzard of 2026 has officially redefined winter intensity for the Northeast, leaving behind a trail of shattered records and staggering snow totals. Nowhere felt the brunt of the storm more than Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts, where the three-foot mark wasn't just a prediction—it became a reality.
Providence led the charge, recording a monumental 37.9 inches at T.F. Green International Airport, effectively crushing the legendary 1978 record by nearly 10 inches.
Across the border in Massachusetts, the "jackpot zone" shifted into Bristol and Plymouth counties, where totals officially crossed the 30-inch mark. Whitman emerged as a regional peak with a staggering 33.7 inches, while Dartmouth recorded a verified 33.0 inches of accumulation. These historic totals were driven by persistent mesoscale bands that dropped snow at rates of 3 to 4 inches per hour, completely burying neighborhoods and overwhelming local plowing operations.
Connecticut also saw its share of historic numbers, with North Stonington officially recording 30.8 inches, making it the hardest-hit area in the state.
While the storm has finally pulled away, the shear volume of snow—compounded by hurricane-force wind gusts that created drifts twice as high as the flat accumulation—has left a recovery timeline that officials warn could last well into the weekend.
{{#rendered}}Hazardous dangling wires remain a significant threat after the Blizzard of 2026 knocked out power to hundreds of thousands. Fire officials are urging residents to treat all downed lines as live and extremely dangerous—watch the footage here to see the damage firsthand.
As the Northeast begins the massive dig-out from the Blizzard of 2026, thousands of residents are waking up in freezing homes with no electricity. At its peak on Monday, the bomb cyclone knocked out power to over 675,000 customers as hurricane-force wind gusts and heavy, wet snow snapped utility poles and brought down massive trees from Maryland to Maine.
While utility crews worked through the night, over 380,000 homes and businesses remain in the dark right now. The restoration process has been hampered by deep snowdrifts—exceeding 30 inches in parts of Rhode Island and Long Island—which have made many suburban and coastal roads impassable for heavy bucket trucks.
- Massachusetts: The hardest-hit state, with approximately 254,000 outages still active. Coastal communities like Barnstable (Cape Cod) were devastated, with over 86% of the county losing power during the height of the storm.
- New Jersey: Roughly 36,000 customers remain without power, down from a peak of over 200,000. Ocean County remains the most impacted area in the Garden State.
- Rhode Island & Delaware: Both states continue to grapple with tens of thousands of outages following record-breaking snow and high winds.
Utility companies, including National Grid and Eversource, have deployed thousands of workers—some traveling from as far away as Ohio and Virginia—to assist in the recovery. However, officials in Connecticut and Massachusetts warned that due to the sheer volume of snow and debris, full restoration in some remote or heavily damaged areas could take four to six days.
Residents are urged to stay at least 30 feet away from downed lines and to use extreme caution with portable generators to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.
The dig-out phase of the historic 2026 blizzard is proving to be a logistical nightmare for rail travel. Despite the storm exiting the region overnight, Amtrak has already canceled at least 39 trains scheduled for Tuesday morning as crews struggle to clear tracks and reset equipment.
The service cuts are hitting the Northeast Corridor the hardest, with major suspensions remaining in place between Boston South Station and New York Moynihan Train Hall. Passengers are also seeing significant disruptions on routes between New York and Philadelphia.
Beyond full cancellations, local transit agencies like NJ Transit have warned that their own resumptions are contingent on Amtrak completing work to clear snow from critical track switches that remain frozen.
{{#rendered}}The Blizzard of 2026 has officially secured its place in the New York City record books. After a day of relentless snow and whiteout conditions, the National Weather Service confirmed that 19.7 inches of snow fell in Central Park. This staggering total makes the storm the 9th largest snowfall ever recorded in the city since record-keeping began in 1869.
See how the Blizzard of 2026 evolved with FOX Weather's LIVE Winter Storm HQ coverage from Monday.
Live Coverage begins here