Live updates: NYC, Boston, Philly brace for historic blizzard 'bomb,' 2+ feet of snow expected

There is no "off-season" for the fearless crews of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron. Known as the Hurricane Hunters, these Air Force Reserve and NOAA pilots have swapped tropical heat for arctic air, flying their specialized WC-130J Super Hercules and Gulfstream IV aircraft directly into the developing nor'easter to gather critical, real-time data.

By dropping GPS instruments called dropsondes from altitudes as high as 45,000 feet, they are sampling the atmosphere's temperature, pressure, humidity, and wind speed in regions where satellites and ground stations simply can't reach.

Hurricane Hunters' flight path into the developing nor'easter along the East Coast.

This mission is the secret weapon for forecasters trying to nail down the impossible track of this historic blizzard. The high-resolution data retrieved by the planes is fed directly into the American (GFS) and European (ECMWF) weather models, helping to resolve the "model mayhem" that saw snow predictions jump from a few inches to over two feet in mere hours.

By capturing the exact moisture levels and wind fields offshore, these flights are providing the linchpin data needed to issue more accurate Blizzard Warnings and potentially save lives across the Northeast.

Latest snow forecast from FOX Weather showing more than 2 feet of snow near the Boston metro area through Monday.

Boston is currently under a Blizzard Warning as it prepares for a historic bomb cyclone that could dump between 18 and 24 inches of snow across the metro area.

With the storm intensifying later tonight, the city is bracing for life-threatening travel conditions, 60 mph wind gusts, and significant coastal flooding.

Mayor Wu has declared a snow emergency and implemented a parking ban to assist road crews, while officials urge residents to hunker down and prepare for potential widespread power outages caused by the heavy snowfall and extreme winds.

There is a spooky numerical trend that has New York City meteorologists scratching their heads: nearly every all-time record-breaking blizzard in the city has occurred in a year ending in the number 6.

This 10-year interval has turned the mid-winter months of 1996, 2006, and 2016 into legendary milestones for weather enthusiasts and a nightmare for city transit.

As we find ourselves in 2026, the pattern seems to be holding firm as yet another historic bomb cyclone takes aim at the I-95 corridor.

To understand the scale of what is currently brewing, we have to look back at the big three storms that defined the last three decades:

• January 1996 (The Blizzard of '96): This massive nor'easter paralyzed the Eastern Seaboard for nearly a week. Central Park recorded 20.2 inches of snow, while other boroughs saw up to 30 inches. The storm was so intense it forced the New York Stock Exchange to close early and left thousands across the region without electricity or heat for days.
• February 2006: Just 10 years later, a minor affair turned into a record-shattering event. It dumped 26.9 inches on Central Park in a single 16-hour period—the highest total recorded since 1869 at that time. Snow fell at staggering rates of 3 to 4 inches per hour, causing subway delays and cutting bus service in half.
• January 2016 (Snowzilla):  Keeping the "sixes" streak alive, the storm became the most significant storm in NYC history. It dropped an all-time record 27.5 inches of snow in Central Park. The storm prompted a total travel ban for all NYC and Long Island roads, proving that even with modern preparation, a 10-year monster storm can still bring the "city that never sleeps" to a complete standstill.

Latest snow forecast from FOX Weather showing up to 2 feet of snow for New York City through Monday.

With Blizzard Warnings once again hoisted for the five boroughs this weekend, it appears the "10-year curse" is right on schedule. Whether it's a quirk of atmospheric cycles or just meteorological coincidence, the Northeast is once again bracing for a generational event that could join the ranks of '96, '06, and '16 in the record books.

History is unfolding in the Garden State as the National Weather Service (NWS) has placed the entire state of New Jersey under a Blizzard Warning.

According to NWS Mount Holly, this marks the first time in exactly 30 years—stretching back to the legendary Blizzard of 1996—that such a widespread, top-tier winter alert has covered all 21 counties simultaneously.

The Blizzard of 1996 buried the Northeast in more than 2 feet of snow.

While coastal regions have seen more recent warnings, this universal declaration underscores the extreme nature of the bomb cyclone currently bearing down on the region.

The NWS transition from Winter Storm Warnings to a blanket Blizzard Warning follows a surge in confidence that sustained winds or frequent gusts of 60 mph will combine with snow rates of 2 to 3 inches per hour to create life-threatening conditions.

During the 1996 event, the state was similarly paralyzed by over two feet of snow and record-shattering drifts that shut down the New Jersey Turnpike for the first time in its history.

With current forecasts predicting up to 24 inches for some jackpot zones, Governor Sherrill has echoed the gravity of the moment, urging all residents to treat this as a potentially historic threat to life and property.

With the bomb cyclone just hours away from unloading historic snow across the Northeast, we know everyone is itching to grab a yardstick and see how their town stacks up against the forecast.

However, as 60 mph winds whip through the I-95 corridor, getting a true reading is about more than just poking a ruler into the nearest drift.

Use this handy guide to accurately measure snow during and after the blizzard.

To help you report the most accurate ground truth to the National Weather Service (NWS) and FOX Weather, follow this official guide to snow measurement.

1. Choose the right spot: Location is everything. Avoid measuring in the grass, as individual blades can prop up the snow and artificially inflate your totals by an inch or more. You also want to stay away from buildings, trees, or fences, which can cause shadowing or unnatural accumulation. The gold standard is a snowboard—a flat, white-painted wooden board (ideally 16" x 16") placed in an open area away from your house. If you don't have one, a level picnic table or a deck far from the siding will work in a pinch.
2. Measure from the ground up: Use a ruler or yardstick and push it straight down until it hits your measuring surface. Always record your measurements to the nearest tenth of an inch (e.g., 8.3") rather than rounding to the nearest whole number.
3. The 6-hour rule: clear the board periodically: For a long-duration event like this blizzard, the NWS recommends measuring and clearing your board every 6 hours. This prevents the snow from compacting under its own weight, which can happen quickly with heavy, wet accumulation. Pro Tip: Never clear your board more than four times in a 24-hour period, as doing so too often will grossly inflate your final storm total.
4. Take an average: In high-wind events, snow is never distributed evenly. To get an accurate reading, take multiple measurements in different representative spots around your yard—avoiding the massive drifts—and average them together. If you have three readings of 10", 12", and 11", your average report is 11 inches.
5. Avoid drifts and windblown areas: During a blizzard, undercatch and drifting are your biggest enemies. If your snowboard is scoured bare by the wind or buried under a four-foot drift, move to a more sheltered, level area. Official snow depth (the total amount currently on the ground) is different from snowfall (the new accumulation) and should be reported to the nearest whole inch.

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FOX Weather is deploying a team of meteorologists and correspondents across the Northeast ahead of the blizzard.

FOX Weather is providing LIVE, around-the-clock coverage of Blizzard '26. With more than a dozen crews deploying into the storm, this is the place for the most comprehensive storm coverage. Our team of meteorologists and correspondents will be Weathering It Together with you, reporting on the latest LIVE developments as the storm unfolds.

Global computer models (GFS and ECMWF) disagreed on the storm's track and expected snow amounts.

Leading up to this weekend's historic blizzard, even the world's most sophisticated computer models found themselves in a state of model mayhem as they struggled to pin down the storm's volatile track.

Just days before the first flakes fell, major global systems like the European (ECMWF) and the American (GFS) were locked in a stark disagreement that left meteorologists baffled.

While the GFS was sounding the alarm for a record-shattering "biggest storm of all time" with potential three-foot totals, the European model—historically considered the most accurate global predictor—was calling for a much weaker system that would largely head out to sea.

The primary challenge for these digital guides was capturing the rare and explosive phasing of two separate energy systems from the Great Lakes and the Southeast and the final track of the storm's center.

Most reliable models initially failed to realize these systems would merge at full speed, creating an atmospheric energy blast that redefined the storm's magnitude in mere hours.

Additionally, because models are only as good as the data they receive, small miscalculations in the initial temperature and moisture levels can lead to wildly different answers.

This high-stakes uncertainty meant that even a minor shift of 50-100 miles in the projected track was the difference between a "nothing" event and a crippled I-95 corridor.

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If you went to bed on Friday thinking this was just a nuisance storm and woke up to a 24-inch nightmare, you aren't alone—and neither are the computers.

This wasn't just a forecast miss; it was a masterclass in atmospheric chaos.

Numerous reliable computer forecast models initially struggled to accurately capture the track and magnitude of the storm.

Here is the breakdown of how the Blizzard of '26 went from a disorganized mess to a generational monster in under 48 hours.

The perfect (or worst) track: Earlier in the week, most weather models took the storm's center far away from the U.S. coast. That lead to initial predictions of a light-snow event for the I-95. When the storm's individual pieces got closer and computers were able to accurately model it's eventual path, snow amounts took a serious turn. Now, the center of the storm is projected to track directly over or just southeast of the 40°N/70°W benchmark. This specific set of coordinates is considered the sweet spot for classic New England nor'easters, as it allows the storm to pull in maximum moisture from the Atlantic while keeping the I-95 corridor on the cold, snow-heavy side of the system.

Bombogenesis: With the right ingredients in play, storm will undergo bombogenesis—the "bomb" in bomb cyclone. To be a bomb, a storm’s central pressure must drop 24 millibars in 24 hours. This one won't just meet the criteria; it will demolish it, dropping pressure like a rock. As the pressure plummets, the storm begins to spin more violently, pulling in massive amounts of moisture from the warm Gulf Stream and slamming it into a wall of arctic air.

The "mesoscale" headache: The real reason your local total might have jumped from 6 inches to 24 is a phenomenon called mesoscale banding. These are narrow, high-intensity ribbons of snow—often just 10 to 20 miles wide—that can dump 3 to 4 inches of snow per hour while a town just a few miles away sees significantly less. Models struggle to pinpoint exactly where these bands will set up until the storm is literally on top of us.

Factor in a high snow-to-water ratio (where cold air turns a little moisture into a lot of fluffy snow), and you have the perfect recipe for a forecast that "busts" toward the extreme.

LEARN

What is a bomb cyclone?

When a storm undergoes rapid strengthening, you might hear meteorologists refer to the storm as a "bomb cyclone."

Governors Kathy Hochul (NY) and Mikie Sherrill (NJ) have officially declared States of Emergency as the Northeast braces for the full fury of a historic bomb cyclone.

In New York, the National Guard has been activated to stand watch over 22 counties while a strict commercial travel ban takes hold of I-84 and all southern routes starting at 4:00 p.m. ET.

Governor Hochul is urging residents to hunker down before the storm's 60 mph gusts turn the landscape into a blinding whiteout that could make even a short trip life-threatening.

Across the Hudson, Governor Sherrill has placed all 21 New Jersey counties under high alert, warning that the Garden State is in the crosshairs of a generational event.

With coastal communities staring down the barrel of a potential two-foot snow burial, the state is prepping for the inevitable snap of power lines and falling trees as 60 mph winds lash the region through Monday morning.

Both leaders are emphasizing a single, urgent message: finish your preparations now and stay off the roads to give emergency crews the space they need to battle this monster storm.

The FOX Forecast Center has significantly increased its snow predictions as a powerful "bomb cyclone" prepares to blast the East Coast.

Widespread accumulations of 12 to 24 inches are now expected along the I-95 corridor from Philadelphia to Boston through Monday.

Forecast confidence is surging for a historic event, with models now painting more than two feet of snow for parts of the Jersey Shore and Long Island.

FOX Forecast Center snow totals through Monday

• Jersey Shore: 2 feet+

• Boston: 18–24"

• New York City: 18–24"

• Philadelphia: 18–24"

• Baltimore: 5-8"

• Washington: 3-5"

Latest snow forecast from FOX Weather showing more than 2 feet of snow for the Jersey Shore along the coast to Boston.

The heaviest snow is set to arrive Sunday night into Monday morning, with intense mesoscale bands potentially dumping 2 to 4 inches of snow per hour in localized "jackpot" zones.

Combined with wind gusts between 50 and 70 mph, these totals will lead to total whiteout conditions and life-threatening travel.

Residents are urged to complete all preparations immediately, as the weight of this heavy snow combined with extreme winds is likely to trigger widespread power outages throughout the region.

Don't miss out: you can go back and see LIVE updates from Saturday's coverage of this historic blizzard.

Click here to see the minute-by-minute updates from FOX Weather.