The Northeast has been reeling from extreme snowfall and high winds that battered the region Sunday night and all day Monday, leaving several states covered with more than two feet of snow and causing blizzard conditions.
The storm reached bomb low pressure early Monday morning and rapidly strengthened, with winds reaching hurricane-force gusts and snow bands intensifying. As tens of millions of people hunkered down under blizzard warnings, local authorities echoed the state of emergency and issued travel bans.
This historic storm has had a myriad of effects, including schools across the region closing, the U.S. House and Senate postponing their first voting series this week, major rail routes being adjusted, public transportation suspended, and even popular food delivery service DoorDash suspending operations in the nation’s largest cities.
The storm weakened by evening, leaving behind a widespread trail of snow, but more storms are expected. Here’s what you need to know:
Amazing snowfall: Communities from the Mid-Atlantic to New England were buried under 1 to 3 feet of snow during historic snowstorms. As of 7 p.m. ET, Providence, Rhode Island had the heaviest snowfall at 37.9 inches. The capital is followed by Whitman, Massachusetts, with 33.7 inches. Central Islip, New York, 31 inches. North Stonington, CT, 30.8 inches. and 30.7 inches in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. Track more snow totals across the Northeast here.
Record-breaking across the region: Bomb cyclone had historic impacts on cities across the Northeast, resulting in the largest snowstorm on record in Providence, Rhode Island. Around 1 p.m., when just over 27 inches of snow fell in Newark, New Jersey, the snowstorm was officially ranked the city’s second-heaviest snowstorm based on records dating back to 1931. The storm also marked the Big Apple’s snowiest winter since the 2020-2021 season. Philadelphia recorded the most snowfall from a single storm since January 2016.
More snow possible: After this brutal storm, the chance for snow again will become real in the Northeast soon. Luckily, there’s no chance of heavy snowfall and it looks like it’s going to snow soon. A new storm will bring snow to the Great Lakes on Tuesday and reach the Northeast overnight into Wednesday. Most places in the region will see less than 2 inches of snow, but higher elevations in Pennsylvania, New York, and New England could see several more inches.
A dizzying wave of flight cancellations: The massive bomb cyclone also wreaked havoc on air travel, with more than 10,000 U.S. flights canceled between Sunday and Tuesday. As of around 10 a.m. Monday, about 63% of the canceled flights (more than 3,518 flights) were scheduled to depart from or arrive at three major airports serving the New York City area: LaGuardia, JFK and Newark Liberty International.
Outages stabilized but widespread: Outages spiked throughout Monday due to extreme winds and heavy snow, leaving nearly 400,000 customers without power as of 6:30 a.m. ET. Five hours later, that number had reached 650,000. Power outages across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region appeared to stabilize by 1 p.m., but more than 500,000 customers were still affected by 5 p.m. However, some power restoration efforts were delayed due to the blizzard.
CNN’s Chris Boyette, Aaron Cooper, Holly Yan, Alaa Elassar, Zoe Sottile and meteorologists Mary Gilbert, Briana Waxman and Chris Dolce contributed to this report.
