Historic blizzard of 2026 smashes snow records as millions begin to dig out from vicious bomb cyclone

NEW YORK – A departing bomb cyclone lashed the Northeast coast with hurricane-force wind gusts, set all-time snowfall records and is already being dubbed "The Blizzard of 2026" as it becomes the benchmark for several communities across the region. Hundreds of thousands are still without power, with a foot of snow recorded in 10 states. 

At its height, over 40 million people across eight states were under Blizzard Warnings and more than 600,000 customers were in the dark Monday after the storm had "bombed out" offshore earlier in the morning. More than 11,000 U.S. flights were canceled through Tuesday, according to the flight-tracking site FlightAware.

LIVE UPDATES: DEADLY BLIZZARD 'BOMB' PARALYZES NORTHEAST IN EXTREME SNOW, SOARING POWER OUTAGES

The monster nor'easter has finally made its exit with the final flakes falling in the early morning hours Tuesday across parts of New England, which remain buried in snow. 

Places farther south like New York City, New Jersey and the Philadelphia area were able to get a jump start on cleanup as the storm lifted through the day Monday. Many travel bans have been lifted and some mass transit systems that were shut down due to the massive nor'easter are beginning to come back online.

However, black ice is expected to remain a major concern through the Tuesday morning commute after a dangerous refreeze overnight.

The sprawling system produced several areas of "jackpot" snow totals, with 2–3 feet of accumulation where the heaviest bands set up, including southeast Massachusetts, Rhode Island and the eastern portion of New York's Long Island. 

A snow emergency remains in effect across Boston Tuesday. Public schools will stay closed but city offices and community centers will be operating on a delayed schedule, first opening at noon.

The city's subway, bus, commuter rail and ferry systems are operating with reduced service, after Boston tallied 17.1 inches of snow Monday.

The National Weather Service office in Norton recorded 31.8 inches of snow, while Berkley saw 31 inches.

The lion's share of the regional power outages remain in Massachusetts with more than 250,000 customers still in the dark early Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a travel ban remains in effect across Rhode Island, which saw the most snow of any state.

Providence recorded 37.1 inches of snow, an all-time record. Warwick, North Kingston, Glocester and Central Falls all saw more than 31 inches of accumulation.

Connecticut lifted its travel ban Monday night.

WHAT IS A BOMB CYCLONE?

New York's Long Island tallied impressive snow totals, with Islip reporting 29.1 inches. A travel ban was in place across Suffolk County through Monday afternoon and county buses are scheduled to resume operation at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday.

FOX Weather Storm Specialist Mike Seidel showed whiteout conditions just before 9:00 a.m.

New York City subways are operating with some residual delays and the heavily-used commuter rail lines of Metro-North, Long Island Rail Road and NJ Transit have resumed service with modified schedules.

Central Park tallied 19.7 inches of snow entering the city's top 10 snowstorms of all time.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani issued a rare citywide travel ban for non-essential vehicles across all city roads, which was lifted at 12:00 p.m. Monday

New York City public school students had their first full snow day since 2019, although in-person classes resumed Tuesday.

Newark, New Jersey just west of New York City, recorded 27.1 inches of snow, its second-biggest snowstorm, after a heavy snow band sat over the region overnight Monday.

The central and southern parts of the state, as well as the Jersey shore are seeing some of the largest snow totals. Freehold recorded 22.2 inches of snow by Monday morning.

Toms River recorded more than 12 inches of snow and Atlantic City tallied more than 14 inches of snow by Monday morning.

Philadelphia ended its snow emergency at 6:00 a.m. Tuesday after tallying more than 14 inches of snow.

Delaware the state's department of transportation reported Mondayt that nearly 100 roads in Kent and Sussex Counties have downed trees or power lines and many others are in poor condition due to snow accumulation.

Non-emergency vehicles were banned on all roads in Sussex and Kent and only essential personnel are allowed to drive in New Castle County.

Two people were killed near Sunderland, Maryland Sunday afternoon after a tree fell on their car as the nor'easter began to slam the region.

The Calvert County Sheriff's Office said Monday that a third person was trapped inside and was taken to the hospital with critical injuries.

In Washington, D.C., both the Senate and House postponed key votes to Tuesday due to the nor'easter.