New York starts prepping for heavy snow ahead of nor'easter

Lauren Rosenthal, Bloomberg News on Feb 20, 2026

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A late-weekend storm could blanket parts of the Eastern Seaboard with snow, with more than half a foot possible in New York and several inches across southern New England through Monday.

A wave of warm, moist air from the U.S. Gulf is expected to collide with cold air sweeping south from Canada. The resulting nor’easter will be capable of producing gusty winds and heavy snow along Interstate 95 from Philadelphia to northern Massachusetts. As much as 10 inches (25 centimeters) could fall on New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, with more than six inches in Boston beginning Sunday night.

Amtrak said in an X post Friday that “service adjustments may be necessary” along its Northeast Corridor routes depending on the final path of the storm. The U.S. National Weather Service has warned that blowing snow in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut will likely last into Monday, snarling morning commutes.

“Snow totals can either go up or go down,” said Joe Pollina, an NWS meteorologist in Upton, New York. “But we’re pretty confident that we’re going to see at least six inches.”

In preparation, New York City’s emergency management division posted a call on X for paid “emergency snow shovelers” to dig out bus stops, crosswalks and fire hydrants. Registration will be open Saturday at local Department of Sanitation garages, the post said.

The inbound storm is building just as the last snow piles from January’s record-setting storm begin to melt. Since Dec. 1, Manhattan’s Central Park has seen more than 22 inches of snowfall, Pollina said, nearly double the previous year’s total to date.

A separate weather system is expected to drop rain and slush across the Hudson Valley and heavy snow in New England through Saturday, with sleet building in upstate New York.

The East Coast has endured several rounds of bitter cold this winter, but temperatures are expected to remain mild before turning toward freezing Sunday.