A historic winter storm is hammering the East Coast on Monday, burying major cities under more than a foot of snow and producing blizzard conditions so vast they can be seen from space.
More than 40 million people from Maryland to Maine are under blizzard warnings as the fast‑strengthening system sweeps up the coastline with heavy snow, fierce winds, and near‑zero visibility. The powerful nor’easter has already dumped more than 2 feet of snow in parts of Long Island and more than 15 inches across the New York City metro area, prompting states of emergency, school closures, and widespread travel bans. Most of the Northeast is expected to remain under some form of winter weather warning from the National Weather Service (NWS) at least through Monday evening, with some alerts stretching into Tuesday morning.
“This was a remarkably impactful and dangerous winter storm. Road crews could not keep up with snowfall rates approaching 3 to 4 inches an hour,” AccuWeather Vice President of Forecasting Operations Dan DePodwin told Newsweek in an email sent to reporters on Monday morning. “Powerful wind gusts above 50 mph and drifting snow made travel impossible in some areas. This blockbuster blizzard is the latest costly and exhausting storm in one of the harshest winters in more than a decade for millions of people in the Northeast.”
Satellite imagery from federal weather agencies shows the storm engulfing much of the Northeast, highlighting its intensity as forecasters warn snowfall rates could exceed 3 inches per hour in the hardest‑hit zones. With dangerous winds and whiteout conditions expected to persist for hours, officials are urging residents to stay off the roads as the storm continues to wallop the Eastern Seaboard.
“Epic satellite imagery of the historic blizzard and bomb cyclone Nor’easter slamming the Northeast,” extreme weather chaser Colin McCarthy posted on X. “Up to 27.5 inches of snow has fallen on Long Island, with wind gusts as high as 83 mph reported on Nantucket.”
New Jersey Mayor Mikie Sherrill extended a travel ban for the state on Monday. Originally set to expire at 7 a.m. Monday morning, the New Jersey government extended it an additional five hours to give crews more time to clean roadways buried under heavy snow. Several states, including New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maryland, and Massachusetts, have declared states of emergency because of the massive storm.
“The latest satellite imagery this morning highlights a major Nor’easter taking on a classic ‘comma-head’ shape as it rapidly intensifies off the Delaware/New Jersey coastline,” the NWS said in a Monday forecast. “Overall, the forecast remains on track in terms of expected impacts with this powerful system. Very heavy snowfall rates upwards of 2-3” per hour and gusty winds of 40-70 mph will continue to batter the Northeast today, while also spreading into New England this morning as the storm begins to accelerate. By tomorrow morning, some areas near the coastline could wake up to storm total snowfall amounts of one to two feet as the low departs into the Canadian Maritimes.
“For today, however, the very high snowfall rates and potentially damaging wind gusts will make travel nearly impossible from the DelMarVa Peninsula into southeastern New England,” the forecast added. “Beyond tomorrow, a progressive clipper system diving out of the Upper Great Lakes could yield additional snowfall over parts of the Northeast, including areas which are seeing the heavy snow now, so stay tuned.”
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