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Blizzard Blitz Buries NYC with Nearly 2 Feet of Snow

The second snowstorm of the season, and the first official blizzard in a decade, walloped the city on Feb. 22-23. Washington Heights received 22.1 inches of snow. Most areas of Manhattan reported at least 15 inches.

Upper West Side /
| 23 Feb 2026 | 05:14
    On a Morningside Heights street, the good news was that the alternate side of the street was suspended. The bad news? More digging out your car.
    On a Morningside Heights street, the good news was that the alternate side of the street was suspended. The bad news? More digging out your car. ( Photo: Ralph Spielman)
    On Riverside Drive, a lonely tow truck waits for a green light at West 114th Street. A normally busy thoroughfare, the Drive was devoid of any car traffic, mildly punctuated by an occasional bus or snowplow.
    On Riverside Drive, a lonely tow truck waits for a green light at West 114th Street. A normally busy thoroughfare, the Drive was devoid of any car traffic, mildly punctuated by an occasional bus or snowplow. ( Photo: Ralph Spielman)
    Two hearty travelers make their way across Riverside Park wearing snowshoes on the night of Feb. 22, as the blizzard hit the city full force.
    Two hearty travelers make their way across Riverside Park wearing snowshoes on the night of Feb. 22, as the blizzard hit the city full force. ( Photo: Catherine Goode)
    Kids were given a snow day on Feb. 23, but only a handful ventured out early into Riverside Park. That changed later in the day when the snow stopped.
    Kids were given a snow day on Feb. 23, but only a handful ventured out early into Riverside Park. That changed later in the day when the snow stopped. ( Photo: Catherine Goode)
    Even as snow fell on Feb. 22, an army of workers cleared walkways. Mayor Mamdani was criticized by some after the Jan. 24 storm for not clearing sidewalks and intersections fast enough.
    Even as snow fell on Feb. 22, an army of workers cleared walkways. Mayor Mamdani was criticized by some after the Jan. 24 storm for not clearing sidewalks and intersections fast enough. ( Photo: Catherine Goode)
    Worker clears snow off of awning’s roof at an UWS Korean restaurant.
    Worker clears snow off of awning’s roof at an UWS Korean restaurant. ( Photo: Catherine Goode)
    Few people ventured out on the UWS as the blizzard hit on Feb. 22.
    Few people ventured out on the UWS as the blizzard hit on Feb. 22. ( Photo: Catherine Goode)
    Workers clear snow trying to get a stuck bus moving again.
    Workers clear snow trying to get a stuck bus moving again. ( Pjhoto: Catherine Goode)
    Most buses and subways continued to run throughout the storm, but this bus on the UWS was out of service as workers dug it out.
    Most buses and subways continued to run throughout the storm, but this bus on the UWS was out of service as workers dug it out. ( Photo: Catherine Goode)
    Looking north on Riverside Drive at 10 a.m. on Feb. 23, there was no traffic in either direction at that moment, just the wind and the snow.
    Looking north on Riverside Drive at 10 a.m. on Feb. 23, there was no traffic in either direction at that moment, just the wind and the snow. ( Photo: Ralph Spielman)

A blizzard walloped Manhattan cancelling classes and sending wind gusts of over 40 MPH and a snow emergency that banned traffic from 9 p.m. when the storm began gathering intensity on Feb. 22 until noon on Monday when snow finally began to taper off.

Washington Heights in northern Manhattan was the hardest hit area in Manhattan with 22.1 inches of snow, while most other areas of Manhattan recorded snowfalls of at least 15 inches.

The heavy snowfall marks the first blizzard to hit the city since Jan. 2016. It’s been classified as a “bomb cyclone” or “Nor’easter” by meteorologists, due to the rapid drop in barometric pressure that has given it so much force.

Wind gusts of up to 47 MPH were reported in Manhattan around 3 a.m. on Feb. 23.

As the storm gathered momentum on Sunday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani issued a travel ban for all non-essential vehicle traffic that was in effect from 9 p.m. on Feb. 23 to noon on Feb. 23. This meant that only emergency-response vehicles, MTA buses, utility vehicles, or vehicles transporting workers deemed essential were permitted on the roads.

After getting some criticism for ordering schools kids to go to remote learning in an earlier Jan. 24 storm, this time around Mamdani gave a snow day to the city’s approximately one million public school students, the first since 2019. He encouraged schoolchildren to go sledding once the blizzard slows, which started around midday on Feb. 23. Students will officially be instructed to return to class on Tuesday, Feb. 24.

By the end of the day on Feb. 23, the website Plow NYC showed that about half the roads in Manhattan, especially along the north/south avenues, had been plowed once in the past hour. Most of the east/west streets had been plowed at least once in the past three hours.

The Feb. 22-23 blizzard follows another walloping winter storm that hit New York City a month ago, which dropped 11.5 inches on Central Park on Jan. 25.

The bitterly cold weather that both preceded and outlasted that storm led to 26 deaths, 19 of which occurred outdoors, city officials say. A large number of these deaths reportedly stemmed from hypothermia but several were from drug overdoses.

Snow from last month’s storm also took weeks to melt due to a persistent streak of sub-freezing temperatures; the melting process appeared to have neared completion in many areas when the current blizzard touched down.

City officials say that above-freezing temperatures in the days following Feb. 23 will greatly speed up the melt-off this time around, however. If a new Farmer’s Almanac’s forecast bears out, New Yorkers can look forward to a dry and warmer-than-usual spring, too.