A highly anticipated, highly impactful Nor'easter struck northwest Connecticut on the evening of Sunday, February 22 through the afternoon of Monday, February 23, 2026. Tracking along the East Coast and rapidly intensifying as it approached the 40 latitude/70 longitude benchmark, this system quickly gained national attention not only for its projected widespread blizzard conditions across many…
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS ALY wrote it up.
A highly anticipated, highly impactful Nor'easter struck northwest Connecticut on the evening of Sunday, February 22 through the afternoon of Monday, February 23, 2026. Tracking along the East Coast and rapidly intensifying as it approached the 40 latitude/70 longitude benchmark, this system quickly gained national attention not only for its projected widespread blizzard conditions across many high profile, highly populated areas, but for the complexity of its forecast.
Confidence increased sufficiently for forecasters at National Weather Service Albany to upgrade a prior issued Winter Storm Warning to a Blizzard Warning mere hours prior to snowfall onset in Litchfield County. Once snow began, it didn't take long for rates to become moderate to heavy, rapidly dropping visibility late in the evening of Sunday, February 22nd. As the core of the still strengthening storm drew closer, winds became gusty and reduced visibility further. The combination of heavy snowfall rates and frequent wind gusts between 25 to 40 mph made for on and off blizzard conditions, with visibilities falling below one quarter of a mile, from around 2 AM through nearly 1230 PM Monday, February 23, 2026. Snow finally began to gradually slow after 1230 PM Monday, February 23, 2026 and eventually tapered off after 4 PM. The resulting snowfall totals across Litchfield County reached 12 to nearly 20 inches.
Ahead of the event, the Governor of Connecticut, Ned Lamont, declared a State of Emergency in an attempt to keep residents off the roads. Consequently, many schools; local businesses; and roadways were closed, and there was a travel ban instated for commercial vehicles beginning at 5 PM on Sunday, February 22nd. Additionally, and unfortunately, there was one recorded death in New Milford in southern Litchfield County. The age and sex of the individual were not available, nor was the location in which they died. However, per the medical examiner's office, the individual died of 'accidental hypothermia' that was likely exacerbated by their prior ailments of dementia and cardiovascular disease.
Key Impacts: state of emergency, travel ban, road closures, traffic accidents, school closures, power outages.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Albany, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 22, 1:30 PM EST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Albany NY
130 PM EST Sun Feb 22 2026
.WHAT HAS CHANGED...
Winter Storm Warning has been converted to a Blizzard Warning
for Ulster, Dutchess and Litchfield Counties, with a start time
of 21z. Combination of heavy snow and gusty winds will result in
very low visibility and dangerous travel conditions.
In addition, snowfall amounts on the northern edge have been
trimmed slightly due to newer guidance suggesting a tight
gradient in snowfall totals for the Capital Region and Mohawk
Valley. Amounts may still need to be reduced further, but will
wait for radar trends and short-term models to make further
changes.
&&
.KEY MESSAGES...
1) A high impact Nor'Easter will bring heavy accumulating
snowfall and strong winds to parts of the area this evening
through much of Monday, which will result in difficult to
impossible travel conditions, blizzard conditions in Ulster,
Dutchess and Litchfield Counties, and possible downed trees and
power lines.
2) A fast moving low pressure area is expected to bring light
accumulating snowfall on Wednesday morning, which may impact
travel conditions during the commute.
3) Another storm system potentially could bring light to
moderate amounts of accumulating snow or a wintry mix Thursday
into early Friday with some uncertainty with the track and
timing of the system.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
KEY MESSAGE 1...
Surface low (around 1003 mb) is located close to the Outer Banks
of North Carolina. This area of low pressure will be lifting
northward offshore the coast of the Delmarva for this evening
and will be passing east of New Jersey for tonight. It will
continue to track east-northeast for Monday, passing south of
southern New England. The storm is expected to rapidly deepen
and strengthen, as a large closed off upper level trough over
the Ohio Valley dives towards the storm system. The storm is
could become as strong as 970 mb by late Monday based off model
guidance, so this would be a significant cyclone near the
Northeast coast before it departs towards Atlantic Canada for
Monday night.
With the upper level shortwave to the west, some light snow has
already been ongoing across the region, but this has been very
light so far and not leading to much accumulation. With
widespread cloud cover and a light northerly flow in place,
temperatures area fairly cold, with values in the mid 20s to
low 30s. MRMS imagery already shows more organized precipitation
associated with the developing surface storm over south Jersey
and this is lifting northward. Based off the latest model
guidance, southern parts of the CWA will start to get into the
steadier snowfall by this evening (mainly after 00z). This
snowfall will try to work its way northward and looks to reach
the Capital Region and soutehrn Vermont after midnight or so.
The steadiest and heaviest snowfall looks to occur for the late
night hours and into Monday morning, as the surface low tracks
closest to the area. There looks to be a heavy band of snow on
the northwest side of the surface cyclone and this looks to be a
pivoting band, with snowfall rates exceeding 2" per hour. It is
still unclear just how far north and west this band gets, but
the Catskills, mid Hudson Valley, Berkshires and NW CT are most
likely to see the high snowfall rates and heaviest amounts.
Snowfall should gradually diminish on Monday from west to east,
but may linger in the high terrain of western New England into
the evening hours.
Guidance continues to show totals in exceed of one foot across
southern areas, with some areas still over 16" for the highest
terrain of the Catskills. Litchfield County may see the highest
totals in our area as well being closest to the storm center.
Meanwhile, the northern fringe continues to be a difficult
forecast. Latest 12z guidance has trended lower in snowfall
amounts for the northern extent, with the best gradient staying
south and east of the Capital Region. Although Winter Storm
Warnings continue for the Albany area, amounts may be lower than
the previous forecast if this guidance is correct. Have lowered
totals in the Albany area to around 5", but it's possible this
is even too high based on the latest HRRR. Some adjustments to
headlines on the northern side may be needed.
Meanwhile, the southern continues are expected to see heavy
snowfall and gusty winds reaching 50 mph will result in blowing
and drifting of snowfall. With enough periods of strong winds
expected along with the heavy snowfall, blizzard conditions are
expected for Ulster, Dutchess and Litchfield Counties,
especially late tonight into Monday morning. Have upgraded to a
Blizzard Warning for these counties, with visibility under 1/4
mile expected for at least several hours within the heavy
falling snowfall. This will result in dangerous whiteout
conditions and impossible travel conditions. The strong winds
look late tonight into Monday, and much of the area will see
blowing snow with gusts over 30 mph at times. The wet snow,
combined with the gusty winds, could result in some downed tree
limbs and possible power outages as well.
While temps will generally be in the mid 20s to low 30s during
the storm, they will become colder for Monday night as the storm
departs. With the continued breezy conditions, this will result
in wind chill values near zero, especially for high terrain
areas.
KEY MESSAGE 2...
A fast moving clipper system is expected to impact the region
for Tuesday night into Wednesday. This will be a northern stream
system and moisture is somewhat limited. The track of the
surface low looks to be north of the area, so this will limit
the overall precip. Still, a coating to an inch or two is
expected for many areas and this may make for slippery
conditions during the morning commute on Wednesday. Highs should
reach into the 30s on Wednesday for the entire area, so some
melting is possible during the afternoon.
KEY MESSAGE 3...
Another storm system will impact the region for late Thursday
through early Friday. There are some differences in the models
regarding the storm track and exact timing. This system will be
coming from the west and will have more moisture than the
previous storm system for Wednesday. Some guidance, including
the AI models, show a track south of the region, so much of the
precip could be snow, although some guidance does show a
chageover to mix or rain, especially southern areas. This could
have an impact on travel for Friday morning based on the exact
timing and amounts. For now, will lean close to the NBM guidance
during this time period, but NBM guidance already shows over a
50% chance of at least 2" of snow for much of the area at this
time.
&&
.AVIATION /18Z SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/...
MVFR conditions are in place this afternoon due to low ceilings
arond 2000-3000 ft and some spotty light snow showers and
flurries. Flying conditions will generally be MVFR through the
early evening hours due to these lower ceilings along with light
northerly winds.
IFR/LIFR conditions are expected to develop this evening and
into the overnight as steady snowfall lifts northward into the
area. IFR snow is expected at KPOU as early as 22z, but it may
take until 04z-08z to reach the northern sites of KGFL and KALB
as snowfall works its way northward. Steady snowfall is expected
for the late night hours and into Monday morning, along with
some blowing snow, especially for KPOU and KPSF. Visibility will
be as low as 1/4 to 1/2 mile in falling and blowing snow,
especially at KPSF and KPOU for Monday morning. Visibility may
not be quite this low at KALB, as the best snow bands may stay
just southeast of there.
Gusty north to northeast winds are expected during the late
night and into Monday as well, with some gusts over 30 kts,
especially for KPOU. 2 kft will be around 50 kts, so some LLWS
is possible is surface winds remain light enough.
Outlook...
Monday Night: Low Operational Impact. Breezy. NO SIG WX.
Tuesday: Low Operational Impact. Breezy. NO SIG WX.
Tuesday Night: Moderate Operational Impact. Chance of SN.
Wednesday: High Operational Impact. Definite RA...SN.
Wednesday Night: Low Operational Impact. Slight Chance of SN.
Thursday: Moderate Operational Impact. Chance of SN.
Thursday Night: Moderate Operational Impact. Likely RA...SN.
Friday: Low Operational Impact. Slight Chance of SN.
&&
.ALY WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
CT...Blizzard Warning from 4 PM this afternoon to 7 PM EST Monday
for CTZ001-013.
NY...Blizzard Warning from 4 PM this afternoon to 7 PM EST Monday
for NYZ063>066.
Winter Storm Warning from 4 PM this afternoon to 7 PM EST
Monday for NYZ058>061.
Winter Weather Advisory from 10 PM this evening to 7 PM EST
Monday for NYZ039>041-050-082-084.
Winter Storm Warning from 7 PM this evening to 7 PM EST Monday
for NYZ047>049-051>054.
MA...Winter Storm Warning from 4 PM this afternoon to 7 PM EST
Monday for MAZ001-025.
VT...Winter Storm Warning from 7 PM this evening to 7 PM EST Monday
for VTZ013>015.
&&
DISCUSSION...27
AVIATION...27The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
Zone average snowfall of 15 inches and 3 to 4 hours worth of frequent wind gusts between 35 to 40 mph.
Zone average snowfall of 13.5 inches and 3 to 4 hours worth of frequent wind gusts between 35 to 40 mph.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blizzard, Southern Litchfield | 2026-02-22 | Unknown | Indirect |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Connecticut in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Connecticut, February 2026
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1320376, 1320377.