Winter Storm Hernando: Over 5,000 flights cancelled in US
Winter Storm Hernando Live: Blizzard warnings extended from Maryland to Maine as New Yorkers received urgent cellphone alerts Sunday night announcing a ban on non-emergency travel on all streets through noon Monday due to “dangerous blizzard conditions.”
THE “Blizzard of 2026” is officially underway as Winter Storm Hernando rapidly intensified into a bomb cyclone, spurring the first blizzard warnings for New York City and Boston in almost ten years.
Millions across New York City and much of the northeastern U.S. remained home on Monday under road travel bans and blizzard warnings as heavy snow and strong winds created whiteout conditions throughout the densely populated region, as reported by AP.
Snow fell at rates of 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.6 cm) per hour early Monday from New York through Massachusetts, with some areas accumulating more than a foot (30 cm) since Sunday, accompanied by wind gusts over 30 mph (48 kph) and low visibility, AP reported.
NYC Public schools closed on Monday, February 23?
New York City, the nation's largest school district, ordered all public school buildings closed for a traditional snow day, with no remote instruction and all after-school programs cancelled, Reuters reported.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani declared a state of emergency and ordered non-essential vehicles off city roads from Sunday night to noon Monday, saying plows and emergency crews needed the streets clear as snowfall intensified. The city is under its first blizzard warning since 2017.
Significant snowfall totals included 22.5 inches (57 cm) at Long Island MacArthur Airport, around 18 inches (46 cm) in Newark, New Jersey, and roughly 15 inches (38 cm) in New York City’s Central Park. Both New London, Connecticut, and North Kingstown, Rhode Island, recorded 17 inches (43 cm) of snow, AP reported.
More than 5,000 flights in and out of the United States were cancelled for Monday, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware. Most were cancelled in New York, New Jersey and Boston, AP reported.
