Historic East Coast Blizzard Knocks Out Power for Hundreds of Thousands—and It’s Not Over Yet

Gizmodo · Feb 23, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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Hundreds of thousands of customers were without power Monday morning as a blockbuster blizzard blanketed a large swath of the East Coast in heavy snow, and the number of outages is still climbing. At 10:20 a.m. ET on Monday, poweroutage.us showed outages affecting nearly 647,000 customers across seven northeastern states: Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware, Rhode Island, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania. Massachusetts and New Jersey had the highest number of outages, affecting more than 214,000 and 128,000 customers, respectively. EverSource, the most disrupted utility, reported roughly 207,000 outages across Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. In a televised interview with Hartford CBS affiliate WFSB early Monday morning, EverSource spokesperson Jamie Ratliff described the storm conditions as “very difficult” and said that high winds and snow-covered roadways are hindering restoration efforts. “This storm is far from over,” Ratliff said. “There’s a lot more snow, a lot more wind, so we are expecting more trees—tree limbs, potentially—to come down on electric equipment and cause outages.” A storm for the record books This powerful Nor’easter is comparable in strength to a Category 2 hurricane, meteorologist Ben Noll reports for the Washington Post. As of Monday morning, it was rapidly intensifying off the southeast coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The storm’s outer bands reached the Northeast on Sunday and have since dumped more than a foot (30.5 centimeters) of snow on several cities, including New York City, Newark, New Jersey, and New Haven, Connecticut, according to Reuters. Meteorologists have also recorded wind gusts of 50 to 70 miles per hour (80 to 113 kilometers per hour) across the impacted region. The combination of heavy snowfall and high winds is continuing to produce widespread blizzard conditions, forcing officials to issue citywide (and in some cases, statewide) travel bans as blowing snow covers roadways and drastically reduces visibility. In New York City, which is battling its first blizzard in a decade, travel will remain restricted until 12 p.m. ET on Monday. While blizzard conditions should begin to subside Monday afternoon, the storm won’t depart New England until the evening, Noll reports. “Very heavy snowfall rates upwards of [2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 centimeters)] 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,” the National Weather Service stated in its latest update. “By tomorrow morning, some areas near the coastline could wake up to storm total snowfall amounts of one to two feet [30 to 61 centimeters] as the low departs into the Canadian Maritimes,” the agency added. Prepare for prolonged outages The number of customers without power will likely climb throughout Monday as crews struggle to keep up with the damage. Impacted utilities, including EverSource, PSE&G, and Rhode Island Energy, have stated that restoration could take several days. If you do lose power, notify your utility company as soon as possible. If you also lose heat, there are steps you can take to protect yourself, your family, and your pipes from below-freezing temperatures. Immediately seal off any unused rooms, close curtains and blinds, and gather in a single, well-insulated interior room to prevent heat from escaping. Bundle up in winter clothing and blankets to stay as warm as possible. To prevent your pipes from freezing and bursting, insulate any that are exposed to the elements and allow faucets to drip during the coldest periods. Most importantly, figure out where you can go if your home becomes dangerously cold. Take the time now to locate warming shelters, community centers, or other safe indoor locations that you can reach via unrestricted means of travel. The full severity of this storm’s impact remains to be seen, but it’s already going to go down in history as one of the worst blizzards the Northeast has ever seen. Take this one seriously.