The city that never sleeps has been forced to take a break. Between wind, snow, and gusts, the “bomb cyclone” has transformed New York into a spectacular winter wonderland, affecting tens of millions of residents throughout the region.
Some sights leave no one indifferent. In the bustling streets of New York, dotted with yellow taxis and illuminated by the lights of Times Square, a phenomenon paralyzed the city on February 23, 2026.
A gigantic winter storm, dubbed a “bomb cyclone,” transformed the metropolis into a vast white landscape, forcing residents to slow down the frenetic pace of the Big Apple and the entire region.
“Cyclone bomb”
“Bomb cyclone”Before it hit the city, the message from meteorologists was clear: the storm would be unique and unlike any other. Weather services spoke of a system capable of causing heavy snowfall, gusts of wind, and even rare phenomena such as thundersnow—lightning in the snow—due to the rapid intensification of the cyclone.
“We believe this storm may meet the definition of a bomb cyclone, which means that atmospheric pressure is falling very rapidly, intensifying the system,” said meteorologist Frank Pereira, as reported by CentralFM.
And the forecasts were accurate. “I’ve always been fascinated by how nature orchestrates events to produce extreme phenomena. It’s safe to say that this snowstorm is comparable to the most impressive ones in history,” explained Ryan Maue, an independent meteorologist and former chief scientist at NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) to Phys.org.
Owen Shieh, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, told the same media outlet: “It almost looks like a computer-generated image,” echoing the violence of the satellite images and the impact on New York.
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An impact on the entire life of the region
In New York, between 40 and 50 cm of snow had already been measured across most of the city at the height of the storm, with an additional 4 to 7 cm still expected in the evening, according to statements made by Mayor Zohran Mamdani during his press conference. The wind was another significant factor in this system, with gusts of up to 90 km/h reported in several areas of the Northeast. This area accumulated up to 83 cm of snow at Providence Airport (Rhode Island), and it was possible that snowfall could reach 90 cm in some places before the end of the event.
Shortly after these heavy snowfalls, the difficulties began to affect tens of millions of residents. Several hundred thousand homes were left without power, many schools were closed, and in some areas visibility dropped dramatically, making travel very difficult, if not impossible. In addition to closed roads and very difficult traffic conditions, more than 6,000 flights were canceled. Public transportation, including rail traffic, was severely disrupted on Monday, February 23, and even shut down in New Jersey.
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Faced with this situation, Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York, took unprecedented measures to protect the population. At a press conference, he announced that the city would remain under a state of emergency and strongly urged residents to stay at home. “According to current forecasts, the worst is over,” the politician said on Monday afternoon, reassuring locals who were trying to clear the front of their houses, amid a mixture of annoyance, curiosity, fear, and wonder.
The National Weather Service also warned of a risk of flooding in parts of New York State, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. In response, the governors of eight states—Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island—declared a state of emergency.
An improvement by midweek?
This almost post-apocalyptic scene follows a previous storm at the end of January, followed by a long cold snap. That storm caused around 100 deaths across the country, and at least 18 in New York alone, mainly due to hypothermia. On Monday, the Democratic mayor of the Big Apple assured that his services had not been aware of “any deaths related to this snowstorm on the streets or in public places.”
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The storm is expected to continue today, Tuesday, February 24, before gradually subsiding. According to several weather models reported by services such as AccuWeather, even though the main storm is gradually moving away toward the Atlantic, new winter disturbances remain possible later in the week, with additional snowfall for parts of the Northeast after the main system has passed. The situation will slowly improve by midweek, with temperatures expected to rise slightly. This should slow or stop snow accumulation in urban areas such as New York City.
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Featured photo : Unsplash, photo from 2021
