{ "number": 879, "headline": "February 21, 2026 Saturday Evening Winter Weather", "standfirst": "Arctic blast follows behind blockbuster blizzard into early next week, more cold on the way?", "desk": "winter", "dateline": { "place": "Weather Trader", "state": null, "lat": null, "lon": null, "site_key": null, "site_name": null, "site_url": null, "accent": null }, "edition": "2026-02-22", "published": "2026-02-22T01:24:52.548000Z", "updated": null, "access": "free", "body_html": "
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Saturday Evening Headline: Blockbuster Blizzard!

Not much to update from the earlier this morning \u2014 a powerful cyclone will \u201cbomb out\u201d right along the Mid-Atlantic coast, and then track northeast near the tip of southeast New England.

Impacts will be major/extreme to crippling especially on Long Island and along the immediate coast + 50-miles inland with hurricane force wind gusts and 2\u201d to 4\u201d per hour snowfall rates.

Extreme Impacts from the Winter Storm Severity Impacts (WSSI) on Long Island and in New York City proper

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850 mb Wind Speed \u2014> dynamical machine!

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This is post number 879: Good Evening! Day 52 of 2026.

Author: Dr. Ryan Maue (X @RyanMaue X @weathertrader)

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ECMWF 18z shows the low pressure center dancing along the immediate coast within the upper-level \u201ctreble clef\u201d trough

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ECMWF 18z 500 mb Vorticity shows the impressive \u201crapid intensification\u201d within 24-hours goes from 1000 mb to 970 mb

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HRRR Maximum Wind Gusts through Monday Afternoon (1 PM ET)

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You could be forgiven for thinking a major hurricane is lurking off the East Coast!

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60s and 70s mph = near hurricane force / maybe above from NJ through NYC into Boston. 50 - 60 mph wind gusts well inland!

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Still 45-50 mph wind gusts into Washington D.C.

Official National Weather Service Forecast | Snowfall for entire Blizzard (Valid from 00Z Sunday)

New York City: 17.2\u201d Central Park with a row of 20\u201d along Long Island.

Up to 24\u201d east of Trenton down I-195 in New Jersey

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Philadelphia: 16.2\u201d

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Boston: 20.9\u201d

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Dover, Delaware: 15.3\u201d

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Washington D.C. only 2.5\u201d \u2014 doubtful many are complaining.

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Overall Map for the Northeast \u2014 work of art by NWS for collaboration!

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NDFD NWS Total Precipitation Next 72-hours

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For Reference: Blend of Models v5.0 Snowfall

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For Reference: HRRR 48-hour Total Snowfall

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Total QPF from HRRR 18z for 48-hours

HRRR 18z \u2014 Radar Simulation Next 48-hours of the blizzard \u2014 not quite the entire event

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Arctic Cold on way back into Eastern U.S. through Florida into early next week

Low Temperatures on Sunday

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High Temperatures on Sunday

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191 million below freezing

Low Temperatures on Monday

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217 million below freezing

Low Temperatures on Tuesday

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Low Temperatures on Wednesday

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ECMWF 18z Precipitation Type + Intensity | Next 6-days

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More storms on the way across the Great Lakes and into the Northeast into late next week, but looks warmer for the big cities \u2026 and heaviest snow will be in Canada and northern New England.

Snowfall Next 6-days

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Eastern U.S. Next 6-days storm systems | ECMWF 18z

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Next Friday, we end up with a low pressure centered over northern New York and New England \u2014 mostly rain on the bottom side \u2014 for now!

Western U.S. Storm Systems \u2014 next 6-days

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The predominant flow is again out of the Southeast next week \u2014 much warmer and less snowfall potential for the mountains.

Blend of Models | 10 Days Precipitation Total

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Blend of Models | Total Snowfall Next 10-Days

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Sierra Nevada snowfall looks done \u2014 not much in the Great Basin or Colorado Rockies. Yikes! Meanwhile, the Great Lakes and Northeast continue to go bonkers.

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Arctic Blast Temperature Anomaly Next 6-days

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Stunning temperature anomaly 50 below normal for Alaska and Greenland at 2-meters (near the surface) with a pool of that Canadian cold air dumping out into the eastern U.S. behind the blizzard.

Unpresented (?) Intensity Tropospheric Polar Vortex up by Greenland

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I\u2019ve never seen -57\u00b0C at 500 mb \u2014 not really sure how that is possible. Extremely intense \u2014 maybe Roger Sr. can chime in here

Dynamic Tropopause from GFS next 7-days

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Truly massive \u201cwhite fuzzball\u201d smashes into/over Greenland and then breaks westward back toward Alaska with little loss of coherence.

Next 10-days at 500 mb from ECMWF AIFS 18z \u2026 to monitor what this extremely cold PV is going to do into early March \u2014> additional Lower 48 Arctic cold outbreaks?

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Temperature Anomaly Next 15-days | ECMWF EPS 12z Ensemble Mean

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Temperature Anomaly | Next 15-days | ECMWF EPS 12z

5-Day Chunk #1 | Temperature Anomaly | Feb 21 - Feb 25

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5-Day Chunk #2 | Temperature Anomaly | Feb 26 - March 2

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5-Day Chunk #3 | Temperature Anomaly | March 3 - March 7

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Maps sourced from weathermodels.com designed and innovated by yours truly! Please subscribe there for real-time access to the newest maps, charts from all of the weather models including ECMWF and AIFS, and NOAA GFS/GEFS.

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Saturday Evening Headline: Blockbuster Blizzard!

Not much to update from the earlier this morning \u2014 a powerful cyclone will \u201cbomb out\u201d right along the Mid-Atlantic coast, and then track northeast near the tip of southeast New England.

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