Northeast US scrambles to clear piles of snow as new storm descends on
the region
[February 25, 2026]
By JAKE OFFENHARTZ, REBECCA BOONE and HALLIE GOLDEN
NEW YORK (AP) — Snowplows cleared the way for ambulances and fire trucks
in Rhode Island. New York City workers geared up to dump massive basins
of warm water on piles of snow and ice. And in Boston, officials tried
to clear sidewalks coated in packed snow that cut off access for people
using wheelchairs.
The gigantic snowstorm this week across the Northeast U.S. dropped piles
of powder from Maryland to Maine and left cities on Wednesday scrambling
to clear towering heaps that were not showing signs of melting anytime
soon.
By Tuesday evening, New York City had spread 143 million pounds (65
million kilograms) of salt, according to Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and
signed up at least 3,500 people as emergency shovelers. The $30-per-hour
shifts involve clearing snow across public streets and bus stops.
But with another storm expected Wednesday, there was plenty more work
left to do, especially for the many people with disabilities.
Jeff Peters, spokesperson for the Center for Independence of the
Disabled, New York, described parts of the city as impassable islands.
“You’ll find a portion of a sidewalk that is clear, and then there’s
maybe a 6-inch (15-cm) pathway that can only be walked with one foot in
front of the other and no room for a stroller, rollator, walker or
crutches,” Peters said. “Then you get to the corner and not only is it
unshoveled, but you have basically a glacier at the end of it.”
Tina Guenette, who uses a motorized wheelchair, had to shovel out her
yard this week after more than 33 inches (84 centimeters) fell in
Harrisville, Rhode Island, a town about 17 miles (27 kilometers)
northwest of Providence.
“I really have no choice if my service dog wants to go outside,”
Guenette said Tuesday. Harrisville has a volunteer snow-shoveling
program, but it hasn't had volunteers for the last few years, she said.
The National Weather Service warned another storm originating in the
Great Lakes could push into the Northeast on Wednesday. The clipper
storm brings the prospect of a combination of rain and some snow, though
it’s not forecast to be nearly as severe.
NYC Emergency Management warned Wednesday morning commuters that the
forecast light snow and freezing temperatures could bring slick roads
and sidewalks as well as black ice.
Monday’s storm blanketed the region with snow, canceled flights,
disrupted transit, downed power lines and killed at least one person.
More than 3 feet (0.9 meters) fell in Rhode Island — surpassing snow
totals from the historic Blizzard of 1978 that struck the Northeast, the
National Weather Service said.
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A man walks a boy to school, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, in New York.
(AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
Meteorologist Ryan Maue, former chief scientist at the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said if all of the snow that
fell from Maryland to Maine fell just on Manhattan, the snow would
tower over a mile high.
In Newport, Rhode Island, Joseph Boutros, 21, was found unconscious
inside a vehicle covered in snow Monday night, the city’s police
department said in a statement. The Salve Regina University student
was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead due to carbon monoxide
poisoning, police said.
Some large school districts moved back to in-person classes on
Wednesday, including Philadelphia, which had switched to online
learning during the first two days of the week.
In New York City, more than 900,000 students in the nation’s largest
public school system had a regular day Tuesday. Many students and
their caregivers scrambled over mountainous snow banks and dodged
salt spreaders during the morning drop-off.
Power had returned for many of the hundreds of thousands who had
lost electricity in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware and Rhode
Island. But about 173,000 customers in Massachusetts were still
without power early Wednesday.
Thousands of flights in and out of the U.S. have been canceled in
recent days. By Wednesday, the disruptions seemed to be subsiding,
with only around 150 grounded, according to the flight tracking
website FlightAware.
When Jamie Meyers' flight landed in New York from Buenos Aires,
Argentina, Tuesday evening, the cabin full of relieved passengers
burst into applause. The Manhattan resident was supposed to arrive
home Sunday but faced a cancellation and significant delay.
The weather service referred to Monday’s storm as a “classic bomb
cyclone/nor’easter off the Northeast coast.” A bomb cyclone happens
when a storm’s pressure falls by a certain amount within a 24-hour
period.
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Golden reported from Seattle and Boone reported from Boise, Idaho.
Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz, Michael R. Sisak and Philip
Marcelo in New York; Mike Catalini in Morrisville, Pennsylvania;
Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Kathy McCormack in
Concord, New Hampshire; and Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed.
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