Event Summary

A period of moderate to heavy snow overspread the region Wednesday morning into Wednesday afternoon on January 26th in response to a subtropical moisture feed ahead of a Mid-Atlantic low pressure system. This bout of snow produced 2 to 5 inches across the region. The snow tapered to a light wintry mix late Wednesday afternoon into early evening, before a second heavier round of precipitation with convection worked into the region Wednesday evening. This was in response to a strong upper level disturbance working towards the region and rapidly intensifying coastal low pressure southeast of the region throwing moisture back over the area. A very heavy snow band developed over the NYC Metro, Southern and Eastern Portions of the Lower Hudson Valley and Northern and Western Long Island Wednesday evening, which gradually moved northeast late Wednesday night. This band was responsible for snowfall rates of 3 to 4 inches per hour over a 4 to 6 hr period, raising snow totals to 15-20 inches across much of the region. Lower snowfall amounts of 8-12 inches were experienced over Eastern Long Island due to sleet mixing in with the snow for a time Wednesday night. Over 19 inches of snow accumulated in Central Park. Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared a weather emergency for New York City. Bloomberg announced the closure of all non-emergency city government offices and New York City Schools were closed. The storm broke New York City’s record for January snowfall. A total of 36 inches had fallen in Central Park this month compared with 27.4 inches in 1925.Snow accumulations caused massive transportation delays including over a thousand airline cancellations at all of the major New York airports. John F. Kennedy International airport was closed until 10:30 a.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Amtrak suspended its passenger rail service from New York to Boston and cut service between New York and Albany.