Suffolk County digs out after Blizzard of 2026, pockets near 28 inches

Pockets of nearly 28 inches of snow left central and southeastern Suffolk County digging out after the Blizzard of 2026 buried parts of Long Island, with local crews working Monday to clear white-out conditions following the storm that struck Feb. 23. GreaterLongIsland described "snow-caked windows, drifts blocking the doors" and said final tallies showed some of the highest totals in years.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a State of Emergency covering Albany, Bronx, Columbia, Greene, Delaware, Dutchess, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Schenectady, Schoharie, Suffolk, Sullivan, Ulster, Westchester and contiguouscounties and "activated the New York National Guard" by sending 100 members to support response operations across New York City, Long Island and the Lower Hudson Valley. “New Yorkers are no strangers to snow and cold weather, but these blizzard-like conditions approaching New York City, Long Island and the lower Mid-Hudson will bring heavy snow and strong winds, with the storm forecasted to impact much of our state,” Governor Hochul said, adding that “our state agencies are equipped with the resources they need to respond to the developing storm and keep everyone informed."

Transportation remained severely disrupted: the Long Island Rail Road suspended services at 1 a.m. Monday until further notice, and airlines reported thousands of flight cancellations across the Northeast. Abc13 summed the cleanup scene: "Neighbors, government workers and a powerful railroad snow-clearing machine nicknamed 'Darth Vader' scrambled to dig out much of the northeastern United States from a brutal and - in some areas - record-breaking storm that blanketed the region with snow and resulted in thousands of flight cancellations."

Meteorologists warned the cleanup would be prolonged. Frank Pereira, a meteorologist for the weather service in College Park, Maryland, said, "While the new storm is not expected to be as strong, even a few extra inches of snow on top of hard-hit areas could make cleanup more difficult," a concern for Suffolk communities balancing heavy accumulations and strong winds.

Local recovery on roads was uneven. A Facebook post from a Cape Cod-area account urged motorists: "We are asking all motorists to stay off the roads so that plows can continue snow removal. Even after the storm subsides, snow removal will be a multi-day process, and some roads will remain difficult to travel on. It will take some time for travel to be safe on all roads as crews remove snow and road hazards. There are Emergency Shelters available in Plymouth and Barnstable, but transportation is not currently available due to the road conditions. There’s gotta be 15+ plow trucks stuck on the on ramp trying to get to buzzard bay,." That post underscores multi-state impacts stretching into Massachusetts while Long Island crews work to free stuck equipment and clear residential streets.

School schedules diverged across the region: New York City canceled classes Monday and Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced schools would reopen for in-person learning on Tuesday, while districts on Long Island and other New York suburbs said they would cancel school again Tuesday as cleanup continued and sidewalks remained impassable.

Beyond Long Island, the National Weather Service reported more than 3 feet (91 centimeters) of snow in parts of Rhode Island, exceeding totals from the Blizzard of 1978 in that state, and reinforcing the scale of the storm across the Northeast. GreaterLongIsland also noted community items amid the recovery: Long Island musician Mike DelGuidice plans a new music hall in Smithtown slated to open later this year, and Spring Long Island Restaurant Week runs April 26 to May 3. Cleanup and road reopening in Suffolk County will proceed over several days as municipal crews, the National Guard and neighbors work to restore travel and services.