New York and most of the Northeast will likely be spared the worst of a new winter storm this weekend that still may clip Cape Cod and eastern New England after also making conditions worse across parts of North Carolina and Virginia as it travels north.
In Cape Cod, eastern Massachusetts, snow is expected to develop after midnight Sunday and linger through the day before tapering off early Monday morning, said Matthew Belk, a National Weather Service meteorologist. The forecast for Long Island isn’t as clear because any jog in the storm’s track further out to sea would drop the chances for snow across the eastern end of the region.
Exact snowfall totals haven’t been tallied because conditions can change, but the probability of at least 6 inches (15 centimeters) stands at 50% to 60%. “We are still a few days out and a lot can change in three days,” Belk said.
The snow threat follows a bout of severe winter weather that brought heavy snow or crippling ice from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands, straining electric grids and grounding flights at levels not seen since the Covid pandemic of 2020. Frigid weather continues to grip much of the eastern US, with 108 million Americas under cold warnings and advisories.
New York City, which received nearly 12 inches in Central Park last weekend, is expected to avoid another round of heavy snow, along with Washington and Philadelphia. Boston stands the highest chance as of Thursday’s forecast.
The cold is expected to remain entrenched across the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic, even as the new storm develops this weekend.
As of Thursday morning, more than 303,000 homes and businesses across the U.S. were without power, with Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana, the hardest hit, according to PowerOutage.com.
Beyond the Northeast, the largest impacts for winter weather starting Saturday are expected across North Carolina, parts of Georgia, South Carolina and southeastern Virginia, said David Roth, a senior branch forecaster with the U.S. Weather Prediction Center. Many areas could see 9 to 12 inches of snow, with some isolated locations receiving even more.
The forecast may shift as the system evolves in the coming days. This uncertainty means the snow threat could increase for some East Coast areas, or diminish, Roth said.
Top photo: Workers remove snow in front of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) during a winter storm in New York, on Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. The heaviest winter storm in years dropped mounds of snow on New York City, making Monday’s morning commute messy for those willing to brave it. Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg.
Copyright 2026 Bloomberg.
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