Is The February 2026 Blizzard The Biggest? Here's Where It Ranks in NJ History

As forecasters bandy about the historic nature of the blizzard that battered the Garden State Monday, New Jersey residents now look to contextualize the latest nor’easter with storms of the past.

The state has been buried repeatedly over the past by storms that paralyzed highways, stranded commuters, and rewrote the record books.

According to the National Weather Service and federal climate data, six storms stand apart from the rest.

Here are the snowstorms that made history in the state:

December 1947

The standard for a single NJ snowstorm was set the day after Christmas in 1947, when 29.7 inches of snow fell in Long Branch over 24 hours — still the official state record, confirmed by the National Centers for Environmental Information's State Climate Extremes Committee in 2022.

The storm hit fast and hard, with snow falling at the rate of 3 inches per hour at peak intensity. At Newark Airport, 26 inches accumulated — an all-time single-storm record for the station at the time, in data stretching back to 1843.

The U.S. Weather Bureau reported 23 deaths statewide, mostly from vehicle accidents. Workers trying to get home were stranded in streets that couldn't be cleared fast enough.

January 1996

A Gulf of Mexico low merged with Arctic air pushing down from Canada on Jan. 7, 1996, and the result was a two-day snowstorm.

Newark Liberty Airport recorded 27.8 inches for the storm total and 27.4 inches within a single 24-hour period. The National Weather Service confirmed the Blizzard of 1996 as one of only four storms in Newark's recorded history to reach or surpass two feet of snow.

December 2010

On Dec. 26, 2010, Newark recorded 24.2 inches — the worst December storm since 1947. Wind gusts topped 60 mph and near-whiteout conditions made travel nearly impossible. Snow totals varied wildly across the state, with some areas buried while others just a few miles away saw far less.

January 2016

Another nor'easter struck Jan. 22–24, 2016, dropping 20 to 24 inches of snow. The National Weather Service placed it on a very short list — one of only four storms in recorded history to hit the two-foot mark. Some unofficial reports from northern New Jersey claimed totals near 30 inches, but federal scientists later reviewed and rejected those figures.

February 2021

The February 2021 storm didn't hit hard and fast but it just kept going. From Feb. 1–3, northern New Jersey saw more than 30 inches pile up over three days, according to NWS data. Because the snow fell over multiple days rather than in a single 24-hour window, it didn't threaten any official state records.

February 2026

The latest storm is the newest entry in NJ's record books. Lyndhurst in Bergen County recorded 30.7 inches, according to a National Weather Service statement issued Feb. 23 — the highest total ever recorded in Bergen County, topping a 1947 mark that had stood for nearly 80 years. Carlstadt hit 30.2 inches. Leonia got 29.7 inches.

(Snowfall data sourced from the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) State Climate Extremes Committee reports and National Weather Service Newark historical records)

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