Only one week following Winter Storm Hernando, also named Blizzard ’26, hammering New England and other areas of the Interstate 95 corridor, another possible multi-day winter system could affect millions of Americans in 25 states across the Northeast and Midwest starting Sunday.
Despite the complex atmospheric setup preventing computer forecast models (American GFS|European ECMWF|Google DeepMind AI) from making a determination on the precise weather impacts, there are two scenarios that have come into play.
If the right meteorological factors assemble, the corridor stretching from the Ohio Valley to zones on the I-95 coast could receive 6-8 inches of snowfall, according to the FOX Forecast Center. (RELATED: Severe Weather Risks, Warmer Temperatures Looming As March Set To Spring Into Action)
Lower projections have the same region experiencing 1-3 inches of snow, with that scenario having more of a mixture with ice and rain.
Saturday will see the beginning of the set up, doing so after cold air gets settled along the northern third of the United States, which is needed for a major snow event.
A disturbance on the weaker side will transpire by Sunday from the Rocky Mountains, increasing southerly winds above the surface by a few thousand feet. Warmer air will be funneled northward as a result of the winds, gliding across the air already established, which will be cold and dense.
❄️NEXT MAJOR WINTER STORM: Just one week after a historic blizzard, yet another potential multi-day winter storm could impact millions across 25 states in the Northeast, as well as the Midwest beginning Sunday. Latest on the complicated forecast: https://t.co/XZKlTJY6gX pic.twitter.com/3F0qHmWrjF
— FOX Weather (@foxweather) February 26, 2026
From there, precipitation will be able to come into the picture, which could drop as snow, sleet, freezing rain or regular rain. The type of precipitation will depend on the amount of cold air in place — a process known as “overrunning.”
There are still uncertainties regarding the exact location of the set up for the snow-rain line.
It’s anticipated that the sleet and freezing rain will produce life-threatening travel conditions throughout the impacted region. According to the latest data, the biggest concern for icing is targeted across the Interstate 70 corridor and into the Ohio River Valley. (RELATED: Wildfire That Can Be Seen From Space Erupts To 25,000 Acres In South Florida’s Everglades)
In areas of the Midwest, snowfall and a mixture of precipitation will unleash Sunday and start impacting the Ohio Valley at some point Monday prior to ultimately heading towards the coast of the Northeast, per the current forecast models.
The system’s precise impacts will come more into focus as we get closer to the storm.
