Page 8 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, February 27, 2026 BLIZZARD | FROM PAGE 7 ing Nor’easter. By early Monday morning, at the height of the storm, DPW plows and other apparatus were out on the main roads working on clearing them and making them passable. With the snow emergencies and subsequent parking bans in effect, Malden offered free parking in several school lots as well as both Malden Square downtown parking garages; Everett offered free parking in some school and municipal lots; and Saugus also offered free parking at the Saugus High and Middle School lot and at the Anna Parker lot. Nonetheless, dozens of cars whose owners neglected to follow the guidance of their respective communities were ticketed and towed to clear main streets so the plows could do their jobs. For the first time in recent memory, Massachusetts experienced the brunt of the massive storm, with several communities in the South Shore smashing previous snowfall records with over three feet of snow. The city of Fall River, Mass., had the highest snowfall in the state and among all Eastern Seaboard states with a whopping 41 inch snowfall. Locally, in the Advocate readership area, all of our communities were hit with substantial snowfalls. Malden led the list and got whacked with over two feet of snow — 20.0 inches in all — from the Nor’easter’s start, around 11 p.m. Sunday night, February 23, until the storm subsided, with snow halting around 8:00 p.m. Monday, February 24. While Boston Logan Airport recorded 17.3 inches of snow, Everett had 17.1 inches, Revere had 16.5 inches and Saugus recorded 16.0 inches. In two of The Advocate readership communities, it was the first blizzard of people’s new tenure overseeing storm management, with Everett Director of City Services Bob Knox in the first month of his new post, after over 30 years with the Malden DPW, and Paul Myers as interim DPW Director in Malden, also in his first month in that designation. Both have weathered many similar operations in these and other communities over the past two decades. All four readership communities hire a number of outside snowplow operating contractors when storms hit, and despite a regional shortage of snowplow drivers, all initial reports from the four communities is that all did a commendable job clearing out from the first recorded blizzard in four years. TOPPING THE LIST: Malden had ‘jackpot’ snowfall total in Greater Boston region from ‘Blizzard of 2026’ This week’s blizzard was ‘a doozy’ but not in record book’s Top 10; Everett, Revere & Saugus all made ‘Regional Top 10’ for storm By Steve Freker SPECIAL OFFER Safety. Style. Stress-Free Installation. CALL NOW 1.877.357.6691 FREE Fixtures and FREE Shower Door Add’l terms apply. Offer subject to change and vary by dealer. Cannot be combined with other offers. Expires 3/31/26. t was the first bona fide blizzard since 2022, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Though the snowfall added up to an amount not even the greatest number for this calendar year, it was still a substantial amount: just about 17 inches for Boston overall. This was the second major storm to hit the Eastern Seaboard in as many months, with this past January 25-26, 2026, Winter Storm Fern cascading some 23.2 inches on the region, helping push that weather event to become the eighth largest storm of all-time in the Boston area. As for this past week’s Blizzard of 2026, it was certainly “a doozy,” as Mass. Governor Maura Healey declared in her major press conference on Monday afternoon, just after the peak of the blizzard. The NWS reported that snowfall totals in Boston reached 16.9 inches at 7 p.m. on Monday, placing it in the Top 20 largest storms at that moment. Who knew that in the AdvoI cate readership area Malden would own the “jackpot” number of snowfall totals, with the most inches of snow in both the Greater Boston region and Middlesex County overall: a whopping 20 inches! See listing below. The other three communities served by the Advocate all fell into the Greater Boston area’s Top 10 for this storm, with Everett (17.1 inches) not far behind Malden in total snowfall and Revere (16.5 inches) and Saugus (16.0 inches) just after Boston in their community snowfall totals. As of January 2026, Boston’s Top 10 snowstorms are led by the 2003 Presidents’ Day Storm (27.6 inches) and the 1978 Blizzard (27.1 inches). Recent major storms include the January 2022 blizzard (23.6 inches) and the Jan. 25-26, 2026, storm (23.2 inches), which rank highly in the HOW MANY INCHES OF SNOW? The snowfall in the city of Malden was 20 inches, total, the most in the Greater Boston region and in all of Middlesex County! In case you were wondering, this is what 20 inches of snow looks like. (Courtesy Photo/Jaelyn Kateches) region’s record-setting history. Top 10 Greater Boston Feb. 23/24 ‘Blizzard of 2026’ 1. Malden — 20.0 inches 2. Winchester — 18.5 inches 3. Chelsea — 18.1 inches 4. Wakefield — 18.0 inches 5. Stoneham — 17.5 inches 6. Everett — 17.1 inches 7. Boston — 16.9 inches 8. Revere — 16.5 inches 9. Saugus — 16.0 inches 10. Medford — 15.7 inches Top 10 Heaviest Snowstorms in Boston 1. Feb. 17-18, 2003: 27.6 inches (Presidents’ Day Storm). 2. Feb. 6-7, 1978: 27.1 inches (Blizzard of ’78). 3. Feb. 24-27, 1969: 26.3 inches. 4. March 31-April 1, 1997: 25.4 inches (April Fools’ Day Blizzard). 5. Feb. 8-9, 2013: 24.9 inches (Nemo). 6. Jan. 26-28, 2015: 24.6 inches. 7. Jan. 28-29, 2022: 23.6 inches. 8. Jan. 25-26, 2026: 23.2 inches (Fern). 9. Feb. 7-9, 2015: 23.1 inches. 10. Jan. 20-22, 2005: 22.5 inches.
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