Page 6 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2026 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 I How big was this storm? Winter Storm Hernando is shown (at right) thousands of miles wide, off the shore of the Eastern Seaboard, with the U.S. shown (colored brown, at left) in a storm map created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). (Courtesy Photo/NOAA) BLIZZARD OF 2026 | FROM Page 1 the eastern portion of Massachusetts to a standstill, closing all schools for two days, both Monday and Tuesday, and making travel treacherous throughout. The National Weather Service defines a blizzard as a storm that contains large amounts of snow or blowing snow, with winds in excess of 35 mph and visibilities of less than a quarter mile for an extended period of time, at least three hours. All of these criteria were met, with winds averaging well over 50 mph for most of the storm. In the South Shore, winds were recorded at a record 83 mph on Cape Cod, the force of a Category 1 Hurricane. Despite sporadic power outages caused by the combination of heavy wind, downed tree limbs and subsequent downed power lines, there were little if any outages reported or addressed in The Advocate readership communities. Snow emergencies and the parking bans that accompany them were declared in all four communities, while Mass. Governor Maura Healey declared a state of emergency in Massachusetts at 12 noon on Sunday, ahead of the storm, and it remained in place through Tuesday evening, expected to be lifted by late Tuesday ahead of Wednesday morning. Classes were scheduled to resume in all four communities as information available just before Advocate press time. Local Department of Public Works (DPW) crews worked around the clock, beginning Sunday evening and well into Tuesday and Wednesday, battling the blizzard and its aftermath. DPW crews — assisted by a bevy of outside contractors — were out in force in all four communities, ahead of the storm on Sunday, laying down sand and salt, preparing the roads for the impending 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. For the fi rst 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 Established 1978 Mid-grade Regular 2.67 3.37 3. $3.47 Full Service ULS $3. 9 Order online at angelosoil.com Kerosene Now Available! 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. 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 fi rst recorded blizzard in four years. t was the fi rst bona fi de 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 Advocate 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) 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) and the Jan. 25-26, 2026, storm (23.2 inches), which rank highly in the 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. Wakefi eld — 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. FLEET CARD Check Out Our LOW PRICES!
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