Blizzard in Northern Litchfield, Connecticut

Zone average snowfall of 13.5 inches and 3 to 4 hours worth of frequent wind gusts between 35 to 40 mph.

A highly anticipated, highly impactful Nor'easter struck northwest Connecticut on the evening of Sunday, February 22 through the afternoon of Monday, February 23, 2026. Tracking along the East Coast and rapidly intensifying as it approached the 40 latitude/70 longitude benchmark, this system quickly gained national attention not only for its projected widespread blizzard conditions across many high profile, highly populated areas, but for the complexity of its forecast.

Confidence increased sufficiently for forecasters at National Weather Service Albany to upgrade a prior issued Winter Storm Warning to a Blizzard Warning mere hours prior to snowfall onset in Litchfield County. Once snow began, it didn't take long for rates to become moderate to heavy, rapidly dropping visibility late in the evening of Sunday, February 22nd. As the core of the still strengthening storm drew closer, winds became gusty and reduced visibility further. The combination of heavy snowfall rates and frequent wind gusts between 25 to 40 mph made for on and off blizzard conditions, with visibilities falling below one quarter of a mile, from around 2 AM through nearly 1230 PM Monday, February 23, 2026. Snow finally began to gradually slow after 1230 PM Monday, February 23, 2026 and eventually tapered off after 4 PM. The resulting snowfall totals across Litchfield County reached 12 to nearly 20 inches.

Ahead of the event, the Governor of Connecticut, Ned Lamont, declared a State of Emergency in an attempt to keep residents off the roads. Consequently, many schools; local businesses; and roadways were closed, and there was a travel ban instated for commercial vehicles beginning at 5 PM on Sunday, February 22nd. Additionally, and unfortunately, there was one recorded death in New Milford in southern Litchfield County. The age and sex of the individual were not available, nor was the location in which they died. However, per the medical examiner's office, the individual died of 'accidental hypothermia' that was likely exacerbated by their prior ailments of dementia and cardiovascular disease.

Key Impacts: state of emergency, travel ban, road closures, traffic accidents, school closures, power outages.