Following a short lull, an active winter pattern is rapidly making a return to portions of New England and the Northeast, with the potential to cause notable travel interruptions throughout the regions.
Already, winter has delivered above-average snow levels to the areas. While the upcoming system is not anticipated to produce heavy accumulations, it will move through Tuesday into Wednesday morning.
The regions have recently endured several storms that unleashed heavy snow, setting records in some locations. Cities including New York City, Boston and Syracuse are all placed above their seasonal norms. (RELATED: Disaster Declarations For Tennessee, Mississippi Approved By President Trump Following Historic Winter Storm Fern)
A quick-moving clipper system brought additional snow to the area last weekend, compounding recovery efforts from the historic, 2,300-mile-wide Winter Storm Fern that swept across the United States in late January, impacting millions of people.
Persistent bitter cold has prevented much of the existing snow from melting.
Despite the relatively modest snowfall that’s forecast for the next system, it will add to the seasonal surplus and is expected to create travel headaches at the beginning of the workweek.
SAY IT ISN’T SNOW❄️: An active, wintry pattern is quickly returning to parts of New England and the Northeast, with the system forecast to move through Tuesday into Wednesday morning. While snow totals are expected to be generally light, it will contribute to the existing surplus… pic.twitter.com/Y1xyIxX3P3
— FOX Weather (@foxweather) February 8, 2026
Warmer air around the surface will move in through the northern Great Lakes, setting up conditions Monday afternoon for freezing rain and sleet that could persist into the evening hours.
From that point, the low-pressure system will accelerate southward of Canada and move into New England and the Northeast by the evening Tuesday.
For a lot of New England, less than one inch of snowfall is expected, though locations such as Watertown, New York and Bangor, Maine could pick up 3-5 inches. (RELATED: Northern Utah, Including Salt Lake City, Gets Rattled By Magnitude 3.5 Earthquake)
Light lake-effect snowfall may develop along Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, but this is expected to be a relatively minor event, according to the FOX Forecast Center.
Forecast models generally agree on lighter snowfall totals overall, however, uncertainty remains regarding the exact placement of the heaviest bands, with New England’s higher elevations potentially receiving more favorable accumulations into Wednesday.