Mary Gilmore, Staff Writer
New York has endured multiple major storms this season, including the late‑February 2026 blizzard that buried the state under large amounts of snow. The storm disrupted transit, downed power lines, and brought scary conditions across the region. Long Island and New Jersey saw some of the highest totals, with more than 30 inches reported in certain areas.
Just weeks earlier, another major winter storm on January 23–27 brought heavy snowfall and sleet across the NYC metro area. This storm was known as Winter Storm Fern. Snow fell at rates of 1–3 inches per hour, and warm air aloft caused rapid transitions between snow and sleet, which is a common pattern in a warming climate.
Winter Storm Fern impacted 34 states and brought up to 14 inches of snow to New York. This caused widespread power outages and travel disruptions.
Climate change does not eliminate winter storms, rather it intensifies them. As average winter temperatures rise, the strongest snowstorms become more dangerous.
Warmer air is able to hold more moisture. For every degree Celsius of warming, the atmosphere can hold about 7% more water vapor. When temperatures remain below freezing, this extra moisture falls as heavier snow, creating more extreme snowfalls.
As the Arctic warms faster than the mid‑latitudes, the polar vortex becomes more prone to disruption. This can send frigid Arctic air plunging southward, colliding with warm, moisture‑rich air and producing intense snowstorms. Scientists highlighted this exact mechanism when explaining Winter Storm Fern’s severity.
Studies also show that as climate change is getting worse, so is the “weather whiplash” in New York. New York’s climate assessments show that the state is experiencing more extreme precipitation events, like rain and snow, as well as greater variability in winter temperatures.
While Oneonta is a town that’s used to the snow, the shifting winter patterns are still an effect of the changing temperatures. High moisture levels in the atmosphere can lead to heavier inland snowfall, while warmer winter days increase the likelihood of icy conditions, flooding from snowmelt, and infrastructure stress.
For Oneonta’s college and rural community, this means there are higher chances of class cancellations, less public transit availability, travel disruptions, difficulty for local emergency services, and so much more.
The recent storms across the US are not anomalies, they are part of a documented shift toward more extreme winter weather in a warming climate. As scientists repeatedly emphasize, climate change amplifies weather extremes across all seasons. Heavy snowfall does not contradict global warming, but it is an indicator of global warming.
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