Winter Storm Fern forced widespread school closures across New York and Maryland on Monday, January 26, as the massive weather system blanketed the East Coast with heavy snow, dangerous ice, and life-threatening cold.
New York City public schools shifted approximately 500,000 elementary and middle school students to remote learning after Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that all school buildings would close due to hazardous travel conditions. The decision marked the end of traditional snow days for the nation's largest school district, as city officials cited New York State's requirement of 180 instructional days per year.
Schools Close Across the Region
"As snowfall begins to blanket our city and conditions become hazardous, closing school buildings is a necessary step to keep New Yorkers safe," Mamdani said, according to The Sun. Dozens of suburban school districts in Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, and surrounding counties also announced complete closures, affecting hundreds of thousands of additional students.
Maryland school districts followed suit with extensive closures. Baltimore County Public Schools announced that all schools and offices would remain closed Monday and Tuesday, January 26-27. Baltimore City Public Schools also closed Monday, along with Anne Arundel, Carroll, Harford, and Howard counties. Districts cited dangerous road conditions and continuing snowfall as primary factors in their decisions.
The storm's impact extended far beyond schools. Winter Storm Fern had canceled more than 11,600 flights nationwide and left over one million customers without power by Sunday evening. At least 10 deaths had been confirmed in connection with the storm. Twenty-four states declared emergencies as the storm system stretched nearly 2,000 miles from the Southwest to New England, the New York Post reported.
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Storm Brings Dangerous Conditions and Significant Disruptions
Snowfall totals reached significant levels across the Northeast. New York City recorded up to 14 inches in some areas, the highest snowfall since 2021. Parts of Connecticut saw up to 18 inches, while Maryland accumulated six or more inches across much of the state. The Deep South faced particularly devastating ice accumulation, with Tennessee reporting more than 287,000 power outages.
Major airports, including LaGuardia, JFK, Newark, and Baltimore-Washington Internationa,l experienced mass cancellations, with some airports reporting cancellation rates exceeding 80 percent.
The Arctic air mass fueling the storm pushed temperatures to dangerous lows, with wind chills in the single digits and below zero across affected regions. As the storm moved offshore Monday, forecasters warned that Arctic air would linger through midweek, keeping temperatures below freezing and preventing snow and ice from melting, as per CNTraveler.
