Providence, RI – A powerful February blizzard has rewritten Rhode Island’s weather history after scientists confirmed a staggering 37.9 inches of snow fell in just 24 hours near Providence, the largest one-day snowfall ever recorded in the state.
The record occurred at T.F. Green International Airport in Warwick, where snow piled up rapidly during the late-February coastal storm. Roads across central Rhode Island became nearly impassable as snowfall rates surged and visibility collapsed during the height of the storm.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service office in Boston, a committee of meteorologists reviewed measurements from the event and verified the 37.9-inch total from February 22–23 as Rhode Island’s new official 24-hour snowfall record. Intense snowbands parked over the Providence metro area during the storm, producing snowfall rates that briefly reached four inches per hour.
The storm snarled travel along Interstate 95, Route 6, and Route 37, while crews struggled to keep major routes open during the peak of the blizzard. Flights were also disrupted at T.F. Green as plows worked continuously to clear runways.
Emergency managers urged residents to remain off roads during the storm while utility crews and public works teams cleared heavy snow from neighborhoods across Providence, Warwick, Cranston, and Pawtucket.
Meteorologists say the newly confirmed record highlights how powerful coastal winter storms can stall over southern New England and unleash extreme snowfall totals in a short period.
