Storm spawned from 'sweet spot'
With winds still kicking and snow still falling from the blizzard, contractors are clearing sidewalks in Huntington Village Monday morning. Credit: Kathy M Helgeson
Beware the 40/70.The Blizzard of ‘26, like many storms that have made for heavy snowfall across the Northeast United States, hit what’s known at the “70/40 benchmark,” Bernhardt said.
That’s 40 degrees north latitude and 70 degrees west longitude, geographical coordinates a spot over the Atlantic Ocean: “That’s the sweet spot. Say it tracks 50 miles south and east (of that), that means the heaviest snow shifts farther away.
"If it tracks closer, often times, it’s bringing in warm air closer to the center (of the storm), and if it tracks too close, it might yield heavy precipitation, but it’s going to be too warm for all snow. 40/70 is Goldilocks, just the right spot to get us into heaviest precipitation, but not too close to worry about warm air moving in.”
Nicholas Spangler is a general assignment reporter and has worked at Newsday since 2010.
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