Forming from the energy of a strong mid- to upper-level trough, the system developed into a low-pressure area off the Southeast United States on January 28.

In most areas, some transportation services, such as rail, buses, ferries and highway bridges, were closed or postponed, including thousands of flights being cancelled.

The impact of the storm was reduced because it occurred on Friday night and Saturday when schools were closed and few people were commuting.

[2] Beginning in mid-to-late January 2022, computer models began to suggest the potential for a powerful storm to form in the western Atlantic Ocean at the end of the month – although the exact track was uncertain and thus snowfall estimates were not in agreement.

[8] A deep upper-level trough ejected from the High Plains and Rocky Mountains on January 27 and moved eastwards towards the Atlantic.

As the trough began to tilt negative, the Weather Prediction Center (WPC) reported that a surface low-pressure area had developed off the Southeast coast near Florida on January 28 as a result of the upper-level interactions.

[9] The system began intensifying as it moved north as snow and wintry precipitation blossomed over the Mid-Atlantic states later that night as a result.

The WPC began issuing storm summary bulletins on the powerful system at 15:00 UTC as mesoscale banding features developed and pivoted northwest towards the coastal regions of Long Island, New England and parts of New Jersey, producing near-blizzard to actual blizzard conditions in areas.

[13] Following its quick intensification, the storm thereafter only slowly intensified until it reached its peak intensity with a minimum pressure of 969 mb (28.6 inHg) at 03:00 UTC early on January 30.

[26] Officials in Atlantic City announced a parking ban would go into effect at 5 p.m. on January 28, in addition to opening shelters.

[29] New York governor Kathy Hochul on January 28 urged residents, particularly those further east in the Long Island region, to prepare for high winds, power outages and near-blizzard conditions.

[33] Early on January 28, a Blizzard Warning was issued for Rhode Island, Coastal New Hampshire, Eastern Massachusetts, and much of Maine.

[19] Environment Canada predicted that winds with maximum gusts of 80 to 110 km/h would likely cause power and utility outages and that areas along the Atlantic Coast could have high storm surges which could lead to flooding.

[39] Blizzard conditions occurred, as confirmed by the National Weather Service, from Friday evening to Saturday afternoon along the coasts of Delaware and New Jersey and throughout Suffolk County on Long Island, as well as throughout most of Saturday in New London on Connecticut's coast, throughout Rhode Island, throughout eastern Massachusetts as far west as Worcester and Cape Code to the east, and in most areas of Maine.

Blizzard conditions also occurred in significant areas of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia although snow fall amounts were less, the most being 16 inches (41 cm).

[42] To the north, the Eastern Shore of Virginia (Delmarva Peninsula) received up to 10 inches (25 cm) of snow amid whiteout conditions.

[42][44] Ocean City on the Atlantic coast of Maryland received 12 inches (30 cm) of snow with high winds of up to 45 miles per hour making travel treacherous for motorists.

[49] The Bayville section of Berkeley Township, on the coast north of Atlantic City, had the highest snowfall in New Jersey with 21 inches (53 cm).

[52][49] Following the snowstorm, Philadelphia had a record long streak of days without 1 inch (2.5 cm) of snow, which was snapped on January 15, 2024.

[55][56] Suffolk County, which comprises the central and eastern areas of Long Island, bore the brunt of the storm with snowfalls as high 24.7 inches (63 cm) at MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma and winds approaching 60 miles per hour (97 km/h) creating blizzard conditions.

[57][58][61] The National Weather Service verified wind and visibility conditions in the county throughout most of January 29 constituted a blizzard.

[58] In addition to previous transit cancellations, the Nassau Inter-County Express, which serves Suffolk and Nassau County to its west, suspended bus service for the day at 11:30 a.m.[21] On January 30, service on the Long Island Railway experienced delays due to heavy snow remaining on the tracks with some trains being replaced by buses.

[71] Warren, a southern suburb of Providence, had the highest snowfall amount in Rhode Island at 25.0 inches (64 cm) and wind gusts as high as 75 miles per hour were recorded in the state.

[71] Due to the low level of visibility caused by the blizzard, the Governor of Rhode Island banned all vehicles from using any of the state's roads from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.[54] The Governor later closed several bridges to all traffic except for emergency vehicles, including the only links to the Newport area of the state which experienced zero visibility blizzard conditions from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m on January 29.

[78] The 23.6 inches (60 cm) of snow the city received on Saturday, January 29 tied its all-time one-day snowfall record first set on February 17, 2003.

[54][77] Wave swells as large as 15 feet (4.6 meters) caused coastal flooding, most notably in downtown Nantucket on Martha's Vineyard and in North Weymouth, south of Boston.

[90] In northeastern Maine, Houlton received 15 inches (38 cm) of snow and had blizzard conditions intermittently from Saturday afternoon until very early Sunday morning.

on January 29, police warned all drivers to stay off the roads due to the whiteout conditions and reported stranded and abandoned vehicles.

[38] At one point, 8,000 households province-wide were without electricity and various organizations, including public libraries, recreational facilities, manufacturers and universities, closed for the day.