Since the heaviest snow was confined to a fairly small, but very heavily populated area, the storm was only ranked as a low-end Category 3 (Major) on the new Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale, which takes into account the area and population affected, as well as snowfall accumulations.

[3] This indirectly also reflects the fact that casualties were extremely low and cleanup was fairly quick, even in the New York City area where the record snow amounts occurred.

Additionally, temperatures in the days after the storm were unseasonably warm in some spots (reaching the mid-50s °F in hard-hit New York City, and the mid 60s in DC) which helped melt the snow much more quickly than usual.

The low pressure center moved off-shore early February 12 before it began its rapid intensification.

The extreme intensification was partially the result of a fairly mild winter that kept water temperatures in the Atlantic a few degrees warmer than they normally are in February.

[5] The low pressure area began forming in the Southern states a few days prior to the Blizzard striking, eventually merging with a northern stream system.

As the system completed bombing, or rapid decrease in central pressure (a common measure of the strength of a storm), mesoscale banding features (areas of significant snowfall associated with smaller scale physical phenomena) impinged on the entire I-95 Corridor.

[7] While Connecticut was one of the hardest hit areas, the state was well-prepared for the storm and managed to avoid major problems.

Motorists whose vehicles were not equipped with 4-wheel drive were required to use snow chains to travel on state roadways during the storm.

Connecticut mobilized 2,500 state-owned and privately contracted snowplows to keep state highways open during the storm.

The state's 169 cities and towns employed hundreds of additional plows to keep local roads passable.

Kent and Sussex counties to the south mixed with rain for a while, and saw significantly less snow accumulations, mostly in the 6 inches (15 cm) range.

Thundersnow, which is a rare occurrence in New York, occurred for about a 4-hour period in parts of The Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Rockland and Westchester during the height of the storm early Sunday morning.

The smallest amounts of snowfall were recorded in portions of Nassau County, including the towns of Oceanside, Lynbrook, Rockville Centre and Island Park.

[12] The Long Island Rail Road reported extensive delays and as many as eight trains disabled up to several hours after the blizzard.

[17] The Governor of Rhode Island, Donald Carcieri, declared a statewide state of emergency due to the blizzard conditions.

On February 12, the bulk of the snow ended around 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, with flurries lasting through the early evening.

[19] According to Dominion Power, over 64,000 people in Northern Virginia lost power in the storm, primarily in the suburban areas adjacent to Washington, D.C.[9] Many locations in the extreme northeastern portion of the state recorded 10–15 in (25–38 cm) of snow, with Falls Church and Fairfax coming in at 13.5 and 14.0 in (34 and 36 cm) respectively.

While the snowfall amounts diminished somewhat (to about 6 to 12 inches (300 mm) or 15 to 30 cm) by the time the storm tracked east into Atlantic Canada, the winds increased substantially.