US Braces For Winter Storm Fallout: 1,200 Flights Canceled, Heavy Snow Blankets North-East Region

A powerful winter storm blanketed more than a foot of snow in north-east parts of the United States on Tuesday after it delivered New York City its first significant snowfall in at least two years.

The storm began shifting east from New York toward Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Some regions in Pennsylvania also received a foot of snow. Millions of people from New York City north into southern New England remained under a winter storm warning until 7 p.m. local time as the Nor’easter pummeled the region with heavy, wet snow and winds of up to 96.56 km per hour, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

Impact of Fast-Moving Storm

On Tuesday, a nasty storm with strong winds raked parts of the Northeast creating dangerous conditions on the road and snarling airports. More than 1,200 fights to and from New York’s LaGuardia, Boston Logan International and Newark Liberty International airports were either delayed or canceled, according to Flightaware.com. As of midday on Tuesday, the storm had left numerous spots with more than a foot of snow, including Farmington, Connecticut, and Sussex, New Jersey, where snow accumulations totaled more than 15 inches, according to the NWS.

In Fall River, Massachusetts, where snow totals were expected to reach 9 inches, all Valentine’s Day flower deliveries from Robin Metivier’s Main Street Florist were canceled on Tuesday. “It’s the day before Valentine’s Day and I had to tell my customers we can’t do it,” she said, looking out of her shop window at the snow that forced her to shovel twice already. “We’re tough New Englanders, but the flowers can’t take the cold.”

Heavy Snowfall

The big wallop of snow expected for Boston did not materialiSe, with the city getting only about an inch of snow by midday, the NWS said, noting that the storm jogged south of the city. In the New York City area, it had stopped snowing by midday, leaving behind snow accumulations of 3 to 8 inches depending on the location, creating conditions for sledding and snowball fights.

“Between today and yesterday, we’re totally out of sleds and shovels,” said Louis Mendez, manager of Columbus Hardware in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen neighbourhood. “We had maybe 60 sleds and I don’t know how many shovels. They were our top seller.” The storm brings a conclusive end to a “snow drought” in New York City that lasted almost two years. The snow-less stretch, which exacerbated concerns over global warming, officially concluded in mid-January, when an Arctic blast dropped about 1.4 inches – little more than a dusting – in Manhattan’s Central Park.

Travel Advisory

More than 2,000 plow trucks were working to salt and clear streets, city officials said during a briefing, urging property owners to clear snow from their walks.

“NYC remains under a Travel Advisory today as temperatures drop & snow melts, leading to possibility of icy roads,” the city’s emergency management agency said on X, urging drivers to exercise caution. “On the ground in Queens keeping an eye on snow removal operations. @NYCSanitation plows are hitting the streets. If you don’t need to travel, stay off the roads and help “New York’s Strongest” get us through this storm,” Mayor Eric Adams wrote X on Tuesday.

Jan Gautam, the head of the Manhattan-based snow removal company Novus Maintenance, said he was up all night and into the morning assembling his crews to run more than a dozen snow plows and 30 sidewalk plows to hit the streets of New York. “Our phones haven’t stopped ringing since the snow started,” Gautam was quoted as saying by Reuters. “We’ll be out there as long as it’s snowing.” Gautam manages about 100 employees who service more than 250 customers across the city, including hospitals and hotels.

“In a storm like this, with so much snow coming fast, we have to go back to the same locations over and over, to keep it clear and safe,” he said. Some 130,000 homes and businesses were without power in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and West Virginia, according to Poweroutage.us. School districts across the region canceled in-person classes for the day, including New York City, which was holding classes remotely for its 1 million students.

(With agency inputs)