People advised to stay home after storm shuts schools, grounds flights

NEW YORK — Snow began blanketing the northeastern United States on Tuesday as a winter storm packing blizzard conditions rolled into the region, prompting public officials to ask people to stay home while airlines grounded flights and schools canceled classes.

The storm also caused the postponement of a meeting between President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, with the White House saying the visit will go ahead on Friday.

The headquarters of the United Nations in New York was closed on Tuesday.

The National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings for parts of eight states including New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut, with forecasts predicting about 60 centimeters of snow by early Wednesday and temperatures 15 to 30 degrees below normal for this time of year.

About 50 million people along the Eastern Seaboard were under storm or blizzard warnings and watches.

“If you must go out, do so for as limited time period as possible ... but the best thing to do is stay in,” New York

of snow forecast, with temperatures 15 to 30 degrees below normal for this time of year.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday.

Aboveground subway service will be suspended at 4 am local time as transit officials in the New York metro area warned that more bus and train routes could be suspended throughout the day.

Airlines pre-emptively canceled more than 4,000 flights ahead of the storm, according to tracking service FlightA-