Storm dumps heavy snow across US Northeast
CHICAGO/ATLANTA — A powerful, fast-moving winter storm dumped more than 30 centimeters of snow on parts of New England on Tuesday after it brought New York City its first significant snowfall in at least two years.
Some 13 million people from New York City north into southern New England remained under a winter storm warning until 7 pm as the Nor’easter pummeled the region with heavy, wet snow and winds of up to 96.56 kilometers per hour, said the National Weather Service.
In Fall River, Massachusetts, where snow totals were expected to reach more than 22 cm, 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.”
The storm brings a conclusive end to a “snow drought” in New York City that lasted almost two years. The snowless stretch had exacerbated concerns over global warming.
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 the possibility of icy roads,” the city’s emergency management agency said on X, urging drivers to exercise caution.
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.
“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.
Airlines canceled more than 1,220 flights, including 43 percent of flights at New York’s domestic LaGuardia Airport as well as one in five flights at the city’s main air hub JFK, according to aviation tracker Flight Aware.