Second storm in Northeast set to dump more than a foot of snow
The second PHILADELPHIA — big, blustery storm to hit the Northeast in less than a week brought wet, heavy snow Wednesday to a corner of the country where tens of thousands of people were still waiting for the power to come back on from the previous bout.
The nor’easter closed schools, businesses and government offices, grounded thousands of flights and raised fears of another round of fallen trees and electrical outages as it made its way up the East Coast.
It also produced “thundersnow,” with flashes of lightning and booming thunder from the Philadelphia area to New York City.
“I don’t think I’m ready for this to happen again,” Caprice Dantzler, 32, said as she walked through Philadelphia’s snowy, rainy Rittenhouse Square.
She said many trees that crashed into cars and homes and blocked streets during the last storm had yet to be removed.
A mix of snow and light rain fell before daybreak in many areas, then turned to all snow, making driving treacherous. Pennsylvania and New York banned big rigs from some major highways as officials warned of a hazardous evening commute and urged people to stay off the roads.
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning into Thursday morning from the Philadelphia area through most of New England.
Forecasters said Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the New York City area could get a foot or more of snow, and Massachusetts 1½ feet.
More than 2,400 flights across the region — about 1,900 in the New York metro area alone — were canceled as conditions deteriorated.
“I’m not looking forward to another round of this, but it is what it is,” Chris Martin said as he prepared to leave his Toms River, N.J., home and head to work at an information technology firm in Philadelphia.
“All in all, it hasn’t been a terrible winter,” he said.
Martin had already arranged to stay in Philadelphia overnight.
“If Mother Nature wants to give us one last blast of winter, that’s up to her,” he said.
Heavy, wet snow and gusting winds could take down trees already weakened by last Friday’s storm and snap power lines, to the distress of customers who have gone days without power.