A taste of summer one day, a blast of winter the next
Northeast braces for more than a foot of wind-driven snow
The biggest snowstorm of the winter will deliver up to a foot of snow to the Northeast on Thursday, only a day after temperatures soared into the 60s as far north as New York City.
Dangerous travel conditions are forecast for I-95 cities from Philadelphia to New York City and Boston, the National Weather Service said.
Boston announced its schools will be closed Thursday. Mayor Martin Walsh said a snow emergency will take effect at 10 a.m. local time and remain through the severe weather. About 10 to 15 inches of snow is expected.
In New York, the whiplashlike change in the weather between Wednesday and Thursday had snow teams preparing during record-high temperatures.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday. “What feels like a summer day almost, now, and then tomorrow a blizzard. ... New Yorkers should get ready.”
For its part, the city had 2,300 salt spreaders and plows ready to hit the streets at 1 a.m. or 2 a.m., and de Blasio advised residents to use public transportation if they must travel at all.
“New Yorkers should be prepared for snowfall and slippery roads and plan to take mass transit where possible,” New York City emergency management commissioner Joseph Esposito said.
Airlines canceled nearly 1,500 flights for Thursday; JetBlue canceled nearly 60% of its entire schedule. Airline delays are expected to increase exponentially because of aircraft deicing operations and slippery runways, AccuWeather said.
Accumulations from the
“What feels like a summer day almost, now, and then tomorrow a blizzard.” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio
storm will range from a slushy coating to as much as 12 inches from Maryland to Maine, AccuWeather predicted. The snow could fall at a rate of 2 to 3 inches per hour in some harder-hit regions.
The National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings for eastern Massachusetts and advised against travel there Thursday afternoon and evening. Winter storm warnings also were posted in southern New England, southern New York, eastern Pennsylvania and most of New Jersey.
Winds will howl up to 50 mph along the coast of New England, where some flooding is possible.
Doyle Rice and Melanie Eversley USA TODAY