Millions in the Northeast bracing for the worst
Major winter storm expected to unleash wind, snow and chaos across 1,000 miles
Travel chaos was expected to reach a peak Tuesday as a potentially devastating storm bore down along a swath of the East Coast from the mountains of North Carolina to Maine. Thousands of flights were canceled, and authorities feared heavy snow would cause power outages and major traffic disruptions.
Almost 20 million people in parts of eight states — including New York City — were under a blizzard warning. Winter storm watches and warnings were in effect all along the coast, a distance of more than 1,000 miles.
The nor’easter was forecast to rage up the East Coast into the overnight hours Monday and through most of Tuesday, slamming some areas with more than a foot of snow and wind gusts of 60 mph or more. Much of the storm’s energy will be transferred from a weakening storm that pasted the Midwest with snow Sunday and Monday.
“A fairly large area of the Northeast should see a foot or more of snow,” National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Hayes told USA TODAY. He said the bulls-eye for the most snow continues to be southeastern Pennsylvania, northern New Jersey and the Lower Hudson River Valley in New York, which could see 18 inches.
New England was also a target: The forecast in Boston called for 10 to 16 inches.
President Trump weighed in on Twitter: “Everyone along the east coast be safe and listen to local officials as a major winter storm approaches. @NWS http://weather.gov.” The U.S. House canceled votes Tuesday and won’t reconvene until late Wednesday.
Hayes said strong winds, with possible gusts of 60 mph, could lead to outages because the heavy, wet snow will cling to power lines.
“This will easily be the most
widespread winter event of the season for the northeastern part of the country,” weather service meteorologist Michael Musher noted in an online forecast.
More than 350,000 airline passengers will be affected by cancellations this week from snowstorms in the Midwest and Northeast, according to the tracking service FlightAware.com.
“The storm will cripple air travel in the Northeast” on Tuesday with 4,611 cancellations, including nearly half of those scheduled for Washington’s National and Dulles airports, twothirds of the flights involving Boston and more than 80% of the flights involving Baltimore-Washington and Newark airports, according to FlightAware.
In New York, a coastal flood warning for the bays of western Long Island and the Atlantic beachfront takes effect Tuesday morning. New York was among cities that took a pre-emptive strike by announcing Monday that public schools will be closed for the city’s 900,000 students.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority anticipates “substantial” service changes across the New York City subway and bus systems, as well as for the commuter rail systems serving the city and its northern and Long Island suburbs.
Once the snow ends, it probably will stick around for awhile. Temperatures are forecast to remain chilly through the end of the week.
“Besides the snow, it will be cold,” Mayor Bill de Blasio warned. “We urge you to avoid unnecessary travel and help keep roads clear for sanitation crews and first responders.”
Nelson Rodriguez, who manages the Associated Supermarket on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, said the rush for staples such as bread, milk and toilet paper hasn’t been too crazy yet.
And he said he hopes to be open Tuesday, when the storm will be at its worst.
“We’re going to try,” he said. “Some people probably won’t make it, but some people are still going to come and do some shopping.”
More than 4,500 flight cancellations have been predicted, two-thirds of them involving Boston.