Over 5,000 Flights Cancelled as US East Coast Digs Out of Record Snow

A major storm hit the US east coast on Monday, bringing record-breaking snow that caused disruptions for millions and thousands of flight cancellations.

Parts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts have seen nearly 37in (94cm) of snowfall, with more than 19in in New York City’s Central Park, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

Weather warnings stretched from North Carolina to northern Maine, with some in place further north in parts of eastern Canada.

More than 600,000 properties on the US east coast endured power outages, while the Boston Globe – a major US newspaper – said it will not go to print for the first time in its 153-year history due to the storm.

Travel across the region has been severely limited, with some states and cities implementing travel bans during the worst period of the storm.

The so-called “nor’easter” has now moved away from the US and across coastal parts of eastern Canada – though strong winds are expected to persist, according to the NWS.

Snow accumulations were anticipated to reach 1-2ft (30-61cm) near the north-east coastline, meanwhile.

Rhode Island, the smallest US state, appeared to have received the most snow during the storm. In fact, it has become the worst snowstorm to ever hit the state, according to local media.

Providence, the state capital, received 36in (91cm) of snow, dwarfing the existing record for the single greatest snowstorm: 28.6in (72.6cm) set in February 1978.

“It completely smashed it,” Candice Hrencecin, an NWS meteorologist in Boston, told the New York Times. “We were just as shocked as everyone else.”

A ban on non-essential travel was implemented in Rhode Island and also in neighbouring Connecticut.

Later in the day, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey also imposed a travel ban.

“White-out conditions are making travel extremely dangerous,” she said in an online post. “If you get stuck, help will have a hard time reaching you… I strongly urge everyone to stay off the roads no matter where you live.”

A white-out is when snow significantly reduces visibility.

Boston resident and avid walker Bradley Jay said the storm had made him feel like a “prisoner”.

“I won’t be able to really walk around town for another ten days. So I’m stuck inside,” he told news agency Reuters.

In Massachusetts, nearly 300,000 were without power, according to monitor PowerOutage, including 85% of customers in Barnstable County, which includes all of Cape Cod.

The Boston Globe, based in the state’s capital, said that despite overcoming “the elements, technical snafus and a global pandemic”, Monday’s blizzard had made it “impossible” to print and deliver a paper for Tuesday morning.

More than 2ft of snow had prevented its printing staff from getting to its printing press, the paper said. Subscribers will receive both Tuesday and Wednesday’s edition on Wednesday.

In New York City, a travel ban brought the city of more than eight million people to a near standstill before it was lifted at noon local time (17:00 GMT). All roads, highways and bridges were closed.

The city’s police department is also investigating footage showing officers being pelted with snowballs in Washington Square Park.

“I want to be very clear: the behaviour depicted is disgraceful, and it is criminal,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch wrote on social media.

Sandra Wu, a resident of Long Island, where up to 18in (46cm) of snow fell on Monday, said her family could not open the front door because of how much had accumulated.

“My husband went out early through the garage to start digging us out, but it was pointless,” she told Reuters, adding that she had never seen a storm this bad.

In Connecticut and New Jersey, there were concerns that falling trees and branches could lead to dangerous road conditions and more power outages.

Meanwhile people looking to travel within the US on Monday struggled.

The number of cancelled flights within, into or out of the US reached more than 5,706, according to tracker FlightAware.

The site shows that 98% of flights out of LaGuardia airport were cancelled and 91% of flights from JFK – New York City’s primary airport hubs that typically see more than 335,000 passengers daily.

The storm – known as a bomb cyclone – brought around 19in (48cm) of snow at both locations.

The vast majority of flights were also cancelled out of Boston, Newark in New Jersey and Philadelphia in Pennsylvania.

More than 2,000 flights have already been cancelled across the US on Tuesday, with Boston, Newark and LaGuardia the worst-affected.

The bomb cyclone – a rapid drop in pressure that brings strong winds and heavy precipitation – is currently over Nova Scotia in Canada.

A fast-moving area of low pressure called an Alberta Clipper will follow the storm, bringing snow, ice and high winds to the Great Lakes region and north-eastern areas of the US on Tuesday evening into Wednesday.

While snowfall will be less than it was on Monday, frosty nights and freezing temperatures are expected all week.

Source: BBC

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