A heavy snowstorm and dangerously cold conditions gripped the northeastern United States yesterday, delaying flights, paralyzing road travel and closing schools and government offices across the region.
Boston was hardest-hit by the first major winter storm of 2014, getting nearly 35 centimetres of snow, while some towns north of New England’s largest city saw close to 60 centimetres of accumulation.
Snow and cold stretched from the lower Mississippi Valley to the Atlantic coast, with Washington and New York’s morning commutes also hampered by several centimetres of fresh powder.
Meteorologists said the snow would taper off across much of the region by late morning, but dangerously cold conditions were expected to linger into Saturday. The National Weather Service said the mass of Arctic air would drop temperatures to 20 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit (11-17 C) below normal, with record lows possible in some areas yesterday.
We are going to see temperatures we haven’t seen in quite a while
“Over the next 24 hours we are going to see temperatures like we haven’t seen in quite a while,” said Peter Judge, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. “Parts of the state are going to see temperatures 20 degrees below zero.”
Washington received more than five centimetres of snow, Baltimore some eight to 15 centimetres, Philadelphia roughly 13 centimetres, Hartford 15 to 25 centimetres and Boston some 36 centimetres.
Some 1,708 US flights were cancelled and 949 were delayed early yesterday, according to FlightAware.com, which tracks air traffic.
Newark Liberty International Airport, LaGuardia Airport in New York and Boston Logan International Airport reported the most cancelled departures. New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport suspended operations as the city’s three major airports prepared hundreds of cots to accommodate stranded travellers.
The United Nations in New York and federal courts in New Jersey shut down, and New York public schools and the City University of New York closed. Schools were also closed in Hoboken and Jersey City, in New Jersey, and in Boston and Providence, Massachusetts.
Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy told CNN yesterday morning that most schools and colleges in the state were closed. The governors of New York and New Jersey declared states of emergency.