A winter blizzard moved across the northeastern US on Sunday and yesterday, disrupting air and rail travel and forcing motorists to deal with blowing snow and icy roads at the end of the busy Christmas weekend.
The storm, the first widespread blizzard of the season, unleashed powerful winds as it moved northward up the coast, dumping up to 46cm of sideways-blowing snow on some areas, with more expected ahead of the morning commute.
With many Americans returning home after one of the busiest travel weekends of the year, the US National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings from Maine to New Jersey, with winter storm warnings in effect for nearly the entire east coast.
It said the heaviest snowfall had occurred in eastern New Jersey, New York City and western Long Island. The forecast was for up to 63.5cm of snow in parts of the region.
New York area airports, including John F Kennedy International Airport, were closed on Sunday evening, but were expected to reopen early yesterday.
At least 2,000 flights in the region had been canceled and the Amtrak passenger rail service between New York and Boston was suspended.
Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole said limited service on the busy route was expected to resume shortly before the start of yesterday’s commute.
“They [the trains] would run on the hour, but not as many as would run on a normal weekday,” Cole said.
Six states, including Massachusetts and Maine, declared states of emergency.
Delta Air Lines canceled about one-sixth of its flight schedule, while American Airlines, JetBlue Airways and Continental Airlines canceled about 265 flights each and United Airlines 110, airline representatives said.
Many motorists heeded warnings to stay off of the roads. Traffic moved slowly on the region’s highways, though New York-area bridges and tunnels remained open. Some bridges had reduced speed limits imposed.
After the southern US was hit with a rare “White Christmas” on Saturday, the snowstorm plowed to the northeast, where the major coastal cities were engulfed in blowing snow.
The blizzard had been expected, allowing cities time to crank out the salt and snow plows. About 2,400 New York City sanitation workers were called in to clear snow from the streets, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
Shoppers had a chance to stock up on milk, bread, firewood, as well as snow shovels and ice melting products.
Most of American Airline’s cancelations were for flights after mid-afternoon on Sunday and the airline said it hoped to be up and running again by mid-morning yesterday.
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