Millions under road travel bans as blizzard conditions slam US north-east | US weather
Heavy snowfall and strong winds intensified Monday, creating whiteout conditions across the densely populated region, while millions of people in New York City and much of the U.S. northeast were trapped in their homes by road travel bans and blizzard warnings.
Snowfall totals reached at least 2 ft in 21 cities and towns in New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). In some areas, this snow is accompanied by strong winds of over 30 miles per hour and low visibility.
Long Island’s MacArthur airport reported 20 inches of snow as of Monday morning. Freehold, New Jersey had 19 inches.
The NWS described travel conditions as “nearly impossible.”
Blizzard warnings stretched from Maryland to Maine. Cellphones across New York City received loud alerts Sunday night announcing a ban on all non-emergency travel on all streets until noon Monday due to “dangerous blizzard conditions.” Rhode Island and New Jersey have implemented similar restrictions.
At noon on Monday, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani approved He said the city’s travel ban has been lifted but urged drivers to be careful if they decide to hit the roads, asking New Yorkers to “be careful, travel slowly, and pay attention to others on the road.”
More than 5,000 flights into and out of the U.S. were canceled on Monday, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware. Most were canceled in New York, New Jersey and Boston.
Public transport was stopped in some areas. Even DoorDash announced it was suspending deliveries in New York City overnight.
Despite the storm, public transportation in New York City is still operating, albeit with delays and service changes. “Thousands of people were out yesterday and throughout the night so we could provide service today,” said Janno Lieber, head of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). local news interview. “Service on the subways is a little less frequent and a little behind schedule, but the whole system is working.”
Lieber said cleaning and maintenance crews focus on high, open airways where snow accumulates the most.
The storm caused power outages along the east coast Monday morning that left nearly 700,000 customers in the dark; these include approximately 130,000 customers without power in New Jersey. Power Outage.ustracks outages across the country. In Massachusetts, approximately 300,000 people statewide are without power.
A state of emergency has been declared in New York, Philadelphia and other cities, as well as states from Delaware to Massachusetts, as officials mobilize preparedness efforts.
“The combination of heavy snowfall and strong winds will continue to create blizzard conditions along the Northeast Coast,” the NWS said Monday. “A sharp reduction in visual acuity will make travel in these areas extremely dangerous.”
NWS meteorologist Frank Pereira said the storm could possibly develop into a bomb hurricane, meaning the storm’s pressure would drop by at least 24 millibars in 24 hours.
Snowfall is expected to taper off Monday afternoon, the NWS said.
Philadelphia will move to online learning. Boston and New York City canceled public school classes on Monday.
“For kids in New York City, if you choose to accept this, you have a very serious duty: stay relaxed,” Mamdani said. The mayor said a decision on whether schools will remain closed or reopen Tuesday will be announced Monday afternoon.
While office workers in the Northeast began working remotely Monday morning, employees at JPMorgan Chase’s New York headquarters were not given the same opportunity. A spokesperson for the company confirmed to the Guardian that it would continue to host an in-person event for investors at its city center offices, the New York Times reported. A JPMorgan Chase spokesperson noted that there will be a livestream on the company’s website for those who cannot attend because the rest of the city is largely shut down.
JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, an ardent advocate of in-office work, will reportedly also be at the event.
Meanwhile, outreach workers worked to direct homeless New Yorkers off the streets into shelters and warming centers.
Mamdani said: report On Monday morning, New York City added more than 100 beds to a recently opened shelter in Upper Manhattan and urged New Yorkers to call 311 if they see a homeless New Yorker in need. Mayor’s handling of winter storms under scrutiny; At least 18 people died due to the unusually brutal cold the city faced.
Various landmarks and cultural institutions, from New York’s Museum of Modern Art to Washington, D.C.’s Arlington national cemetery, announced closures on Monday. Broadway shows were canceled Sunday evening.
The NWS said strong winds in the storm could cause whiteout conditions. It also warned of a “potentially historic/destructive storm” southeast of the Boston-Providence corridor.
“Winds like this, combined with heavy, wet snow, invite tree damage and extended power outages,” said Bryce Williams, a meteorologist with the NWS Boston office. “What we’re most concerned about is extreme snow amounts combined with wind.”
Stormy conditions in Rhode Island stranded vehicles and resulted in several vehicle collisions, the state’s governor, Dan McKee, confirmed at a briefing Monday morning. Governor also posted a video on social media from power outage conditions outside the state’s emergency operations office. In his message, he urged Rhode Islanders to “stay home and stay safe.”
In addition to vigorous plowing operations, New York City officials hired people to shovel snow, with some starting work Sunday night to get an early start on the first wave of snowfall, Mamdani said. New York City residents can check snow removal on their streets at: PlowNYCA website operated by the city’s sanitation department.
John Berlingieri canceled plans for a family trip to Puerto Rico. Instead, he was preparing his company, Berrington Snow Management, for a monumental task: clearing snow from the millions of square feet of asphalt surrounding Long Island’s shopping malls and industrial parks.
Workers have spent the past few days charging the batteries of the company’s 40 front-end loaders and replacing the windshield wipers on snowplows.
“I expect to work around the clock for at least a week,” Berlingieri said. “We’ll work 24 to 36 hours straight, get a few hours of sleep, and then come back.”
