Massive snowstorm slams Northeast, causing power outages and forcing thousands of flight cancellations
A massive winter storm that hit the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic with blizzard conditions Monday, which led to widespread power outages and forced the cancellation of thousands of flights.
More than 40 million people were under blizzard warnings along 700 miles of the Eastern Seaboard from Maryland to Maine, and travel bans were issued in several states as the region grappled with slippery roads and whiteout conditions.
Power outages
More than 250,000 homes and businesses were without power along the East Coast as of Tuesday evening, according to poweroutage.us. Massachusetts saw the most outages, with about 216,000, mostly in Barnstable County on Cape Cod.
New Jersey had nearly 19,000 outages, while Delaware had about 15,000.
Flight cancellations and delays
More than 11,000 flights were canceled between Sunday and Tuesday, according to flight tracking service FlightAware.
Flights were essentially suspended from North Philadelphia to Boston because of the storm. Most of the cancellations occurred at major hubs Boston, New York and Philadelphia, although Baltimore and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia also saw significant numbers of cancellations.
Airlines began canceling flights on Saturday to prepare for the storm. Cancellations for Monday topped 5,700, while Sunday saw more than 3,400 cancellations.
More than 2,000 U.S. flights were canceled Tuesday, when airlines hope to resume service in some regions. Airports in Boston and New York were responsible for about half of the cancellations of departing flights on Tuesday.
Snowfall totals
Snow accumulation reached double digits across much of the region, with parts of Long Island and New Jersey reporting more than 2 feet, CBS New York reported. Babylon, New York, reported more than 29 inches, while Freehold, New Jersey, had more than 26 inches.
In New York, over 19 inches of snow crammed into Central Park, making it the ninth largest in the city’s record book since 1869.
CBS News Boston reports it was the largest snowstorm in recorded history in Providence, Rhode Island, with 37.9 inches of snow Monday evening. Snow totals reached 30 inches or more in many southeastern Massachusetts communities, while Boston reached 17.1 inches.
This map shows the amount of snow that fell in the region:
Travel bans finally lifted
Once the storm passed, cities began lifting their travel bans.
At noon Monday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani raised a ban on all non-essential travel which had left the city’s normally busy streets virtually deserted at the height of the snowfall. He also said city schools would be open Tuesday for in-person learning.
“New York City continues to deal with the emergency of this historic snowstorm, and we will not stop until the storm passes and our city is fully operational again,” Mamdani said. But he noted that “conditions on the roads are still icy and dangerous, and we encourage New Yorkers to take public transportation if necessary.” » [and] stay indoors when possible.
In New Jersey, the statewide travel ban was lifted around 2 p.m.; however, state police urged motorists to avoid unnecessary travel.
In Westchester County, north of New York, a traffic ban was lifted at 6 p.m.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey lifted travel bans which had been issued for Bristol, Plymouth and Barnstable counties on Massachusetts’ southern coast, as well as Dukes County, which encompasses Martha’s Vineyard, as of midday Tuesday.
The National Weather Service said travel conditions were “nearly impossible” at the height of the storm. Heavy snow and gusty winds created blizzard conditions, causing chaos on Interstate 95 in the busy Northeast corridor.
