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Subscribe to RSSUpdated at 4:20 a.m. ET: A powerful winter storm pounded the Northeast Saturday, with gusting winds and heavy snow causing power failures for hundreds of thousands of people, dozens of accidents and fuel shortages at gas stations.
At least one death was confirmed, a snow-related car accident in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
By 4:20 a.m. ET Saturday, 26 inches of snow had fallen at Hamden, Conn., with 22.4 inches at Upton, N.Y., and 15.3 in Portland, Maine, weather.com reported. New York City's Central park had 6.3 inches.
Blizzard warnings were issued for the New York City metro area, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, coastal New Hampshire and coastal Maine, weather.com added.
Forecasters said they expected Massachusetts to get the most snowfall, with an accumulation of up to 3 feet in some spots. The worst snowfall on record in Boston was a 27.5-inch blast a decade ago.
Coastal residents were warned that the winds could top 70 mph. Those living on north- and east-facing shorelines from Boston south to Cape Cod Bay were told to prepare for tides 2 to 4 feet above normal.
"Coastal flooding is expected on the Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts coastlines," the National Weather Service said.
"I'm really nervous," Kathy Niznansky, a 65-year-old teacher in coastal Fairfield, Conn. told The Associated Press. Niznansky is still recovering from flooding from Superstorm Sandy which arrived on her birthday and knocked her out of her house near the beach for two months. "Now I'm really worried about this tide tonight. I just don't want any more flooding."
In Massachusetts, gusts over 50 mph were reported in Boston and over 60 mph on Nantucket Island. Winds up to 75 mph were possible in Provincetown, forecasters said.
Police said hundreds of cars were stuck on the Long Island Expressway, NBC weatherman Al Roker said in a message on Twitter.
The winter storm gathered strength as two weather systems — a so-called clipper pattern sweeping across the Midwest and a band of rain from the South — converged over the Northeast early Friday.
By late Friday, the storm had arrived in earnest and was expected to pummel New England through Saturday and last as long as Sunday farther north.
Governors of New York, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island declared states of emergency.
More than 800 National Guard soldiers and airmen were activated in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York to provide roadway support, emergency transportation and back-up for first responders, the Department of Defense said Friday evening, while governors in the region warned people to get home and be prepared for power outages.
Airlines canceled more than 3,000 flights on Friday, Boston closed its subway, Amtrak suspended some service, and cities across the Northeast prepared to deploy an armada of snowplows and salt-spreading trucks.
More than half a million people were without power, including a whopping 389,000 customers in Massachusetts, 177,000 in Rhode Island and 35,000 in Connecticut, and more power failures were expected overnight.
For people in the blizzard’s path, forecasters and authorities had a clear message: Stay home.
Driving bans
Governors in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts announced restrictions on driving.
In the most sweeping ban, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick ordered all non-essential vehicles off the roads by 4 p.m. and said people should brace to be snowed in for two days. He said the storm was "profoundly different" from others the state has endured in recent years.
Gov. Dannel Malloy of Connecticut banned car traffic on limited-access highways starting at 4 p.m. State police reported nearly 100 minor accidents across the state by Friday afternoon.
"If you don't currently have a reason to be on the road, if you're not an emergency personnel that's required to report to work somewhere, stay home," Malloy said at a state armory news conference. "This is it. Things are starting to accumulate."
In the Poughkeepsie, N.Y. crash, a car driven by an 18-year-old female went out of control in the snow and struck Muril M. Hancock, 74, who was walking near the shoulder, police said. Hancock died from his injuries at the hospital.
The eastern part of Connecticut was experiencing white-out conditions late into the evening, the state's emergency operations center reported, and even snowplows were immobilized because of the weather.
Several motorists were reported stranded on snowed-in highways and interstates, but no injuries had been reported. Still, emergency crews were unable to respond due to the severe conditions.
A 19-car pileup on Interstate 295 in Falmouth, Maine, was blamed on the storm. Police said there were minor injuries.
Elsewhere, Rhode Island police asked people for loaner snowmobiles, and out-of-state utility crews headed for Connecticut to help.
Full coverage from The Weather Channel
Watch live video of the Northeast blizzard
Sandy survivors: It's like a repeat 'nightmare'
Airline cancellations piled up all morning. Almost 3,000 flights were scrapped for Friday and more than 1,000 more for Saturday, according to FlightAware.com.
At the major airports in New York and New England, most major airlines said they would shut down completely Friday afternoon.
Schools were closed in Boston and for most of New England on Friday. Patrick ordered non-essential state workers to stay home Friday and encouraged private employers to do the same.
In New York, the transit agency added more than 20 afternoon trains on its Metro-North commuter line from Grand Central Terminal to get people out of the city before the worst hit.
The Metro-North suspended service Friday night due to the storm. The Long Island Rail Road shut down service east of Speonk about 9 p.m.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned people to stay in and to use public transportation if they had to go out, although even that carried the possibility of disruptions. The city had 250,000 tons of salt at the ready for the roads.
He encouraged New Yorkers to stay in and cook a meal or read a good book.
"This is a very serious storm, and we should treat it that way," said Tom Prendergast, president of the agency that runs New York subways and buses.
The weather service warned that the combination of heavy snow and high winds would limit visibility and cause whiteout conditions at times.
"Those venturing outdoors may become lost or disoriented," the weather service said in an advisory issued for the Boston area.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Related:
The Weather Channel live stream
State-by-state impact of the storm
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Let's just hope and pray that all will be safe and warm during all this. Please people, listen to the weather forecast and heed their warnings and do what they ask. Prayers to all who are in this path.
Looks like rain so far.
http://radar.weather.gov/radar_lite.php?rid=dix&product=NCR&loop=yes
I'm all stocked up here. Lots of food and candles, not to mention blankets and coats if the power goes out. Went to some stores this morning and they were not crowded at all. My only real worry is the outside feral cats that I feed. I keep food and a heater on the porch for them, but it's an open porch. If it gets too bad, I will have to get them inside so they don't freeze or get sick.
God keeps sending messages to the liberal nuts up that way, but they refuse to listen.
If God sent natural catastrophes to bad people Arizona would burn to the ground!
Typical liberal deflection, gail. Lets see if you can answer a question for real. No deflection. JUST WHAT IF, WHAT IF by 1/10000000000000 of a chance that GOD was REAL. Would you be afraid to face him as the person you are right now?
Maybe it's because I do not watch much but local news on TV, but back in December when we here in Tahoe had about 5 feet of snow dumped on us in 4 days, it did not become national news. Life went on, we went to work, we watched football on weekends, no big deal.
But hey, I digress, good luck back east.
New York City itself does not have the room to put any snow. It's quite crowded and until recently they haven't had any substancial amounts fall. So many subway stations to clean out(Sandy storm). Until you have been there, you have no idea how massive that city is. Wonderful city!
I am old enough to remember the Blizzard of 78 here in the Midwest, when the Ohio River froze over, I pray that it is not as bad as that, because that was really awful.
Buffalo NY here... stay in (if you're able to) and your house and loved ones will still be there when snow melts in few days! Lived through Blizzard of "77.Hope the coast fares well. Stay safe all
I live in Florida too, talk about hyping the storms hurricane season is just an excuse to raise the insurance premiums. Every one has some form of extreme weather to deal with from time to time. Its true that the winter's are mild down here, but you pay for it in the summertime. Hot and muggy even when you get up and the mornings. I don't mind and rain but seven or eight months of that heat will sure drain you. I've only seen snow once up in North Carolina no blizzard but a foot or so on the ground the family enjoyed it. Good luck hope everything is OK wherever you are.
There's no snow in Buffalo.
It's coming down as we speak
The Northeast will get through this storm just as they have many others. This isn't their first rodeo. It's Al Roker blowin' a$$ and shatting his pants they have to worry about.
I live up on the Great Lakes and a 2 ft snowfall is not a big deal; I know these folks aren't accustomed to these conditions but, lord almighty, it isn't a national emergency.
Enjoy your snow,,,I'm in the sun here
How nice for you. Where are you?
Two feet of snow will still only be half of the blizzard of Feb 1978 which dumped 4-5 feet of snow with drifts to 10-20 feet in the Providence - Boston suburbs. Not even comparable. Google the 1978 New England Blizzard photos of 100's of cars buried on major highways below the snow with just rooftops visible. This will be an average Feb. noreaster blizzard that happens about once every 3 to 5 years for the area with the blizzard warnings.
Have to love the media hype I am from New England been thru plenty of snow storms, and blizzards survived them all. Went to the store this morning no bread or water and people waiting for gas you would think this was the end of the world. I know it is better to be prepared but most people get in panic mode. I just hope if we lose power CL&P gets power back on quickly not a week or two later.
In recent years we hear about the worse Storms, Quakes, or whatever to prepare for, knowing they have been helped by man made HAARP, Chem-Trails, Snow/Ice Stroms and such. Check out Electromagectic Radio Waves, Bariumblues.com., Snowshoe Documentaries.
Woopie Doo, another storm, like they don't happen in other parts of the USA. And they're much bigger but, we just plug along, it's winter. We get between 200-300 inches snow a year and i don't see the weder channel saying much about it. Only because the weether channel is located there and now they have something to talk about in there back yard. You don't see them when it's snowing/blizzarding 2-4 feet elswhere, mayble a little blurp to say it's snowing somewhere in the USA. I don't live in the southwest, but, when a tornado comes through and levels out city block after city block, now that devastation. When you can stand on a sidewalk and see nothing standing for miles, that's what i call a monster storm. Been there done that, no crying, no hand out. It's the news media that likes to make noise, make it seem like the sky is falling, 'BREAKING NEWS'. Ever since Desert Storm that's been their everyday word for just about anything they report on. I'm scared O.J. Simpson is on the lose in his white SUV.
Been thru a number of winter blizzards here in Minnesota......just makes spring a little sweeter when it gets here!!
I always though it was funny to hear of people who bought food needing refrigeration then complained when they lost power and the food spolied.
It makes too much sense to put it outside in the snow. I'm surprised more liberals don't starve to death.
I agree . That's why the smart people buy canned food and stock up on water and batteries just in case.
Also have LCD lanterns instead of candles. Small propane portable mini stoves but don't use indoors. A crank radio and fully charge your laptops especially if your smartphone has a Hotspot feature. Have car chargers handy to recharge your phones and laptops and of course a full tank of gas. A generator is quite usefull as well.
I the North during a snow storm... you can put your food outside
Someone please tell the media it's the middle of winter, and it has been known to snow this time of the year in the NorthEast...
Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuussssssssssssssssssssssss Christ....
@ Ben from Texas,
Do you think anybody cares about you or Texas.
The only parts I consider worthy of 'independant thought processes' are Houston and Dallas and that is because of the high percentage of transplants based there to make money for their respective companies headquartered elsewhere. To be fair I do not paint all Texans with the same brush and actually feel sad as I watch their freedoms and quality of life wither. Texas is the cause of their suffering not the federal government.
To the others making light of this historic Nor'easter turned Blizzard STFU !! I have lived through many of these storms and have also witnessed what Hurricane Andrew did to Florida in the early 90's and worked in La. for five months from Oct. 05 until March 06 after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit. I have seen devastation and the aftermath first hand many times. It's serious not material for jokes but then again one must always consider the source .
So it's ok for you to talk sh!t about texas, belittle it's residents, and then use a qualifier like "to be fair" so nobody thinks your a phucking a$$hole right?
Well to be fair. The idiots who compose the NE blue state population get what they deserve. To be fair, the people in New Orleans are bottom of the barrel morons who should have left instead of sticking around to rape and pillage. To be fair, it wasn't the federal governments job to clean up the mess in New orleans to begin with, the state should have had better preparations and they didn't.
To be fair. I could preseume you're just another blue state fruitcake who hates texas because it represents something you gave up on a LONG time ago. It isn't texas making texas suck, it's bleeding heart liberal hypocrisy that won't deal with the illegals out of fear of being called some stupid name. It's phucking idiots who pretend to be considerate and compassionate but also want their opinion to be the law of the land where it is clearly not applicable. And idiots who think the federal government should have a 1 size fits all approach that fits their failed ideology.
Get a phucking clue.
As I sit here in Wyoming watching the news I don't know whether to be sad for lack of news or laugh at the excitement of a snow storm. I choose to just say WOW! Snow in winter! And it is not only big news, people are surprised. Come on out to Wyoming where 9 months of winter and snow is not big news. Maybe we should cry for help every time it snows and the wind blows. Nah, we can handle it. Guess that is why they say "Wyoming IS what America was"! Believe it or not, we pray for snow here. Seems to make a lot of people downstream happy when they have water. Thank you for the laugh today : ) I will go get my flip flops on and go for a walk as we have 3 days of snow heading our way this afternoon,,hmmm wonder why it isn't headline news? Common sense REALLY is a super power here in this country it seems! WOW
But Sandy you must remember that here in NY, NJ, Ct, Mass, RI we are loaded with mind dead Dumbocrats. Man made global warming is another junk sciences along with second hand smoke killing everyone in the country, and of course more gun control that they beleive in. So snow and mand made global warming do not mix, but wait their buddies in the teachers union are cooking up another bogues lesson plan. To "teach" another generation anything but math or science.
Living in Wisconsin we know about snow storms, we also know about hype and Bull Sh*t. The media hypes the hell out of every snow storm over 3 inches. scares the hell out of everyone for no reason, except for ratings.
Do any of you in the NE really think your going to get that much snow, and do you really think the conditions will be that bad? I'm betting not, but as it's been pointed out numerous times I don't live there.
Who wants to take bets on how many people ignore the warnings - require emergency assistance - then bitch that the emergency assistance wasn't good enough to fix their stupidity?
East Coast, and Toronto, they're freaking out about this snow. Montreal? Eh, it's just snow, again. We already had record breakin g daily snow fall in MTL, just back in the end of December.
As people have said, it's only the East Coast storms that generate the news. The midwest could have the same amount of snow dumped on it, maybe a brief message that somewhere got several feet or inches of snow. But let a couple of flakes hit the East Coast, OMG, the sky is falling.
Heck, the ski resorts out here have plenty of snow, and are hoping they get more snow. And I hope they do, as that means the ski season lasts longer. It also means the rivers and creeks will have plenty of water this summer also.
I do hope nobody gets hurt or killed by this storm, but come on, this is winter time, snow storms occur in winter, it's not news to most people.
You have to consider the source and the lacking intelligence population it's directed to
I live in Maryland, I'm glad we missed it!
Thank you Army1971 for reminding me again why I live in Wyoming! : ) Snow and all,,lol. Hey we have gun control here. We send the kids to this great class called Hunter Safety. We teach people how to control guns. I myself practice gun control,,I know how to control my guns whether cleaning them or shooting them. Now if I could just figure out how to survive a snow storm..LMAO
What the f()ck does a story about a storm have to do with gun control do()chebag? Go have an accident cleaning your gun.
This is where those people who laugh and roll thier eyes at "preppers" and realize that maybe we aren't looney tunes like they say we are! That's right! I am proud to be a "prepper"!!! Wouldn't you like to be a prepper too? hehe! Seriously, we ARE NOT the extreme ones who live in a bunker with 5 years worth of food, BUT, we do have two months worth of canned and dry goods, powdered milk, lots of spring water, charcoal for the grill, xtra food for the cat and dogs, bug out bags with some Mountain House meals and the Mountain stove (GREAT for a long hike!) blankets,first aid kit and "protection" (Ruger 1911 and a shotgun) Even the Government has been running emergency prepardness ads, like the one where the family is floating upside down.