A blizzard predicted to be of epic proportions is pounding the
Northeast, already bringing more than 3 feet of snow to some areas and
cutting power to 650,000 homes and businesses.
More than 3 feet
had fallen on central Connecticut by early Saturday, and areas of
southeastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire notched 2
feet or more of snow - with more falling.
The storm is being
blamed on at least four deaths, three in Canada and one in New York. In
New York, a 74-year-old man died after being struck by a car in
Poughkeepsie; the driver said she lost control in the snowy conditions,
police said.
Hurricane-force wind gusts are sweeping the
Northeast. Winds gusted to 76 mph at Logan airport and 82 mph in
Westport, Conn. Blizzard warnings were posted from parts of New Jersey
to Maine.
More than 6,300 flights in North America have been
canceled through 11 a.m. Saturday, according to flight-tracking service
FlightStats.
In the New York City area, John F. Kennedy Airport,
LaGuardia Airport and Newark Airport were open as of 7 a.m. Saturday,
according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Some
commercial flights were expected to resume as early as 9 a.m., but
carriers have canceled many flights. Travelers were urged to call ahead
and check with their carriers for specific flight information.
STORY: Airline cancellations soar in blizzard
Acela train express service between New York City and Boston remained shut down Saturday, Amtrak reported.
Southbound
Northeast Regional service from Boston was expected to resume on a
limited schedule at 11:40 a.m. Northbound Northeast Regional service
from Penn Station in New York City was also expected to resume limited
service as of 11:30 a.m., Amtrak reported.
While the blizzard, dubbed "Nemo" by the Weather Channel, the
blizzard has ended in New York City, heavy snow and strong wind gusts
are expected to continue across much of New England through midday,
before tapering off from west to east through the afternoon, according
to the National Weather Service.
Blizzard warnings are scheduled
to expire at 1 p.m. in Boston, Providence, and Worcester, and at 4 p.m.
in coastal Maine. Snow will taper off completely by late afternoon, said
meteorologist Chris Dolce of the Weather Channel. Temperatures will
hover in the teens in northern New England and in the 20s in southern
New England today, and rise into the 30s Sunday, according to
AccuWeather.
Nemo is now officially the sixth-greatest in Boston
history, according to the National Weather Service. An official snow
total from Boston's Logan Airport this morning registered 21.8 inches,
which puts it in sixth place on the all-time list. Snow is still falling
in Boston, so that number is likely to go up. The record snowfall in
Boston is 27.5 from Feb. 17-18, 2003.
The storm brought a record
snowfall of 29.3 inches to Portland, Maine, breaking the previous high
of 27.1 inches from Jan. 17-18, 1979.
New Haven, Conn., has
already seen 29.8 inches of snow and 34 inches were dumped on Hamden,
Conn., according to the National Weather Service.
The blizzard
dumped a preliminary total of 30.3 inches at the National Weather
Service office in Upton, N.Y., on eastern Long Island.
"We may be
in the top 10 (largest snowfalls in recent history) for Suffolk County,
and maybe in the top five," said David Stark, a meteorologist working at
the Upton office Saturday morning.
The highest snowfall total from the storm so far is in Milford, Conn., which has received 38 inches.
New York City's Central Park, where the official snowfall totaled
11.4 inches, filled with bundled-up men, women and children. Some came
with sleds, some with skis, some strolled casually, and some, like Gauri
Pradhan of Manhattan, took photos of the snow-covered scenery.
"It's pretty," Pradhan said.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Saturday morning the city "certainly avoided the worst of it."
Service
on the Metro-North commuter rail lines between New York City and the
northern suburbs was scheduled to resume at 11 a.m., New York State's
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a news briefing Saturday morning. But in Long
Island's Suffolk County, the state's hardest-hit area, about 150
motorists were stranded with their vehicles in Long Island's Suffolk
County.
Additional snowplows from adjacent Nassau County and from
New York City were en route to help eastern Long Island dig out, Cuomo
said. New York was also sending plows, personnel and other
storm-response aid to Connecticut and Massachusetts, he said, explaining
that "this state had (storm-related) consequences, but nothing like out
neighboring states."
Conn. Gov. Dannel Malloy ordered all roads closed statewide early Saturday.
"It's
critical right now that residents stay off the roads, so that our plows
can continue their efforts to clear our streets and highways," said
Malloy. "This is a record-setting storm. It's going to take time to dig
out of the snow. Stalled or abandoned vehicles will only slow that
process. Unless you face an emergency, please stay put."
The storm stranded hundreds of motorists on highways and roads across Suffolk County on Eastern Long Island.
"We're
taxed. We're still trying to rescue people in a number of places and
get them home," said a spokesman for the Suffolk County Police
Department Saturday morning. "We have the National Guard and the State
Police helping us."
The Long Island Expressway remained closed to all but emergency and utility vehicles.
"It's very hard to get on an entrance or exit ramp right now. They're under several feet of snow," the police spokesman said.
The snow also caused a 19-car, four-hour pileup on I-295 near
Cumberland, Maine. Several people had minor injuries, police said. In
Vermont, the storm was being blamed for a series of crashes on I-89 in
Bolton and South Burlington. Two people were taken to the hospital with
minor injuries.
Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and Massachusetts have declared states of emergencies.
Massachusetts
Gov. Deval Patrick banned all traffic from roads Friday afternoon,
believed to be the state's first such ban since the blizzard of 1978.
The ban remained in place Saturday.
Utility officials warned
customers to prepare for power outages lasting several days. New England
and New York are expected to take the hardest hit, but others around
the country could feel the ripple effect from canceled flights and
trains and snarled traffic along the Eastern Seaboard, parts which are
still reeling from the fallout of October's Superstorm Sandy.
In
Somerville, Mass., Amsterdam Falafelshop Boston is one of the only
business to open on time today at 11 a.m., after staying open til its
regular closing time at midnight Friday.
"The way I see small
business is that we're providing a service to the local community,"
owner Matt D'Alessio, 29, said as he shoveled the knee-high snow and
salted the sidewalk outside his restaurant. "We remained open because
people came to our shop," buying multiple sandwiches for friends at
home, D'Alessio said.
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The
Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Plymouth experienced an automatic
shutdown at around 9:15 p.m. Friday after losing off-site power.
Spokesman Neil Sheehan says that the reactor shut down without any
problems and that backup generators are powering plant equipment.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says there's no threat to public safety.
Contributing:
Melanie Eversley, Ben Mutzabaugh, Stephanie Haven; Alesha Williams,
Laura Petrecca, Natalie DiBlasio, TIm Mullaney; Associated Press