A fast-moving winter storm bringing up to two feet of snow was expected to hit the northeastern United States, forecasters warned on Monday, prompting airlines to cancel thousands of flights and some mayors to order schools to close on Tuesday.
The National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings for parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, with forecasts calling for up to 2 feet (60 cm) of snow by early Wednesday, with temperatures 15 to 30 degrees below normal for this time of year.
Some 50 million people along the Eastern Seaboard were under storm or blizzard warnings and watches.
“When this thing hits, it’s going to hit hard and it’s going to put a ton of snow on the ground in a hurry,” Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker told reporters on Monday. He urged people to consider working from home if they could.
“It’s going to snow hard and fast for a long period of time. It will create whiteout conditions,” Baker said.
Blizzard – Over 4,000 Flights Cancelled in Northern US States
Airlines preemptively canceled more than 4,000 flights ahead of the storm, according to tracking service FlightAware.com. The airports with the most cancellations were Newark International Airport in New Jersey and Boston Logan International Airport.
American Airlines canceled all flights into New York’s three metropolitan area airports, Newark, LaGuardia Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport, and JetBlue Airways reported extensive cancellations.
Delta Air Lines canceled 800 flights for Tuesday for New York, JetBlue and other northeast airports, and United Airlines said it would have no operations at Newark or LaGuardia.
“We’re keeping a close eye on things and depending on how things go, will plan to ramp back up Wednesday morning,” United said in a statement.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency, and New York City, Boston and Providence, Rhode Island, canceled public school sessions for Tuesday in anticipation of the storm.
Reuters