A strong nor’easter storm hit the north-east of the United States overnight on Tuesday, causing airlines to cancel more than 1,000 flights and disrupt the morning work commute for millions.
Meteorologists predicted New York City could get as much as 8in of snow, with a foot or more possible in Boston. However, warm ground temperatures meant that snow was not yet heavily accumulating in Manhattan.
According to the flight-tracking service FlightAware at 7am EST, 6,902 flights were delayed, and 1,317 cancelled. A live-visualization “MiseryMap” showed the New York region hardest hit, followed by Washington DC and Boston.
Millions of children had their schooling disrupted as hundreds of schools chose to either close or deliver lessons remotely. New York City closed all its 1,600 schools and will have only remote lessons, a decision that affects some 1.1 million children.
It was the first major snowstorm in New York City since February 2022.
“It’s been a quiet winter, so it’s kind of welcoming,” said Ricky Smith, who was on his way to a construction job in the city. “I just hope nobody gets hurt.”
Mayor Eric Adams told New Yorkers not to underestimate the storm. “Let’s allow Mother Nature to do its thing,” he said. “The name of the game is to keep our roadways clear, and we’re hoping that people use public transportation or if they can stay home, please do so.”
New York City officials said that despite the snow, they had no plans to relocate people from several large, heated tent shelter complexes built for thousands of homeless migrants.
The National Weather Service said the nor’easter was on track to “be rapidly pushing east and away from the Mid-Atlantic coast this morning and well out to sea by later today”.
In Connecticut, Governor Ned Lamont ordered all executive branch office buildings closed to the public for the day, with similar orders being given in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
“The timing of winter storm is of particular concern, especially considering that snowfall rates are expected to be heavy during the morning rush hour commute and continue through the afternoon,” Lamont said in a statement.
More than 27,000 homes and businesses in Pennsylvania and about 11,600 in West Virginia were without power as heavy rain and snow caused disruptions across the region due to the storm’s impact.
The PowerOutage.us website, which tracks power connections, also showed that more than 40,000 properties had no power in the north-east.
Airlines proactively issued waivers to give travelers extra flexibility to change their tickets ahead of the storm. People traveling from, to or through the north-east on Tuesday were encouraged to monitor their flight status and consider changing plans to avoid the worst of the weather.
Depending on the storm’s exact timing, Wednesday could also be a messy day to fly because it can sometimes take airlines extra time to get all their operational pieces back into place after heavy weather clears out.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
