A powerful nor'easter brought Central Park's snowiest day in two years as 3.2 inches of snow blanketed the area's trees, statues, and walkways in white.
Pedestrians in New York City posed for selfies against the backdrop and parents and their kids could be seen spending the day on sleds, building snowmen, and throwing snowballs. Schools in the region shifted to remote learning rather than giving students a snow day.
However, technical problems that prevented many students, teachers, and administrators from logging into their accounts offered a good excuse to take the day off. One resident, Kirsten Lindberg, dusted off her skis and said that she would not miss a chance to take advantage of the snowy conditions.
She said that skiing was her favorite thing to do, which is why she kept her skis in her tiny closet all year round just in case of snowy days such as this one. The snowfall in New York City was the largest since Jan. 29, 2022. This was when Central Park measured more than seven inches of snow, as per the Independent.
Since that time, there have only been two snowfalls that measured more than an inch that officials have recorded. On Feb. 13, 2022, authorities measured 1.6 inches while on Jan. 16, 2024, they measured 1.3 inches.
On the other hand, with the sun setting and temperatures continuing to drop, local mayors, governors, and other officials are warning about the risks of ice development overnight. Besides that danger, the winter storm seems to be fading from the region.
The Massachusetts coast and the narrow strip of Cape Cod had to deal with powerful wind on top of all the snowfall that the storm brought. The towns of Cape Cod saw many trees and power lines downed but no boats were in need of rescue for the churning surf and high waves.
Dangers of the Winter Storm
On the U.S. East Coast, thousands of Americans were without power, and in Pennsylvania, more than 85,000 households were left in the dark. To the east of Massachusetts, another 23,000 households are still without power as well as 4,000 in New Jersey, according to BBC.
On top of causing power outages, the winter storm also caused more than 1,000 flights to be canceled as air travel across the Northeast was hindered. On Tuesday, there were more than 1,100 flight cancellations, the majority of which were in or out of major airports in New York, Boston, and New Jersey.
During a morning interview, Gov. Phil Murphy said that there were also more than 250 car accidents that were reported to New Jersey State Police. Until early Wednesday, there are coastal flood warnings in effect for portions of the New Jersey and Delaware coasts.
This was due to gusts of winds of 30 to 40 miles per hour driving water onshore. Between roughly two and three feet of coastal flooding was also possible during high tide on Tuesday evening from New Jersey to southern New England, including in Long Island and Connecticut, said CNN.
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