Millions of people in the north-eastern US were stuck at home on Monday as heavy snow and strong winds created white-out conditions, grounding flights in the area and leaving hundreds of thousands without power.
Snowfall totals in 21 cities and towns across New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Massachusetts had reached at least 2ft, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). In some areas, that snow has been accompanied by strong wind gusts of over 30mph (48km/h) and low visibility.
Rhode Island received a record-breaking 32.8in, far surpassing the two-day snowfall record of 28.6in set 48 years ago, according to the NWS.
Long Island’s MacArthur airport reported 20in of snow as of Monday morning. Freehold, New Jersey, had 19in.
The NWS referred to Monday’s storm as a “classic bomb cyclone/nor’easter off the north-east coast.” A bomb cyclone occurs when a storm drops at least 24 millibars in pressure in 24 hours.
Blizzard warnings stretched from Maryland to Maine, affecting 40 million people. Cellphones across New York City received wailing push alerts on Sunday night announcing a ban on non-emergency travel on all streets through noon on Monday because of “dangerous blizzard conditions”. Rhode Island and New Jersey implemented similar restrictions.
New Jersey’s travel ban was lifted early on Monday afternoon, while Rhode Island will keep its in effect as heavy snow continues to impact the region into Monday evening.
At noon, Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed that New York’s travel ban had been lifted, but urged drivers to exercise caution if they decided to face the roads, asking New Yorkers to “exercise caution, travel slowly, and be mindful of others on the road”.
Almost 6,000 flights in and out of the United States were canceledaccording to the flight tracking website FlightAware. Most were canceled in New York, New Jersey and Boston.
Public transit was suspended in some areas. But it was still running in New York, albeit with delays and service changes. “Thousands of folks have been out yesterday and overnight to make sure that we could provide service today,” the chair of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), Janno Lieber, said in a local news interview.
“The service is a little less frequent and a little behind schedule on the subways, but it’s running on the whole system.”
Lieber said that cleaning and maintenance crews were focusing on elevated and outdoor tracks, where the most snow tends to accumulate.
The storm caused power outages that left almost 700,000 customers in the dark along the east coast late Monday morning, including about 130,000 customers without power in New Jersey, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide.
In Massachusetts, nearly 300,000 residents are without power across the state.
Emergencies had been declared in New York, Philadelphia and other cities, as well as several states stretching from Delaware to Massachusetts as officials mobilized readiness efforts.
Boston and New York canceled public school classes for Monday.
“To kids across New York City, you have a very serious mission if you choose to accept it: stay cozy,” Mamdani said. The mayor announced on Monday afternoon that school would be in-person on Tuesday, to the chagrin of students throughout the city. “You can still pelt me with snowballs when you see me,” Mamdani said.
Most office workers across the north-east logged on to remote work on Monday morning, but employees at JPMorgan Chase’s New York headquarters were not afforded the same opportunity. A spokesperson confirmed to the company told the Guardian it would go forward with hosting an in-person event for investors at its office in midtown, as the New York Times reported.
The JP Morgan spokesperson noted that there would be a live stream on the company’s website for those who cannot attend, with the rest of the city largely at a standstill.
JPMorgan Chase’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, a fierce proponent of in-office work, will reportedly also be at the event.
Meanwhile, outreach workers worked to coax homeless New Yorkers off the street and into shelters and warming centers.
Mamdani said in an interview that New York City added more than 100 beds at a recently opened shelter in upper Manhattan, and urged New Yorkers to call 311 if they see a homeless New Yorker in need. The mayor’s handling of the winter storms has been under scrutiny, as at least 18 people have died from the unusually brutal cold snap that the city has faced.
Various landmarks and cultural institutions announced closures on Monday, from New York’s Museum of Modern Art to Arlington national cemetery in Washington. Broadway shows were canceled on Sunday and Monday evening.
The NWS said the storm’s strong wind gusts could cause whiteout conditions. It also warned of a “potentially historic/destructive storm” south-east of the Boston-Providence corridor.
“Winds like that, combined with heavy, wet snow, are a recipe for damaged trees and prolonged power outages,” said Bryce Williams, a meteorologist with the NWS’s Boston office. “That’s what we’re most concerned with, is the combination of those extreme snow amounts with that wind.”
Blustery conditions trapped vehicles and resulted in a handful of vehicle collisions in Rhode Island, the state’s governor Dan McKee confirmed at a Monday morning briefing. The governor also posted a video on social media of the whiteout conditions outside the state’s emergency operations office. In his message, he urged Rhode Islanders to “stay home and stay safe”.
By Monday afternoon, the snow began to let up in New York and traveled eastward towards New England.
In Massachusetts, officials said at a news conference that they are expecting blizzard effects to continue until Tuesday morning. Dawn Brantley, the state’s emergency management director, reported downed trees, power lines and stranded cars. Officials also called on residents to work from home on Tuesday if possible, so that the roads can stay clear for snow removal and power restoration.
“We’ve got to be able to get snow cleared as quickly as possible, so that we can get power restored as quickly as possible,” Maura Healey, the state’s governor, said in a news conference.
Healey signed an executive order to implement a travel ban for non-essential vehicles in Bristol, Plymouth, and Barnstable counties, noting that they are particularly impacted areas by the storm.
As the winds and snow continue to batter the state, Healey said she has also asked neighboring states, such as Vermont and New York, for additional resources help support clearing efforts.
In New York, John Berlingieri scrapped plans for a family trip to Puerto Rico. Instead, he was preparing his company, Berrington Snow Management, for what could well be a mammoth task: clearing snow from millions of square feet of asphalt surrounding shopping malls and industrial parks across Long Island.
Employees spent the last few days recharging batteries on the company’s 40 front-end loaders and replacing windshield wipers on snow-removal vehicles.
“I’m anticipating at least one week of work around the clock,” Berlingieri said. “We’re going to work 24 to 36 hours straight, sleep for a few hours and then go back.”
While the storm conditions over the past 24 hours have been nothing short of historic, there may be more to come. The National Weather Service said it is tracking another storm that could bring more snow to the region later this week.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
