From Reuters:
“U.S. Northeast braces for
blizzard bringing up to 2 feet of snow”
A powerful Nor'easter storm is
expected to hammer New England and the Middle Atlantic region this weekend with
blizzard-like conditions and up to two feet of snow, making travel treacherous
and bringing flooding to coastal areas. The National Weather Service (NWS) on
Friday issued a blizzard warning for the Boston metropolitan area, which has a
population of nearly 4.9 million residents. About 24 inches of powder (60 cm)
and wind gusts of 70 miles (112 km) per hour were forecast starting on
Saturday. Southeastern Massachusetts, including Cape Cod and the island of
Martha's Vineyard, were expected to get the highest snow totals. "We’re
declaring a snow emergency starting tonight," Boston Mayor Michelle Wu
said in a Tweet. "Residents are encouraged to stay home."
Winter storm advisories and
warnings were also in effect from the Carolinas up through Maine, where at
least a foot of snow was forecast to start falling Friday afternoon and
continue on Saturday, the NWS said. Wind gusts could reach 50 miles per hour. "It
will make travel pretty much impossible," said Patrick O'Hara, an NWS
meteorologist based in New Jersey. "It is the first very big storm of the
year. Every few years we get one. It's not extremely unusual." The storm
was approaching 44 years to the day after a monstrous blizzard crippled New
England. Striking with little warning and dumping more than 27 inches of snow
on Boston, the 1978 storm shut down major highways for a week, trapped
residents in their homes and killed dozens of people. On Friday morning, more
than 2,000 Saturday flights had already been canceled, including 230 out of
Boston's Logan International Airport.
New York City, the nation's
biggest metropolis, may see nine inches of snow, forecasters said. "As we
head into the weekend, please closely follow local forecasts, stay off the
roads, and avoid unnecessary travel," New York Governor Kathy Hochul said
on Twitter. Local media throughout the region reported that grocery stores were
crowded with shoppers trying to stock up on essentials before the storm hit. "I
just spent over $100 for groceries ahead of this alleged “storm.” Snow girl, if
you gon’ do it, do it big," Twitter user ChelsLynne17 posted on the social
media platform.
The weather service warned that
blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility and strong winds could bring
down tree branches and knock out power in parts of the region. Libraries,
churches, clinics and various retail stores in the region said they were
closing on Saturday. "We will be closed tomorrow, Saturday the 29th, for
the snow storm. Call us wimps, if you dare..." said RiverRun Bookstore, a
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, retailer, in a Tweet. Some parts of coastal Atlantic
were also facing the possibility of flooding in low-lying areas and vulnerable
roadways, the NWS said. The storm system will push temperatures down. Highs
will range from 15 to 25 degrees Fahrenheit below average across the eastern
third of the U.S. on Saturday.
^ The brunt of this storm is
supposed to stay south of us, but we are still expecting 6-12 inches of snow
and power outages from the 35-50 mph winds. ^
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