Fierce Winter Storm Bearing Down on Northeast US
Light snow was falling Thursday in parts of the Northeast as a winter
storm bore down on the region, promising significant snowfall, strong
winds and frigid temperatures that will make commutes hazardous for the
first work day of the new year.
Snow began falling overnight in parts of New England and New York, but
the real brunt of the storm wasn't expected to hit until later Thursday.
As much as a foot of snow or more was forecast for some areas overnight
Thursday into Friday, and temperatures were expected to plummet, with
some areas seeing highs just above zero, according to the National
Weather Service.
"There will be travel problems," said Hugh Johnson, a weather service meteorologist in Albany, N.Y. "It will be very cold."
Up to 14 inches of snow is forecast for the Boston area and the National
Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for Long Island — where 8 to
10 inches of snow could fall and winds could gust up to 45 mph — from
Thursday evening into Friday afternoon.
Some schools in New England and New York closed pre-emptively or planned
early dismissals, while cities issued on-street parking bans and
homeless shelters were expected to fill beyond capacity.
The storm dropped up to a foot of snow on parts of Michigan and 6 inches
or more in Illinois, prompting hundreds of flight cancellations
Wednesday into and out of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport,
according to the aviation tracking website FlightAware.com. About 1,000
U.S. flights were canceled for Thursday, with O'Hare and New Jersey's
Newark Liberty International most affected.
Authorities said the weather may have been a factor in a fatal crash
Wednesday evening involving a pickup and a bus carrying casino patrons
in Indiana. Police said the truck's driver was killed and 15 bus
passengers were injured in the collision on a snow-covered and slushy
highway in Rolling Prairie.
Sections of interior southern New England and New York could get up to a
foot of snow by the time the storm moves out, with forecasts generally
calling for 6 to 12 inches. New York City, likely to see 3 to 7 inches,
issued a snow alert. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo urged the city's
commuters to leave their cars at home in case major highways are closed
for Thursday's evening rush hour.
"We are looking at a serious storm situation," Cuomo said.
Although lesser amounts of snow were forecast to the south, Philadelphia
and parts of southern New Jersey were expected to see 3 to 7 inches of
blowing, drifting snow.
In Toms River, N.J., Jonas Caldwell said he was prepared for whatever the storm might bring.
"Santa brought me a snow blower, and I've got rock salt for the ice, so
now I'm just waiting for the storm," he said while grabbing a coffee at a
convenience store.
Caldwell, an investment adviser, said he could work from home if necessary, but he was hoping that wouldn't be the case.
"There are too many distractions at home," he said. "But I won't be
stupid ... If it gets as bad as they say it will be, or looks like it
will, I'll be staying put."
In Hartford, Hal Guy, of nearby Glastonbury, was shopping for snow shovels — three, to be exact.
"We broke a couple in the last storm," he said. "We have four kids, so,
three shovels, and we still have a little one back home."
Guy said three of his kids, girls ages 8, 10 and 12, have been out of
school for two weeks for the holidays and hope to get a couple more days
off with the snow.
Over in Maine, where some communities are still recovering from a recent
ice storm that cut power to more than 100,000 customers, people seemed
prepared for more winter weather.
Kelly St. Denis, of Auburn, went skiing Wednesday at the Sunday River
ski area with family and friends. She said it's been cold but the skiing
has been good.
"Hey, it's winter in Maine," she said. "We go with it."
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COPY http://abcnews.go.com/
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