February 9, 2013

WHITEOUT: Heavy Snow and High Winds Lash the Northeast

 

The storm is over, but the snow shoveling has just begun. A giant nor'easter dubbed “Winter Storm Nemo” blasted its way through the Northeast Friday night, blanketing the region in more than two feet of snow. Nighttime motorists were forced to leave their cars on the side of the road, power was knocked out for hundreds of thousands of people, and hurricane-level winds created white-out conditions in some places. States of emergency were declared in four states, and massive snowfall broke records across multiple states. Top of the record-breaking list was Milford, Connecticut, which endured a whopping 38 inches. The aftermath of the storm will likely make driving—and even finding cars—pretty difficult. On the bright side? Unbelievable snowman potential.




A little more than 11 inches fell in New York,[ measured in Central Park]  but the city "dodged a bullet" and was "in great shape," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, predicting streets would be cleared by the end of the day. The New York region's three major airports – LaGuardia, Kennedy and Newark, N.J. – were up and running again by late morning after shutting down the evening before.
But hundreds of motorists abandoned their vehicles on New York's Long Island, which got 2 1/2 feet of snow, and even snowplows were getting stuck. Emergency workers used snowmobiles to try to reach stranded motorists, some of whom spent the night in their cars.





A worker cleared snow from the sidewalk in Boston.Nearly 25 inches of snow fell .