Toll rises to 10 in killer northeast US snowstorm

NEW YORK - The death toll from a rare pre-winter snowstorm rose to 10 in the northeastern United States on Thursday, paralyzing communities for days and dumping more than six feet of snow near Buffalo.

The National Weather Service warned an extra two to three feet (60 to 90 centimeters) of "lake effect snow," created when frigid air moves over warm lake waters, could fall on Thursday.

It said visibility was near zero and that thunder and lightning were likely to accompany the heaviest snow as a state of emergency and travel bans remained in place in western New York state.

The colossal snowfall has collapsed roofs, damaged homes and businesses, canceled flights, and stranded motorists for as many as two nights on the highway, including New York rock group Interpol.

Precipitation roughly equivalent to a year's supply of snow in two days has mobilized more than 5,000 people to help with snow removal and storm recovery, including the National Guard, officials said.

The death toll from "Winter Storm Knife" rose to 10 when two people died of exposure in Niagara County and Boston town in Erie County, officials told AFP.

Four or five others died earlier in the storm while working to clear mounds of heavy snow from their cars and homes, and the blizzard could yet prompt a federal disaster declaration.

The state of emergency is so severe that the NFL announced that the football game between the local Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets would not be played on Sunday in Buffalo.

The NFL said it would reschedule and relocate the game, "due to public safety concerns" in the city.

'Definitely historic' snowfall

"Very dangerous storm. One more day. Let's get through this snow. People -- continue to be smart. Stay at home. Observe the driving bans," deputy Erie County executive Richard Tobe said.

The rock band Interpol said they were stranded more than 50 hours on their tour bus by the storm outside Buffalo, forcing them to cancel two consecutive nights of concerts in Montreal and Toronto.

"Finally just started making a move. 50+ hours later. Hoping for some luck today," the band tweeted Thursday morning.

Alex Cleary, a senior program coordinator at the University of Buffalo, and her husband have been snowed in at home for three days and Cleary said the snow was still coming down.

"It is a little bit scary, especially given that no one can really drive. So if you need help, it's a little tough," she told AFP.

Temperatures are expected to rise above freezing on Saturday, then shoot up, bringing a deluge of rain which together with melting now bring severe flood warnings, officials said.

National Weather Service meteorologist Dave Zaff told AFP that some areas south of Buffalo city received at least 70-80 inches (1.8 to two meters) of snow since the storm began.

"This is definitely historic," he said. But come the weekend, "the main concern would be flooding," Zaff warned.

source: interaksyon.com

Snowstorm sweeps across US Northeast, trapping Super Bowl fans

NEW YORK - A fast-moving winter storm swept into the Northeast on Monday, yet again forcing flight cancellations, slowing traffic and proving weather-forecasting groundhog Punxsutawney Phil right.

Travelers leaving the New York City area after Sunday night's Super Bowl championship football game faced long delays at the region's airports and risky driving on snow-covered roads.

Hardest hit by the storm-related flight delays and cancellations was Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, the closest to the stadium where the Denver Broncos fell to the Seattle Seahawks 43-8 in the National Football League's matchup.

"Only thing worse than sitting through awful game last night is now sitting at airport on weather delay, probable cancellation," tweeted Nick Griffith, sports director at TV station Fox 31 in Denver, adding the hashtag "#longtrip."

The storm was expected to drop 4 to 8 inches of snow on an area stretching from eastern Kentucky to eastern New York state, the National Weather Service said.

"Snow is coming down faster than we can plow it," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference.

He said efforts to plow city streets were aimed at an improved performance over the cleanup of a big storm in late January.

In that storm, some residents of Manhattan's tony Upper East Side neighborhood claimed their streets were ignored as part of the mayor's key campaign theme of addressing income inequality.

"The response to the last storm obviously left something to be desired," de Blasio said at the news conference.

He said New York City has adjusted how it responds to storms by coordinating agency efforts, changing snow removal routes and scouting conditions in various neighborhoods.

"It's good we got the Super Bowl done so well" before the storm hit, added de Blasio, whose city shared in the Super Bowl hosting honors with New Jersey.

At Newark Airport across the Hudson River in New Jersey, 204 flights were canceled as of mid-afternoon on Monday, according to Flightaware.com, an online site that tracks air traffic.

Plenty of football fans were stewing after getting stuck for hours on Sunday trying to board trains to and from the game at the New Jersey Transit hub station of Secaucus Junction.

"So, folks spent $1500+ for the honor of 3 hours to get in their seats, 6 hours to leave, & now 3 hour snow delay at the airport," noted one observer on Twitter.

Declaring it the first-ever "Transit Bowl," New Jersey Transit tweeted that it transported more than 33,000 fans, which it said was four times as many people as the National Football League had predicted.

Thanks to the wet snowstorm, delays and cancellations also plagued New York's LaGuardia Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport, as well as Philadelphia International Airport.

The small Teterboro Airport near the football stadium in New Jersey, which handles the private jets that would whisk away celebrities and other moneyed Super Bowl attendees, also reported delays, Flightaware.com said.

"All the people came here for the Super Bowl thinking "Jersey ain't bad" are probably now stuck in the airport for the rest of the day," tweeted Jonathan Chung.

Across the United States, 1,669 flights were canceled, Flightaware.com said.

Driving was hazardous along the Interstate 95 corridor from Washington north to Boston, according to meteorologists.

The storm blew in after dumping several inches of snow in the Ohio Valley on Sunday, the day famed groundhog Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his burrow in the town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, saw his shadow and - as the legend goes - predicted six more weeks of winter.

Still more wintry weather lay ahead, the New York mayor said.

"The fact is that we are facing not one, not two, but three storms potentially this week," he said.

A second storm was likely to arrive in the region on Tuesday night and a third on the weekend, he said.

The National Weather Service on Monday issued winter storm warnings for sections of Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Maryland, as well as New Jersey, Delaware and New York City and its surrounding areas.

source: interaksyon.com

Arctic blast takes aim at frigid US

NEW YORK - Millions of people in the United States hunkered down Sunday in anticipation of brutal weather from a dangerous Arctic blast that forecasters warn could send freezing temperatures plummeting to record lows.

The northeast of the country and parts of Canada have been in the grip of crippling heavy snow and deadly sub-zero temperatures since the turn of the year and the deep freeze is now ripping through the US Midwest and threatening usually warmer areas further south.

The wind chill from the rare "polar vortex" could make it feel as cold as -55 Fahrenheit (-48 Celsius) in places, weather forecasters say, prompting authorities in several towns and cities to issue warnings telling people to stay indoors and even stock up on food.

In such cold conditions, exposed skin would suffer frostbite in as little as five minutes, experts have cautioned.

In New York, which declared a state of emergency when storm Hercules swept in on Thursday, John F. Kennedy Airport ceased operations for more than two hours because of freezing rain and snow after a Delta Airlines jet from Toronto slid into a snowbank.

None of the 35 people on board were hurt, ABC News said, but at least a dozen people have died in the cold conditions since the turn of the year and travel has been badly disrupted, with thousands of flights canceled or delayed, ensuring a miserable end to the holiday season for some.

"Winter Storm Ion is spreading a swath of heavy snow across the Midwest, and its icy tentacles will also bring wintry weather into the south and parts of the east. Following closely behind Ion will be a blast of brutally cold air," said The Weather Channel in its Sunday morning forecast.

The Midwestern states of Minnesota, where Governor Mark Dayton has already announced schools will be closed Monday "to protect all our children from the dangerously cold temperatures," and North Dakota were expected to bear the brunt of the worst weather.

Chicago, Detroit and St Louis all saw more snowfall overnight, while Sunday's National Football League playoff showdown between the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers at the open-air Lambeau Field in Wisconsin looked set to be one of the coldest NFL games in history.

The Packers say they will help fans battle the big freeze by handing out free coffee, hot chocolate and hand warmers, while supporters would also be allowed to bring blankets and sleeping bags.

Added to the mix was freezing rain forecast to hit the south and east, affecting New York and Washington, with the extreme weather expected to continue into the early part of the week in many places across the country.

Among the deaths blamed on the weather was a worker killed on Friday when he was crushed by a 100-foot (30-meter) pile of salt being prepared to treat roads in the Philadelphia area, media reports said.

A 71-year-old woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease froze to death after walking out into the cold and getting lost in northern New York state, according to authorities.

source: interaksyon.com

Snow blankets US East Coast; Washington offices, many schools closed

NEW YORK - A fast-moving snowstorm barreled through the US mid-Atlantic on Tuesday, cancelling flights, snarling roadways and shutting schools and government offices while winds kept the midsection of the country in an icy grip that killed at least 10 people.

The East Coast's first significant snowfall of the season was expected to dump up to 8 inches on northern Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware and into southern New England, Brian Korty, meteorologist with the National Weather Service (NWS), said in a forecast.

By midday the storm had blown through Washington, D.C., where federal government offices were shut for the day, the Office of Personnel Management said. In neighboring Delaware, Governor Jack Markell announced state offices were shut and urged residents to stay off dangerously slick roads.

New Jersey roads were littered with fender benders and more serious accidents, including a jack-knifed tractor trailer and a bus that skidded off the pavement.

"It was like dominoes. Cars couldn't get up the hills," said Stanley Jackson, who was plowing snow in northern New Jersey. "People were just sliding into one another."

In Oklahoma, the medical examiner said winter weather was responsible for 10 deaths ranging from traffic accidents on icy roads to falling into icy waters.

Snowflakes falling on Times Square in New York City thrilled tourists, including Janet Major, 57, visiting from England.

"It's like 'Miracle on 34th Street.' It's added to the holiday atmosphere," said Major, referring to the classic Christmas movie.

Alberto Rodriguez, 45, an auto repair mechanic from Orlando, Florida, agreed.

"I'm so happy. In the four years I've been coming here, I've never seen the snow. And this is my last day in the city," Rodriguez said.

The city declared a snow alert and readied 365 salt spreaders, 282 front-end snow loaders and 1,800 plows, said Belinda Mager, spokeswoman for the city Sanitation Department.

At airports around the country, more than 1,600 flights were canceled, most of them in Newark, New Jersey, Philadelphia and New York, according to FlightAware.com, which tracks air travel.

School districts in Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, suburban Maryland, New Jersey and New York canceled classes.

The new snowfall followed a swath of snow and sleet that swept through the nation over the weekend and Monday, dumping up to 10 inches or more on many areas.

Strong winds, expected to blow through the nation's midsection until Wednesday, created wind chills that made temperatures on Tuesday feel like minus 20F (minus 28C) in the Northern Plains and minus 10F (minus 23C) in the Midwest, meteorologist Andrew Baglini said on Accuweather.com.

Temperatures were 8 degrees below zero (minus 17.8 Celsius) early Tuesday morning in Pershing County, Nevada, where rescue workers scoured a mountain area for a couple and four children, missing since Sunday.

The six were last seen near an abandoned mining camp in remote northwestern Nevada, where they had gone to play in the snow. The Pershing County Sheriff's Office said authorities feared the family would not last long in the bitter cold.

Homes and businesses from Indiana to West Virginia that lost power on Monday were returning to normal on Tuesday, including in Virginia where 15,000 people remained without power, down from 122,000 on Monday.

"Right now, we're looking at a lot of busted tree tops. That's always going to bring down a lot of poles and lines," said Phil Moye, spokesman for Appalachian Electric Power in West Virginia, where more than 7,500 people remained without power. (Additional reporting by Curtis Skinner in New York City, Carey Gillam in Kansas City, Ian Simpson in Washington, D.C., Colleen Jenkins in Winston-Salem, N.C., and Eric M. Johnson in Seattle)

source: interaksyon.com

Blizzard wallops US Northeast, closes roads

BOSTON/NEW YORK - A blizzard slammed into the northeastern United States on Friday, snarling traffic, disrupting thousands of flights and prompting five governors to declare states of emergency in the face of a fearsome snowstorm.

The storm caused a massive traffic pile-up in southern Maine. Organizers of the US sledding championship in that state postponed a race scheduled for Saturday, fearing too much snow for the competition.

The blizzard left about 10,000 along the East Coast without power. Almost 3,500 flights were canceled and officials in Massachusetts and Connecticut closed roads.

Forecasters warned about 2 feet of snow would blanket most of the Boston area with some spots getting as much as 30 inches. The city's record snowfall, 27.6 inches, came in 2003.

"We're seeing heavier snow overspread the region from south to north," said Lance Franck, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton, Massachusetts, outside Boston. "As the snow picks up in intensity, we're expecting it to fall at a rate of upwards of two to three inches per hour."

Early Friday evening, officials warned that the storm was just ramping up to full strength, and that heavy snow and high winds would continue through midday on Saturday. The governors of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and Maine declared states of emergency and issued bans on driving by early Friday afternoon.

Authorities ordered nonessential government workers to stay home, urged private employers to do the same, told people to prepare for power outages and encouraged them to check on elderly or disabled neighbors.

People appeared to take the warnings seriously. Traffic on streets and public transportation services was significantly lighter than usual on Friday.

"This is a very large and powerful storm, however we are encouraged by the numbers of people who stayed home today," Boston Mayor Thomas Menino told reporters.

Even so, the storm caused a few accidents, including a 19-vehicle pile-up outside Portland, Maine, that sent one person to the hospital.

Winds were blowing at 35 to 40 miles per hour by Friday afternoon and forecasters expected gusts up to 60 miles per hour as the evening wore on.

As he waited for one of the last subways that ran through the Boston area, musician John Hinson, who was visiting from Durham, North Carolina, said he had never seen a storm of the magnitude Friday's blizzard was expected to reach.

"I've been through some snow, a couple feet, but not anything like they're predicting, which is kind of exciting," he said.

Looking for Sasquatch

The storm wasn't bad news for everyone.

When told an estimated 8 to 10 inches were predicted overnight at Elk Mountain in Uniondale, Pennsylvania, pint-sized skier Sophia Chesner's eye grew wide.

"Whoa!" said the 8-year old, of Moorestown, New Jersey, who was on a ski vacation with her family. Her sister, Giuliana, 4, said no matter how good the skiing is, she has other outer priorities once the snow piles up.

"First thing I'm going to do is build a snowman and look for a Sasquatch footprint," Guiliana Chesner said.

Life was not as rosy for those who planned to fly. Almost 3,500 flights were canceled on Friday, with more than 1,200 planned cancellations for Saturday, according to the website FlightAware.com.

The storm also posed a risk of flooding at high tide to areas still recovering from superstorm Sandy last fall.

"Many of the same communities that were inundated by Hurricane Sandy's tidal surge just about 100 days ago are likely to see some moderate coastal flooding this evening," said New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

About one foot of snow was forecast to land on New York City.

Brick Township in New Jersey had crews out building up sand dunes and berms ahead of a forecast storm surge, said Mayor Stephen Acropolis.

Travel became more difficult as the day progressed. Massachusetts started closing its public transportation system at 3:30 p.m. (2030 GMT) and ordered most drivers off roads by 4 p.m. (5.00 p.m. GMT) Connecticut also closed its roads.

The Amtrak railroad suspended service between New York, Boston and points north on Friday afternoon.

Organizers of the country's championship sledding race, which had been scheduled to get underway in Camden, Maine, on Saturday, postponed the event by one day. Some 400 teams were registered for the race, which features costumed sledders on a 400-foot (121 meter) chute.

"As soon as the weather clears on Saturday and it is safe, the toboggan committee will be out at Tobagganville cleaning up the chute as quickly as they can," said Holly Edwards, chairman of the US National Toboggan Championships.

"It needs to be shoveled out by hand." (Additional reporting by Barbara Goldberg in Uniondale, Pennsylvania, Daniel Lovering in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Jason McLure in Littleton, New Hampshire, David Sheppard, Robert Gibbons and Scott DiSavino in New York and Dave Warner in Philadelphia)

source: interaksyon.com