Some areas of the northeast are digging out from up to two feet of snow today but that total is far less than was anticipated from a massive winter storm.
Officials say that New York City was spared a large wave of the storm when less than a foot of snow fell on the city. The bans on car travel were lifted early Tuesday and the New York City subway system returned to regular operation after being shut down 10 hours out of caution.
Snow is expected to fall into Wednesday morning through upper New England, leaving some towns in danger of tying or breaking record snowfall amounts for this time of year. Snow drifts are the biggest issue, with Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker saying some drifts are over six feet in height.
Only one death has been reported from the storm so far. A teenager died Monday when he was snow-tubing on Long Island and crashed into a lamppost.
While schools and other businesses remain closed throughout the region, the National Weather Service lifted the blizzard warning for all areas below Boston Tuesday.
New York’s governor defended his decision to issue a travel ban ahead of the storm.
“I would rather, if there is a lean one way or another, lean towards safety because I have seen the consequences the other way and it gets very frightening very quickly … we have had people die in storms,” Cuomo told reporters. “I would rather be in a situation where we say ‘We got lucky.'”
A major winter storm is striking the northeast during the heart of the Thanksgiving travel period.
Forecasters are predicting snowfall in excess of a foot throughout most of central New England. Heavy rain and wind should reach from western North Carolina through Maine. Thunder snowstorms are a possibility through the region.
“In most cases, the worst time to travel in the mid-Atlantic and New England due to the storm will be on Wednesday and Wednesday night,” wrote AccuWeather’s Elliot Abrams.
Flight delays are possible throughout the New England corridor through the weekend.
Forecasters also are warning about ice covered roads on Thanksgiving and for weekend travel.
Sudanese Christian refugee Meriam Ibrahim and her family are due to arrive in the United States this week.
The family is reportedly going to be arriving in New Hampshire and will settle in the Manchester area according to her brother-in-law. Gabriel Wani lives in Manchester with his wife and three daughters.
Local officials in Manchester say there is a strong Sudanese community that is ready to welcome the family. The Sudanese Evangelical Covenant Church is planning a huge reception and celebration upon the family’s arrival.
Italian officials who flew her to Rome rescued Ibrahim and her family from Sudan last week. She and the family met with Pope Francis, who reportedly had been working behind the scenes to help Italian officials free Ibrahim.
The Pope praised Ibrahim’s “courageous witness to perseverance in the faith.”
Forecasters say that another arctic blast is going to drive temperatures in the northeast to frigid levels.
This week temperatures rose into the 50s or higher for most of the northeast with Philadelphia reaching the 60s and Washington DC into the 70s on Wednesday. By Thursday morning, the cities will see temperatures in the 20s.
Officials are warning drivers that roads which have been wet or slushy because of melting snow and ice from recent storms will quickly freeze in the early morning hours because of the rapid temperate fall. The possibility of dangerous conditions for early morning commutes have many communities encouraging people to plan extra time to head to work or school.
A spokesman for Accuweather said the sudden cold after the unusually high temperatures could bring unexpected problems including broken water mains. The possibility also exists that roadways will crack from the conditions and create more potholes than usual.
After leaving over 100,000 people across the south without power, a massive winter storm has now dumped record amounts of snowfall across parts of the northeast.
The 130-year-old record for snowfall in Philadelphia was blown away on Thursday and for the first time in the history of the city they have had four snowfalls of six inches or more in the same winter season. This winter is now in the top 5 for snowfall in the city’s history.
City officials told residents to stay home as the snow fell at rates of as much as 2 inches an hour. If someone had to travel, they were told to take a fully charged cell phone and warm clothes in the likely event they would be stuck by the conditions.
Bus and rail service was suspended throughout the region because of the unsafe travel conditions.
Meteorologists say the back end of the storm could bring a second major punch with significant snowfall including thundersnow.
As predicted, a huge winter storm has left tens of thousands across the south without electricity and placed layers of ice on trees and power lines.
The storm system is now bearing down on the northeast, potentially bringing a foot and a half of snow to Philadelphia, New York and Boston.
North Carolina officials reported scenes similar to two weeks earlier in Atlanta where drivers abandoned vehicles on roads so coated with ice that they were unable to continue driving. Commutes that normally lasted a few minutes were taking hours. Police across the region reported thousands of car accidents.
At least 14 people have been killed in incidents related to the storm. A teenager in Atlanta barely escaped being a victim when a tree quickly fell just feet from where he was standing.
The weather was so bad in parts of north Georgia that the Oconee County Sheriff declared Valentine’s Day to be canceled so men did not go outside to try and buy gifts for their wives.
The top two made it back-to-back-to-back.
Mississippi and Utah finished first and second for the third consecutive year in Gallup’s annual survey of the most religious states in the United States. The survey has been conducted annually since 2008.
Vermont and its neighboring New England states continue to rank near the bottom.
Mississippi reported that 61 percent of residents classified themselves as “very religious” meaning they consider religion to be an important part of their lives. They also attend a worship service at least once a week, many more than once. Utah is close behind with 60 percent. Alabama was third followed by Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia.
Vermont was the least religious with 22 percent of residents saying they were “very religious.” Vermont was followed by New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts and western state Oregon.
The poll showed the number of “very religious” Americans was up slightly at 41.4 percent while the number of “nonreligious” fell to 29.4, the lowest of any previous survey.
Hundreds of thousands of people across the northeast were without power on Wednesday morning after another major winter storm struck a wide area.
Reuters reported that over 550,000 people across the upper Midwest and northeast were in the dark Wednesday morning and it was likely the number would rise throughout the day as the storm continued to move east.
Up to a foot of snow is expected to fall along the East Coast. New York could receive up to 6 inches of snow and upper New York could see anywhere from 5 to 16 inches according to the National Weather Service.
Over 2,400 flights nationwide have been canceled because of the storm.
The storm is a second blast in week for the area. Last Monday a storm dumped heavy, wet snow over much of the same region.
Parts of the lower northeast are reportedly expecting a layer of ice to form on top of the snowfall making travel even more hazardous.
Another polar blast is heading toward the eastern United States and could bring heavy snow to the northeast.
The storm through the day Tuesday is predicted to bring up to 12 inches of snow to the eastern seaboard from Virginia to Massachusetts. The storm will also bring heavy winds that could cause snowdrifts, poor travel conditions and downed power lines.
The Federal Government shut offices for Tuesday in preparation for the storm’s arrival. Forecast models called for 6 to 10 inches in the capital.
In addition to the snow and winds, the storm will bring cold temperatures far into the south. Forecasters call for lows in the teens from towns as far south as Memphis, Tennessee through the entire northern part of the country.
Temperatures across the eastern U.S. could be as much as 25 degrees lower than normal for this time of year.
A massive winter storm that has brought snow over New England for the last 36 hours will end up dumping as much as 30 inches of snow in parts of Boston.
The storm has also brought temperatures in the dangerous range.
Most communities across the northeast are reporting temperatures that are topping out in the single digits above zero with wind chills significantly below zero.
New York City told residents to stay home until the storm ends. Meteorologists with the National Weather Service said the wind chill through the northeast corridor is so low that exposed skin could start to freeze in 15 minutes.
School districts across the region were closed to keep children safe.
Officials believe that temperatures will rise into the 40s on Sunday with rain helping to clear roads.
