A mammoth blizzard that paralyzed Washington and set a single-day snowfall record in New York City gave way Sunday to brilliant sunshine and gently rising temperatures, enabling millions to dig out and enjoy the winter. The official three-day total of 17.8 inches measured at Reagan National Airport was impossibly short of accumulations recorded elsewhere in the city. It will stay into effect until Sunday morning.
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United Airlines said limited service might begin later Sunday in New York City, and Baltimore-Washington International Airport expected some arrivals late in the day, but other Washington-area airports were expected to closed, and some airlines began cutting Monday service.
Road accidents Friday night caused a seven-mile backup involving around 500 vehicles on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, a state police spokeswoman said.
The storm dropped snow from the Gulf Coast to New England, with areas of Washington surpassing 30 inches (75 cm). “It’s how it should look like”.
“We urge all New Yorkers not to travel on our roads except when necessary, and to be extremely careful when driving”, Mayor Bill de Blasio told a news conference.
“The snow pile is going to be with us for a while, but I think we’ll be in good shape in the next 24 hours”, he said.
On Saturday, more than a dozen people were killed in storm-related automobile crashes in Arkansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia.
It was Top 2 in NY, with 26.8 inches of snow falling in Central Park by midnight, narrowly missing the record-setting 26.9 inches set in February 2006.
At least 29 deaths have been attributed to the storm by the Associated Press, including a Kentucky transportation worker who died while plowing highways, a teenager who was hit by a truck while sledding behind an all-terrain vehicle and two people who died of hypothermia in Virginia. “This is a storm of a lifetime”, said Meteorologist Jeff Smith. States of emergency were declared in at least 10 states. The agency was working on restoring full service on Sunday.
The New York City Emergency Management agency issued a hazardous travel advisory for Saturday and Sunday.
Further north, barrier islands near Atlantic City were also experiencing significant tidal flooding, said Linda Gilmore, the county’s public information officer.
New Jersey Transit shut all bus, rail and light rail service at 2 a.m. local time on Saturday.
A spokeswoman for the New York Stock Exchange said the market planned to open as usual tomorrow.
Bridges and tunnels into the city were also set to reopen.
On the Upper West Side of Manhattan, grocery store shoppers picked their way through brown slush and over compressed snow and ice as they balanced their bags in their hands.
However, authorities still advised people to be wary of their surroundings, despite the picturesque scenes that could be seen as the snow clears away.
Outside the city, suburban New Jersey resembled Vermont. “Yesterday it was scary to be outside”, she said as she clipped on her cross-country skis.
Two feet or more of snowfall is forecast for Washington and Baltimore, and almost as much for Philadelphia. Washington-area airports remained closed on Sunday after the punishing blizzard.
The winter storm forced postponement of hundreds of events – including the National Basketball Association games in Philadelphia and Washington, DC. “The main roads were fine it was just the secondary roads that were worst”.
For others, the weekend extended into Monday because of closed schools and government offices.
Washington was a dazzling white under a bright sun, and walkers, sledders, some cars and the occasional cross-country skier were out today. Washington airports will be running a limited flight schedule Monday.
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“I have to get into work no matter what”.
