A powerful winter storm has battered the northeastern United States, unleashing record-breaking snowfall, crippling travel, and plunging hundreds of thousands of households into darkness. The storm struck on Monday, prompting widespread disruption across several states.
According to the National Weather Service (NWS), parts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts were buried under nearly 37 inches (94 cm) of snow, while New York City’s Central Park recorded more than 19 inches. Authorities warned that travel conditions had become “nearly impossible,” with New York’s state agencies urging residents to stay off the roads.
More than 600,000 homes and businesses along the East Coast—particularly in New Jersey and Massachusetts—lost power as heavy snow and strong winds downed power lines. The storm warning had been issued Sunday evening for the U.S. Northeast and Canada’s Maritime provinces, with forecasters predicting continued snowfall through Monday and accumulations of up to two feet in some coastal regions by Tuesday morning.
Rhode Island appears to be the hardest hit. Local media report that this storm may be the worst in the state’s history, with 36 inches of snow recorded in Providence—shattering the previous February 1978 record of 28.6 inches.
“This has completely surpassed earlier records. We’re just as stunned as everyone else,” NWS meteorologist Kandace Harensessine told The New York Times.
Rhode Island and neighboring Connecticut have imposed restrictions on non-essential travel, while Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey issued similar orders.
“I’m banning all non-essential driving in southeastern Massachusetts and reducing highway speed limits to 40 miles an hour,” she said. “Conditions are so dangerous that if you get stranded, it may be difficult for help to reach you. I urge everyone to stay off the roads.”
Massachusetts alone saw nearly 300,000 customers lose power, with roughly 85 percent of outages concentrated in Cape Cod. New York City, home to more than 8.5 million people, was essentially paralyzed until a state of emergency was lifted Monday afternoon.
The aviation sector also suffered major setbacks. Flight-tracking service FlightAware reported that 5,706 flights within, into, or out of the United States were canceled on Monday. Disruptions are expected to continue, with Boston and New York airports among the hardest hit—leading to the likely cancellation of more than 2,000 additional flights on Tuesday.
Source: BBC.