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'Life-threatening' winter storm expected to hit the east coast Potentially 'life-threatening' winter storm begins in the eastern US
(about 4 hours later)
National weather experts are warning of a potentially “crippling winter storm” bearing down on the eastern US from Friday through Sunday that began forming quickly late Wednesday, with deadly results. A potentially “paralyzing winter storm” bore down on the eastern US on Friday, as forecasters increased snowfall predictions and states reported the first victims of the storm.
Washington DC is in the bull’s eye of the approaching tempest, but storm conditions ranging from hail and severe thunder to several feet of snow are forecast from Florida to New England. Washington DC is in the bullseye of the tempest, which is expected to last through Sunday. But storm conditions ranging from hail and severe lightning to several feet of snow are forecast from Florida to New England.
The capital is braced for white-out conditions with visibility close to zero, and is under a blizzard warning from 3pm on Friday through Sunday morning, with more than 30in of snow and wind gusts up to 50mph expected in places. If the predictions are accurate, snow totals could break a record set in 1922. Residents of the capital braced for white-out conditions of visibility close to zero. Meteorologists issued a blizzard warning through Sunday morning, and forecast more than 30in of snow and wind gusts up to 50mph in some places. If predictions are accurate for the city, snow totals could break a record set in 1922.
Mayor Muriel Bowser on Thursday declared a state of emergency for Washington in the run-up to the storm, to go into effect from 9.30am Friday, and has been joined by the governors of Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia, with West Virginia announcing a state of preparedness. On Friday afternoon the National Weather Service (NWS) announced that New York City should expect 12-18in of snow, most of it falling Saturday. Around the region, states reported seven deaths attributed to the storm so far, mostly in traffic accidents: four in North Carolina, one in Maryland, one in Tennessee and one in Kentucky.
Bowser was forced to offer a hurried apology for failing to prepare the district for a couple of inches of snow that fell there on Wednesday afternoon, immediately turning the evening commute into a gridlocked, slippery crawl on untreated roads for thousands – including the president’s motorcade, which was heading to the White House from Andrews air force base. The North Carolina state highway patrol reported 928 car crashes and 1,400 calls for help between over the 13 hours of the storm.
Bowser spent Friday morning with emergency workers, but there were few signs of snow ploughs or other deployments in advance of the storm. Much of Washington seemed deserted as schools in the city and the neighboring suburbs of Virginia and Maryland were closed. Airports canceled more than 6,000 flights as blinding conditions swept over runways, and Washington DC shut down its public transit system in a rare precaution.
The national park service announced that the museums and memorials along the Washington Mall were shutting at noon on Friday, and would remain closed at least through Sunday. Some businesses also announced they were shutting down early. Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a state of emergency for her city in the run-up to the storm, and the governors of Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia joined in declaring emergencies and readying plows and personnel.
By Thursday afternoon, one man had died in Maryland after being hit by a snow plow, one man was killed when his car slid off the road in snow in north-eastern Tennessee, and two women died in North Carolina in car accidents on icy roads. In Philadelphia, where the NWS has predicted up to 20in of snow, the director of emergency operations, Samantha Philips, announced a city-wide “snow emergency” to begin Friday night. Philips said that the city hopes to clear the streets to reduce the potential damages of snow-laden trees falling into the streets and sidewalks.
The storm is prompting warnings beyond routine winter snowfall because of the prospect of sustained winds making lengthy blizzard conditions especially dangerous and because it is unusual for a storm to bring a foot of snow or more to such a large area, according to the National Weather Service. Earlier this week Bowser was forced to offer a hurried apology for failing to prepare the district for a couple of inches of snow that fell there on Wednesday. The dusting quickly turned the evening commute into a gridlocked, slippery crawl for thousands – including the president’s motorcade, which was heading to the White House from Andrews air force base.
Its meteorologists expect the snowstorm to affect up to 50 million people and its various effects to be felt across a third of the US. Bowser spent Friday morning with emergency workers, but there were few signs of snow plows or other deployments in advance of the storm. Much of Washington seemed deserted as schools in the city and the neighboring suburbs of Virginia and Maryland were closed.
“This will be a potentially paralyzing storm that is life-threatening,” National Weather Service director Louis Uccellini said in a press news conference on Thursday at the service’s forecasting center in Maryland. The national park service announced that the museums and memorials along the Washington Mall would be closed at least through Sunday.
He said that the main computer models projecting the path and severity of the storm were showing similar patterns, which was unusual and prompted him to urge civic leaders to take the forecast of perilous weather especially seriously. The storm is prompting warnings because sustained winds could make blizzard conditions especially dangerousaccording to the NWS. The agency’s meteorologists expect the snowstorm to affect up to 50 million people, and various sever weather systems to extend across a third of the US.
Uccellini predicts coastal flooding in the mid-Atlantic states to result from a cycle of high tides swept higher by strong onshore winds as the nor’easter hits. “This will be a potentially paralyzing storm that is life-threatening,” NWS director Louis Uccellini said in a news conference on Thursday at the service’s forecasting center in Maryland.
Freezing rain, sleet and thunderstorms moving from Texas up to Oklahoma and across Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas will bring treacherous weather to the southeast into early Friday that will turn to snow as it moves north to the Carolinas and hits the freezing air surging down across the north-east from Canada. He said that the main computer models projecting the path and severity of the storm showed similar patterns – which was unusual– and he urged civic leaders to take the forecast especially seriously.
Paul Kocin, also of the National Weather Service, has predicted the storm could bring one of the top 10 snow dumps on record. Uccellini predicted coastal flooding in the mid-Atlantic states, as a result of a cycle of high tides swept higher by strong onshore winds.
“The mechanisms coming together for a major snowfall are textbook,” he said. Freezing rain, sleet and thunderstorms moved from Texas up to Oklahoma and across Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas, bringing severe weather that turned to snow as reached cold air from Canada over the Carolinas.
Many store shelves, in the Washington area especially, had already cleared out of basic supplies such as milk, bread, toilet paper, batteries – and beer – by Thursday evening, and the utilitarian snow shovel was in short supply. Paul Kocin, also of the NWS, has predicted the storm could join the top 10 snowfall totals on record. “The mechanisms coming together for a major snowfall are textbook,” he said.
Washington neighbourhood list-servs lit up with sales of used kids’ snow boots and sleds, while a few families in the wealthier suburbs such as Bethesda reported they were checking into hotels to avoid the expected power outages. Many store shelves, in the Washington area especially, were cleared out of basic milk, bread, toilet paper, batteries – and beer – by Thursday evening, and the snow shovels were in short supply.
Some airlines have begun cancelling flights for Friday and Saturday, warning of disruptions in a spread from Orlando to New York, while all major carriers have offered passengers the chance to rebook.
By Friday morning, the majority of flights into and out of Philadelphia, Washington DC and Baltimore had already been canceled, with more than 4,800 flights for Friday and Saturday cancelled nationwide. Many train services out of DC have also been cancelled for Saturday. By the time the storm reaches Boston, which was hit with record late-winter snows last year, the snow will likely bring no more than a dusting.
Baltimore can expect to be blanketed shortly after Washington is hit on Friday afternoon, and as darkness falls the storm will reach Philadelphia and make its way northeast. New York City mayor Bill de Blasio warned that New Yorkers should plan a weekend at home in order to avoid accidents, and make way for 2,400 snow plows that will spread more than 300,000 tons of rock salt.
The snow is expected to hit New York City on Saturday morning, but is only expected to bring eight to 12 inches of snow as the system starts to weaken. By the time it reaches Boston, which was hit with record late-winter snows last year, the snow will likely bring no more than a dusting. “We are bracing here in New York City for the first big snowstorm of this winter,” de Blasio said at a press conference on Friday. “Get done what you have to get done today.”
New York City mayor Bill de Blasio warned on Thursday morning that New Yorkers should plan a weekend at home in order to avoid accidents and make way for the hundreds of snow-clearing vehicles he plans to unleash across the five boroughs from Friday, spreading more than a third of a million tons of rock salt. The Weather Channel dubbed the event Winter Storm Jonas, though the NWS does not recognize the practise of naming winter storms.
“Anyone who has the illusion you’re going to be taking big trips over the weekend, get that out of your mind,” De Blasio said at a Thursday news conference. The forecast of strong winds forced the cancellation of a free winter weekend sports event known as Winter Jamin New York’s Central Park.
Unlike the so-called “snowmaggedon” mighty north-east blizzard of 2010, this winter’s first major storm in the region has yet to garner any decent nicknames.
The Weather Channel dubbed the event Winter Storm Jonas, though the National Weather Service does not recognize the practise of naming winter storms. By Thursday evening jokes on social media were still thin on the ground, although Nick Jonas, of the former pop band the Jonas Brothers, did tweet, limply: “So, winter storm Jonas is coming. This is awkward.”
One fan used Twitter to super-impose repeat images of the star over a weather map of the eastern states about to get walloped by the storm.
The forecast of strong winds forced the free winter weekend sports event known as Winter Jam, planned with artificially-made snow, to be cancelled in New York’s Central Park.
An organized public snowball fight at Dupont Circle in Washington is expected to go ahead on Sunday rather than the original Saturday, but that was still subject to popular voting via social media on Thursday evening.
Dubbed Snow Wars, the costume theme for the event is, predictably, Star Wars, with stormtroopers expected by the dozen, in perfect camouflage for the expected conditions.