Nemo, a huge winter snow storm, covered the Northeast in 3 feet of snow Saturday, with many cars stranding on the highways overnight and snow drifts piling up high enough to block some suburban residents inside their homes, unable to open their doors. According to AP, more than 650,000 homes and businesses were left without electricity. The storm that dumped 3 feet of snow on Long Island overnight left New York City with only about a foot of snow.
The city “dodged a bullet” and was “in great shape,” according to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who promised the streets would be cleared by the end of the day Saturday. The three major airports: LaGuardia, Kennedy and Newark, N.J., are up and running again.
Mayor Bloomberg said police have been checking on families from Superstorm Sandy who still have no heat but had encountered no problems so far. But, altogether, “I think it is fair to say we were very lucky,” he said.
The storm, resulting from the collision of two weather systems, affected at least 40 million people.
Gov. Chris Christie urged New Jersey residents to stay home, as blizzard warning for the northeastern part of the state called for as much as 14 inches of snow.
So far around 10 snow related deaths have been recorded in the U.S. One New York State resident was killed when the tractor he was riding to plow his driveway toppled off the road. And a young boy shoveling snow with his father in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Five people were reported killed in Connecticut, including one who was hit by a car while she was plowing the snow, and one in New Hampshire, when his car went off the road.
AP reported that more than 38 inches of snow fell in Milford, Conn., and an 82 mph gust was recorded in nearby Westport. Southeastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire are under 3 feet of snow, and more is still falling. Portland, Maine, is buried under 29.3 inches, breaking the record set in 1979.
Meteorologist David Stark said the community of Upton, Long Island, had 30.3 inches of snow. Setauket, Smithtown, Port Jefferson, Mount Sinai, Islip, Huntington and Commack got more than 2 feet.
“The way this evolved was a very classic winter nor’easter,” Stark told the NY Times. “The way it formed and moved is well understood, and it is the type of situation we have seen in the past — but this storm brought more moisture and therefore more snow.”