Today’s storm is the fourth serious snow to wallop the Northeast this month
March 22nd, 2018Summary:
• A spring snowstorm is sweeping through the Northeast, the fourth nor’easter of the month.
• A foot or so of snow is expected from the suburbs of Philadelphia to parts of New York City to coastal Connecticut and Long Island, with significant snow from Washington to Boston.
• Nearly 5,000 flights have been canceled and La Guardia Airport suspended all flights.
• Boston schools will be closed.
• More than 35,000 homes in New Jersey have lost power.
NYC on a Thursday morning:
| Good morning on this slushy Thursday. |
| It’s time to get outside and start digging. |
| The spring snowstorm that pummeled our city yesterday shed its final flakes around dawn. At 8.2 inches, it broke one record but left others intact. But more on that in a bit. |
| First, here’s what you need to know before heading out: |
| (For the latest commute news, read New York Today online here.) |
| • New York City public schools are open. |
| • Public transit is up and running. The subway, Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road are operating on regular schedules but could face delays. |
| • New Jersey Transit trains, buses and light rail are operating on regular weekday schedules. Access Link will resume at noon and cross-honoring is not in effect. |
| • Amtrak is running on a modified schedule. |
| • It’s recovery day at the city’s airports. Kennedy, Newark and La Guardia are operational, but check your flight before you go. |
| • The streets are schmutzy. The Sanitation Department has dispatched nearly 1,600 plows since the start of the storm. You can see which streets were plowed, and when, with their plow tracker. |
| • Alternate-side parking rules are suspended for snow removal. Meters remain in effect. |
| With 12 to 18 inches of snow in the forecast, the nor’easter was expected to break the record for the largest spring snowstorm in our history. The previous record, of 10 inches, was set on April 3, 1915. A little after midnight, the ruler in Central Park read 8.2. |
| Your snow-shoveling experience may vary. The snow fell unevenly, dropping 11.7 inches in Bedford-Stuyvesant, 12 in Queens Village, 10 in Gramercy Park, and around 8.5 inches at both La Guardia and Kennedy. |
| “But Staten Island won the lottery,” said Patrick Maloit, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service. Port Richmond is waking up to 13.8 inches. |
| Even though parts of the city saw higher snow totals “the record is still going to the April storm,” Mr. Maloit said. Central Park is used for the official city total because record-keeping there is more extensive and “because, let’s face it, when you think New York City, you think Central Park, not La Guardia or Kennedy,” he said. |
| We did set one record yesterday, though. It was the most snow seen in New York on March 21. |
| And you can take comfort in knowing you lived through a spring snowstorm and the fourth nor’easter in one month, a super extra rare occurrence. The National Weather Service found at least one other instance of four nor’easters taking place in one month — between Dec. 30, 1986, and Jan. 26, 1987 — but that was in the dead of winter. |
| We’d advise against placing any bets on a fifth: Another big nor’easter this season is unlikely, and temperatures are expected to keep climbing in the coming weeks. |
| Today, cloudy with a high near 42. Tomorrow, drizzly, with a high of 44. |