Forecasters called it a “bomb cyclone.” Boston got almost two feet of snow, tying a single-day record.
Packing raking winds, blinding snows and piercing cold, a powerful, fast-moving winter storm roared up the East Coast on Saturday, bringing power outages, disrupted travel and general misery to millions of residents from the Carolinas to Maine.
The worst of the storm was felt across the Northeast, particularly in New England, where gusting winds blew snow sideways, while flood-prone coastal areas watched warily as a storm surge pounded beaches and sea walls.
Power outages were still affecting nearly 70,000 Massachusetts residents as of early Sunday morning, and broader blackouts remained an ongoing concern with high winds threatening to snap snow-covered branches and cripple power lines as the storm churned offshore.
“It’s a classic blizzard,” said Glenn Field, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Norton, Mass., which noted that some areas in Massachusetts had received three to four inches of snow per hour on Saturday morning, according to radar estimates. Heavy snow continued through the afternoon, with wind gusts of more than 70 miles per hour in some locations, creating whiteout conditions.
Indeed, the tempest’s intensity and drifting snow made even measuring the accumulation difficult, though the storm was shaping up to be the biggest of the season in some regions, and maybe one of the biggest in decades. The National Weather Service said the 23.6 inches of snow that fell on Saturday tied the single-day record for Boston, set in 2003.
The wicked weather may have also claimed more than one life. In Nassau County, east of New York City, police were investigating the death of an elderly woman found dead inside her car at around 2:45 a.m., with at least one of the car’s windows open. And in Toms River, N.J., a man went into cardiac arrest and died while operating a snowblower, according to the Ocean County sheriff, Michael Mastronardy.
The intense storm was characterized as a “bomb cyclone,” in which barometric pressure drops rapidly over 24 hours, producing high winds. As storms like this one move over coastal waters, they pick up moisture, resulting in heavy snow.
The storm’s speed and ferocity, predicted for days, were being felt up and down the Interstate 95 corridor. There was significant snowfall in Southern cities like Asheville, N.C., and bitter cold was predicted overnight in locales like Charleston, S.C., part of a Southern cold snap.
There was coastal flooding on Saturday afternoon on Cape Cod and in the streets of Nantucket, where gusts more akin to those in a tropical storm were felt. Nantucket officials and American Red Cross volunteers had opened an emergency warming shelter at the high school as power outages persisted and temperatures dipped. Emergency centers were also open on the Cape, and ferries to and from Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard had been canceled as of Saturday.
Forecasters cautioned that storm would continue to bring snow and strong winds into the evening before heading out over the Atlantic, where it could create 30-foot swells for any boat unlucky enough to be caught in open water. Tides were also predicted to rise on shore on Saturday evening, raising the specter of additional flooding.
In a late-afternoon briefing on Saturday, Gov. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts said his state was “not quite out of the woods,” noting that travel conditions were treacherous and that road cleanup, removal of snow and restoring of power could take several days. As much as 30 inches of snow had fallen in some parts of the state by early Saturday evening, he said.
Blizzard conditions — the blinding combination of snow and wind — were already confirmed in at least four states, including Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut.
In Boston, the storm was drawing comparisons to the Blizzard of ’78, which buried the city in more than two feet of snow and caused serious flooding. Boston residents seemed to be holing up or battening down, though one group of about a dozen diners could be seen brunching — and drinking mimosas — at Frenchie, a restaurant on Tremont Street, in spite of the weather.
One of the bistro’s employees, Vanessa Fitzgerald, 39, said she had come to work despite a harrowing drive there with her husband that morning. “It was nerve-racking,” she said. “I was like, ‘I’m going to die.’”
She added, “I think I’m going to sleep here tonight.”
Those out in the weather likened it to a snow globe, with winds twirling falling snowflakes while taking fresh powder off rooftops and cars and adding it to the swirl.
“It’s hard, it’s tiring; when the wind hits your face, it hurts,” said Eddy Sasso, who was motoring a four-wheeler with a plow on the front to clear sidewalks in Queens and who had ice visible in his goatee and eyebrows. He had been at it for 12 hours, he said, and would stop “whenever it stops.”
That said, New York City seemed to have dodged the brunt of the storm, even as bands of snow and wind clobbered the Jersey Shore, eastern Long Island and Connecticut, and points north. By late afternoon, Islip, N.Y., on Long Island, had gotten more than two feet, the most of any location in the tristate area, followed in short order by Groton, Conn., and Bayville, N.J.
In Rhode Island, travel restrictions were in place until Saturday evening, with large trucks, except those carrying emergency supplies, barred from driving on all roads. Similar steps were taken in Connecticut, where Gov. Ned Lamont said some “terrible accidents” had occurred involving tractor-trailers. He pleaded with residents to stay off the road but praised their hardiness.
“This is New England,” he told CNN. “We are prepared for this.”
Governors in New Jersey and New York had preemptively declared states of emergency in expectation of the storm, even as airlines canceled nearly 2,000 flights at three major hubs — Kennedy International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport and Boston Logan International Airport — according to FlightAware, which tracks aviation data. Sunday was also looking like a bad travel day in the region as well, with more than 1,000 flights already canceled.
“We’re in throes of this nor’easter — it is a serious one,” Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York said at a storm briefing on Saturday morning, adding that the cold blast accompanying the storm, and the potential for loss of power, could be life-threatening. “You cannot have people in their homes without heat for any length of time.”
Facing a major weather event during his first month in office, Mayor Eric Adams of New York City warned residents to stay inside. “It’s best to be off the roads,” he said, standing on a blustery sidewalk on Tiffany Street in the Bronx. “Be careful. Bundle up. Good day to stay at home if you don’t have to go out.”
That said, some city residents viewed the Saturday snow day as a treat, with dog owners taking their pets to a pillowy Central Park for walks. “She loves the snow,” said Nancy Nelson, 65, an Upper West Side resident, who was with Callie, her 8-year-old dog. “She’s already belly-crawled all the way across the street.”
Those who dared drive, however, were often facing daunting conditions, even with lighter weekend traffic. For the most part, the subways were running regularly, though the Long Island Rail Road suspended its service midmorning and service was limited on the Metro North Railroad. Amtrak canceled all of its high-speed Acela trains between New York and Washington, as well as its routes between New York and Boston.
Even some professional drivers were wary. In Long Island City, Jeff Lopez, who had been making fuel deliveries since 3 a.m., said the condition of the roads was bad enough that he was knocking off early because of the slippery conditions. “It’s pretty bad out there,” he said.
Forecasters said that the storm’s speed and accompanying cold — subzero wind chills were reported across the Northeast — might lessen the potential for loss of power, noting that the conditions produced lighter, more powdery snow that was less likely to weigh down trees and power lines. Areas around Bangor, Maine, were predicted to experience severe cold, including wind chills as low as 20 below zero.
The storm could also be a boon for ski areas in the Northeast, many of which have not had enough snow this year to fully open their trails. Among them was Mount Sunapee in New Hampshire, where snow-making had been a challenge because of warmer temperatures. Sunapee had received about six inches by midday.
Still, the conditions were often unpleasant for many who dared to venture out. In places like suburban Monmouth County, N.J., with snow drifts deeper than a foot and whipping wind, residents were essentially homebound. Conditions were even worse near the Atlantic, where the Weather Service said that nearly 16 inches of snow had fallen in some areas by around 8 a.m., making travel “extremely dangerous.”
Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey said his state had dispatched 3,000 pieces of equipment to clear roads and aid travelers. “It’s a statewide event, but the shore is getting clobbered,” he said on WCBS-TV, adding that the cleanup “won’t be overnight.”
On the eastern end of Long Island, residents were trying to soldier on, even as the snow continued to accumulate. Jens Lester, 78, a lifelong resident of Amagansett, said he had seen blizzards like this one before but remained worried about the power going out, because his generator, he discovered yesterday, wouldn’t start up.
Most winters, Mr. Lester said, he would be in Florida or the Caribbean, but the pandemic had made traveling difficult.
“I wish I was there now,” he said. “I think a lot of people do.”
Reporting was contributed by Troy Closson, Patrick Cassidy, Ashley Wong, Karen DeMasters, Henry Fountain, Andrés R. Martínez, Arielle Dollinger, Joseph A. Gambardello, Scott Dodd, Vimal Patel, Sophie Kasakove, Isabella Grullón Paz, Catherine McGloin, Matt Berg, Murray Carpenter, Alexandra E. Petri, Chelsia Rose Marcius, Christine Sampson, Nate Schweber and William P. Davis.
