WASHINGTON — A powerful winter storm swept across the U.S. Northeast, triggering widespread travel bans, school closures, and mass flight cancellations as heavy snow and strong winds battered major cities from Washington to Boston.
The National Weather Service warned of a “major winter storm for the Northeast,” forecasting heavy snow across the northern Mid-Atlantic and Northeast through Monday. Snowfall rates of two to three inches per hour were expected at times, with accumulations reaching up to two feet in some areas, creating what forecasters described as nearly impossible travel conditions.
Blizzard warnings were issued across large portions of the region, with meteorologists in New York calling the system potentially historic. New York City imposed a travel ban beginning at 9 p.m. Sunday through midday Monday, urging residents to stay off the roads.
“New York City has not faced a storm of this scale in the last decade,” Mayor Zoharan Mamdani said. “We are asking New Yorkers to avoid all nonessential travel.” City schools were ordered closed, marking the first traditional snow day since 2019.
New Jersey officials also enacted a travel ban starting Sunday night, while Rhode Island authorities urged residents to remain off roads beginning earlier in the evening. Several states across the region declared emergencies as conditions deteriorated.
Air travel was severely disrupted, with thousands of flights cancelled across the Northeast. Major airports in New York and Boston were among the hardest hit, with nearly half of scheduled departures at some New York airports scrapped. By Sunday afternoon, more than 3,500 domestic and international flights had already been cancelled, with additional cancellations expected.
Boston and much of eastern Massachusetts were forecast to receive up to two feet of snow, accompanied by wind gusts as high as 75 miles per hour. Forecasters in the region warned the storm could be both historic and destructive.
In Washington, D.C., several inches of wet snow were expected, prompting federal agencies to announce delayed openings while many local school districts closed or shifted schedules.
Meteorologists also warned of dangerous coastal flooding from Delaware to Cape Cod, driven by strong onshore winds. The National Weather Service cautioned that flooding could become severe enough to cause structural damage and widespread roadway inundation.
Nearly 54 million people were in the storm’s path, stretching from the central Appalachians to coastal Maine, as winter storm and blizzard warnings blanketed the region. The system is expected to move out of northern New England by Tuesday morning. (Source: IANS)
