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First winter storm rolls across northeast US
Boston, Dec 07: The season`s first major winter storm blanketed parts of the northeastern United States with more than a foot of snow, disrupting air travel and creating hazardous road conditions, and was set to pummel the region for another day.
Boston, Dec 07: The season's first major winter storm blanketed parts of the northeastern United States with more than a foot of snow, disrupting air travel and creating hazardous road conditions, and was set to pummel the region for another day.
The slow-moving storm system rolled up the Eastern Coast with high winds, steady snowfall of up to an inch an hour, and heavy surf after having brushed the US capital, Maryland and Northern Virginia overnight. Several people have died in snow-related traffic accidents.
On track to enter the record books as the biggest December storm to hit Boston in three decades, the storm has already set records in the New York area where national weather service meteorologists said about 20 inches of snow fell in the bronx.
And it isn't over yet -- meteorologists forecast another 5 to 10 inches (13 to 25 cm) of snow will fall in the Boston area before the storm tapers off today.
In New Jersey, at least two people were killed in road accidents. Hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed at airports up and down the coast. The National Weather Service forecast the expected snowfall to hit 20 inches in Boston and more in the western part of Massachusetts, with winds gusting up to 40 mph and possible coastal flooding through Sunday afternoon.
At Logan International Airport in Boston, the region's busiest where 850 flights were scheduled to arrive and depart on Saturday, 325 had been canceled by early afternoon, said Barbara Platt, an airport spokeswoman.
Continental Airlines said it had canceled more than 100 flights for the day, mainly out of its hub in Newark, New Jersey. At Newark Liberty International Airport, flight delays of up to three hours were being reported.
High school students up and down the East Coast got a reprieve from scheduled college entrance sat exams, many of which were canceled. Snow removal equipment was sold out at many shops.
Bureau Report
On track to enter the record books as the biggest December storm to hit Boston in three decades, the storm has already set records in the New York area where national weather service meteorologists said about 20 inches of snow fell in the bronx.
And it isn't over yet -- meteorologists forecast another 5 to 10 inches (13 to 25 cm) of snow will fall in the Boston area before the storm tapers off today.
In New Jersey, at least two people were killed in road accidents. Hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed at airports up and down the coast. The National Weather Service forecast the expected snowfall to hit 20 inches in Boston and more in the western part of Massachusetts, with winds gusting up to 40 mph and possible coastal flooding through Sunday afternoon.
At Logan International Airport in Boston, the region's busiest where 850 flights were scheduled to arrive and depart on Saturday, 325 had been canceled by early afternoon, said Barbara Platt, an airport spokeswoman.
Continental Airlines said it had canceled more than 100 flights for the day, mainly out of its hub in Newark, New Jersey. At Newark Liberty International Airport, flight delays of up to three hours were being reported.
High school students up and down the East Coast got a reprieve from scheduled college entrance sat exams, many of which were canceled. Snow removal equipment was sold out at many shops.
Bureau Report