A fast-moving winter storm barreled through the Mid-Atlantic and into the Northeast on Wednesday, with forecasters warning of as much as two feet of snow in some areas and freezing rain, strong winds and hazardous travel conditions along the I-95 corridor.
For the millions of people living in big East Coast cities like New York and Philadelphia — where snow began falling in the afternoon — the storm was on track to be one of the biggest in several years.
The storm, a nor’easter, hit first in Maryland, Virginia and the Washington, D.C., area, with a mixture of freezing rain and snow blanketing the region. Near Frederick County, Md., dozens of cars could barely inch forward on a packed highway. In Washington, about 50 miles southeast, the snow seemed to be turning to slush.
The storm was expected to stretch nearly 1,000 miles, from North Carolina to New England, according to the National Weather Service. It threatened to fell trees, knock out power and cover roadways with ice. Schools that have been holding in-person classes, including in New York City and Boston, had either already closed or announced plans to do so.
By early afternoon, the storm was creating dangerous travel conditions in parts of the Mid-Atlantic. Snow was falling across the Baltimore area, forcing some Covid-19 testing sites to close temporarily; forecasters there expected sleet and perhaps freezing rain by evening.
Farther north, with the first snowflakes signaling the storm’s approach, people rushed to complete their preparations. Gov. Philip D. Murphy of New Jersey declared a state of emergency, and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York said he anticipated doing the same.
In Massachusetts, where a foot of snow was also expected, Gov. Charlie Baker asked residents to prepare and to avoid travel when the snowfall was heaviest. In Boston, officials announced that garbage pickup that had been scheduled for Thursday and Friday would be delayed by a day. Two city-sponsored mobile Covid-19 testing sites were also closed.
By the afternoon, some businesses in and around Boston made plans to close. Matt Otten, the manager at Zaftigs Delicatessen, a Brookline restaurant known for its Jewish comfort food, said he typically would not close because of bad weather. This time, though, he was worried. “We are concerned for our workers’ safety since the roads are going to be very treacherous,” he said.
Boston, Hartford, Conn., and Providence, R.I., all had the potential to get more than a foot of snow in 24 hours, something that had happened only three times before, the National Weather Service in Boston said.
Washington, like Philadelphia and other cities, began to get a wintry mix of rain and snow in the afternoon. Western Maryland and southern central Pennsylvania were forecast to bear the brunt of the storm, with as much as two feet of snow falling in those areas.
Even as state and municipal officials were issuing stern warnings, some people greeted the storm’s arrival with joy.
For Lucas Whiffen, 3, of Philadelphia, it would be the first big snowstorm of his life. His mother, Gail Whiffen, noted that his new snowpants had not yet arrived, but Lucas was confident he had plenty of winter gear: “A jacket and mittens and a hat, shoes, boots,” he said, eagerly awaiting the snow in which to use them.
Benjamin and Rebecca Tu of Orange County, Calif., marveled at the storm as they strolled through the woods near Wissahickon Creek in Philadelphia. It was the first one they had ever seen.
“What do you do to prepare for it?” Mr. Tu wondered. He had considered charging his phone in case the power went out. But he didn’t do it.
Hundreds of flights were canceled, rail service was suspended and driving on some busy roads was restricted as a snowstorm hit the East Coast on Wednesday and complicated holiday travel plans.
Elaine Chao, the transportation secretary, urged everyone to check with their local transportation officials about travel conditions. “For those in the path of today’s winter storm, know what’s expected for your area and don’t drive in dangerous conditions,” she said.
Amtrak said on Tuesday it would operate on a modified schedule in parts of the Northeast and that it would cancel some services from Wednesday to Friday. New Jersey Transit said it would suspend bus service in New York and northern New Jersey and rail service systemwide.
The Northeast Regional train, which usually operates between Newport News, Va., and Boston, would run only between Newport News and Washington on Wednesday, the company said, and all Acela services for Thursday have been canceled.
New Jersey barred commercial vehicles like tractor-trailers, R.V.s and some trucks from driving on several highways in the state.
In New York, the Citi Bike bicycle-sharing program said it was halting rentals at 7 p.m., and the NYC Ferry system said it would suspend service as of 6 p.m.
Airlines were also beginning to adjust their plans, with more than 700 flights canceled in the United States, according to FlightAware, which tracks delays and scrapped flights.
Delta said on its website that it had proactively issued a weather waiver, allowing flexibility for customers traveling through affected areas on Wednesday and Thursday, and a spokesman said there had been 120 flight cancellations ahead of the storm, mostly to and from La Guardia Airport, Kennedy International Airport and Boston Logan International Airport.
American Airlines said it was also allowing some customers to rebook flights without change fees and said 160 flights had been canceled.
Chloe Cho, 22, said she was planning to fly from Boston to Chicago on Thursday for the holidays. But the flight’s departure was changed to Friday.
“I am not thrilled,” she said.
Ms. Cho worried that because of the delays, people waiting in airports would be in danger of being exposed to the coronavirus.
“I usually don’t mind waiting in airports, but now I’m scared because of Covid that I’m going to have to sit around and wait for my flight due to the storm,” Ms. Cho said.
Some travelers seemed unbothered by the threat of snow, and were even flying toward it.
Ernest Imoisi, a health care consultant from Nigeria, was among the passengers on a half-empty Houston-to-Boston flight on Tuesday night. To get ready for the difference between the weather in Texas and Massachusetts, he made a quick pit stop home.
“I had to pick up my boots knowing how many inches of snow will be falling in the next few days,” said Mr. Imoisi, who was “absolutely not scared” of the storm.
Although forecasters predicted that snowfall in New York City would begin by midafternoon Wednesday, city officials wasted no time kicking off snow removal operations by sending salt-spreaders out on the streets on Tuesday.
“You never truly know what a storm like this is going to throw at you, but we are as ready as we can be,” said Edward Grayson, acting commissioner for the city’s Department of Sanitation, whose members are responsible for the huge task of clearing snow from 6,300 miles of streets.
By Wednesday, the department had begun turning away from its daily trash collecting and toward the plowing of the city’s roadways.
The department has 6,300 employees available to work during the storm and some 2,000 vehicles to plow the streets — from trash collection trucks temporarily equipped with plow attachments to dedicated plowing vehicles that also spread rock salt and a brine solution to melt snow, Mr. Grayson said.
The city has 330,000 tons of salt on hand, piled high in sheds across the city, Mr. Grayson said as he inspected part of his removal fleet in a sanitation garage in downtown Manhattan.
By 6 p.m. Wednesday, when streets are expected to have gotten two inches of snow, the department would send out its plows in full force and continue until the streets are cleared, which could be Friday if the storm is extremely severe, Mr. Grayson said.
Clearing the streets will be more complicated than ever because plows have to carefully avoid the many kiosks set up in the street by restaurants for outdoor dining, Mr. Grayson said.
As a powerful winter storm raced up the East Coast on Wednesday, several major cities planned to temporarily shut down Covid-19 testing facilities.
In Baltimore, the city health department postponed testing at two outdoor testing sites on Wednesday and Thursday. Testing at the indoor Baltimore City Convention Center Field Hospital — operated by the University of Maryland Medical System, Johns Hopkins Medicine and the Maryland Department of Health — remained open for “walk-up” testing.
“We would urge residents to remain safe while they travel to the testing site, and would encourage residents to dress warmly should they need to wait in line for a test,” the city department said in a written statement.
In Connecticut, Hartford HealthCare, which operates nine drive-through testing sites, said that they would all be closed on Thursday. Trinity Health of New England announced that three hospital testing sites would also be closed Thursday “due to the anticipated snowfall, accompanying winds, and timing of storm.”
In Rhode Island, Gov. Gina Raimondo warned residents that Covid-19 test scheduling on the state’s online portal would be “temporarily paused” for Thursday “to ensure the safety of Rhode Islanders.” Some outdoor sites may close, and some indoor or covered sites will stay open, she said, urging the public to use local media to check if their appointment would still be available.
In Boston, two city-sponsored mobile testing cites will be closed on Thursday.
But in Philadelphia, where the snowfall could reach up to eight inches, city testing clinics remained open on Wednesday, and officials expected that they would be open Thursday as well, said James Garrow, a spokesman for the city department of health.
Some “funded sites,” which are community testing programs that follow the city’s guidance but adhere to their own schedules, were closed Wednesday, Mr. Garrow said. “Our messaging for the next couple of days will stress the need to call ahead to make sure that folks’ local testing site is open,” he said.
Maryland, Virginia and the Washington, D.C., area were among the first places to get a taste of the winter storm careening up the East Coast, with flurries of snow and freezing rain descending across the region on Wednesday.
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for parts of Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia that would remain in effect until early Thursday morning.
Forecasters predicted up to 18 inches of snow in some areas near the Blue Ridge Mountains, while elsewhere the morning snow was expected to be replaced by sleet and freezing rain later in the afternoon.
Snowfall totals could reach three inches Washington and Baltimore and could exceed a foot further northwest, around Frederick, Md., said Chris Strong, a National Weather Service meteorologist. East of the metropolitan areas, where temperatures are warmer, it will likely rain, he said.
“It's going to continue through the day today and a good part of the night tonight,” Mr. Strong said. “For anyone around the Washington and Baltimore areas, especially if you’re northwest of the cities, be prepared for deteriorating travel conditions and icy roads becoming more difficult to get around especially as you get further Northwest.”
The storm may cause power outages and tree damage, and the National Weather Service warned that “travel could be nearly impossible” in some areas.
Erik Mueller, of Washington, D.C., said the snow was pellet-like when it began around 10 a.m. but the flakes gradually became clumpier as it fell, heavy and consistent, for the next few hours. Around 2 p.m., he said, it changed to rain, and everything began to melt.
“This is pretty typical of winter precipitation in D.C.,” he said. “Never know what one is going to get, and it changes every 10 miles.”
Mr. Mueller, who moved to D.C. eight years ago from Jacksonville, Fla., said he enjoys the snow and he took his dog, Ruby, a 13-year-old Border collie mix, out to play in it. He usually puts bootees on her paws, he said, to protect them from the salt.
Shannon Bento, of Winchester, Va., in the Shenandoah Valley, said the snow started around 8:30 a.m. and that it became heavier throughout the day.
Ms. Bento said she stocked up on essentials a few days before the storm, but ventured out on Wednesday to shovel and have a snowball fight.
Though it was “snowing heavily,” the storm didn’t compare to 30-inch snowstorms she remembered from her childhood in the Shenandoah Valley, she said.
“We were due for a good snow,” she said.
The nor’easter threatening the East Coast on Wednesday and Thursday is predicted to produce up to one foot of snow in New York City, more than the area saw all last winter.
For the 2019-20 meteorological winter, which is defined as December, January and February, 4.8 inches of snow fell in Central Park, according to the National Weather Service.
That winter, the city tied its second-smallest snow total on record.
The unusually paltry snowfall last winter was a sign of climate change, which leads to volatile weather patterns, said Mark Wysocki, the New York State climatologist. In Central Park, for instance, the past decade saw both the second-snowiest winter — 61.9 inches from December 2010 to February 2011 — and the second-least snowy last season.
“In the 2000s, we’re seeing these extremes, between the driest and the wettest,” Mr. Wysocki said. “Because of the climate changing, this is what we would expect, this volatility.”
If the snow predictions for Boston of eight to 12 inches are correct, the nor’easter could produce at least half of the city’s snow total last winter in a two-day period. The city saw just 15.1 inches of snow last winter, well below the average of 33 inches, according to The Boston Globe.
In Philadelphia, forecasters predict the storm to produce six to eight inches of snow, with totals in Pennsylvania as high as 18 inches north and west in places like Allentown and Reading. Last winter, Philadelphia saw a nearly snowless winter, with less than an inch of snow, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The lack of snow last winter drew attention from many, partly because climate change rose as a public priority for the first time for most Americans, according to a report from the Pew Research Center.
The word “nor’easter” usually elicits images of streets blanketed in heaps of snow and power lines defeated by intense winds. But what, exactly, makes a storm a nor’easter?
“There’s no strict definition,” said Rich Otto, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center. “It’s sort of a loose term.”
Broadly speaking, the term characterizes a weather system in which winds just off the East Coast collide with surface winds from the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States amid areas of low pressure.
Nor’easters usually occur between November and March, Mr. Otto said, but they can also form earlier in the fall and in the late spring. The storms can develop 100 miles east or west of the coastline, from as far south as Georgia to New Jersey and beyond up north, according to the Weather Service.
Their effect can be seen in the form of heavy snow, freezing rain, sleet and strong winds. Wind speeds in a nor’easter can reach hurricane force, with rainfall usually hovering around one to two inches. Snowfall can accumulate to a foot or two on average, but can be “pretty variable” over all, Mr. Otto said.
In March 1993, during the so-called Storm of the Century, a nor’easter produced four feet of snow in some areas, according to the Weather Service.
Given that nor’easters can produce dangerous conditions such as power outages, icy roads and fallen trees, Mr. Otto said it was recommended that people prepare for the storm in advance, stocking up on necessities such as batteries and extra food early, to avoid traveling during the worst of the weather.
There’s another kind of nor’easter, too.
The Nor’easter cocktail is a mix of bourbon, maple syrup, ginger beer and lime juice. Read more about it and get the recipe over at Cooking.
With a major snowstorm bearing down on New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio made official on Wednesday what had been expected: that in-person classes in the city’s public schools will be canceled on Thursday but that students are still expected to attend lessons online.
The decision affected about 190,000 of the city’s roughly one million public school students who returned to physical classrooms this month after school buildings closed briefly in November as the number of coronavirus cases began to climb.
Mr. de Blasio’s announcement was in line with moves by other U.S school districts that are dropping the traditional snow day this year amid a shift to remote learning prompted by the pandemic and the accompanying disruption to students’ schedules.
In Philadelphia, teachers plan to continue classes virtually when the storm hits. In Denver, schools moved fully online for large snowfall in late October. And officials in Omaha said last month that students would learn online regardless of snow, even beyond this year.
Some officials have suggested the change could be permanent.
“I’m kind of sad for the kids on the one hand,” said Mr. de Blasio, who described snow days earlier in the week as a “thing of the past.”
“On the other hand,” he added, “we’ve got a lot of learning that needs to be done and lot of catching up.”
But with the virus already depriving students of several other school-year traditions, parents like Sarah Allen of Brooklyn’s Kensington neighborhood said they planned to call their own snow days.
“I felt like no matter what kind of learning we’re doing this year,” said Ms. Allen, who has four school-age children, “this isn’t something that needs to be taken away from kids who have already lost a lot, ranging from not being able to see friends to losing parents to Covid.”
For various reason, officials in some areas had already been looking for ways to eliminate school cancellations because of the weather. And education experts said that keeping students in class as much as possible is especially vital this year.
“Particularly because kids have already lost so much learning time, adding to that for no good reason just seems bizarre,” said Joshua Goodman, an associate professor of education and economics at Boston University.
Not everyone agrees.
School officials in Mahwah, N.J., said in a letter to parents that winter weather offered an opportunity for “memory-making,” and that remote classes would not be held if school would otherwise be canceled.
“Snow days are chances for on-site learners and virtual learners to just be kids by playing in the snow, baking cookies, reading books and watching a good movie,” officials wrote.
Hospitals across the Northeast, already strained by an increase in Covid-19 patients and the first week of vaccine distribution, were preparing Wednesday for a winter storm with the potential to bring accident victims to their doors.
“For us, it’s part of our normal snow emergency preparations,” said Michael Maron, the president and chief executive of Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, N.J.
Mr. Maron noted that his hospital had multiple sources of backup power, and he was confident there was enough capacity in the I.C.U.
Crews were pre-treating roads to enable smooth hospital access, and many elective surgeries were delayed until Friday to encourage people to stay home, he said.
The hospital was scheduled to receive its first Covid-19 vaccines later on Wednesday or Thursday morning, Mr. Maron said, and he was optimistic that the shipments would arrive on time, despite the storm.
At St. Luke’s University Health Network, which operates 12 hospitals in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, there was a possibility that the first vaccine delivery — scheduled for Thursday — would be delayed by the storm, said Samuel Kennedy, a hospital spokesman.
Nursing homes from Philadelphia to Albany said they, too, were prepared for the storm, calling it a routine disruption. At the Teresian House for the Elderly in Albany, the home’s 225 residents could expect six to 10 inches of snow, which a spokesman, Paul Larrabee, called a “moderate upstate winter storm.”
The home has suffered from coronavirus outbreaks since the spring, he added, which has heightened the staff’s focus on residents’ safety. “In light of what we’ve gone through in the last 10 months, our emergency and crisis preparedness is probably as well calibrated as any time in our history,” Mr. Larrabee said.
In Philadelphia, staff at the 54-bed Pennypack Nursing and Rehabilitation Center are prepared with a backup generator. “We test it weekly,” said its administrator, Michael Greenwald. “We are making sure all our staff has a way to get to work,” he said. “We’re just ready to go.”
The major winter storm bearing down on the Northeast has the potential to snarl distribution of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine in the region.
The storm is expected to bring strong winds, up to two feet of snow in some places and blizzard conditions in many areas on Wednesday and Thursday, threatening to hamper highway travel and knock out power, according to the National Weather Service.
Two giant rivals, UPS and FedEx, are working to deliver the Covid-19 vaccine to vaccination sites from Pfizer’s plants in Michigan and Wisconsin. A spokesman for UPS, Matthew O’Connor, said the company had a team of meteorologists monitoring the weather around the clock.
“We develop contingency plans based on weather forecasts and local conditions, enabling our employees to safely deliver what matters most,” Mr. O’Connor said in a statement. “Should roadways or airports be closed, we will observe all closures, and UPS will be ready to deliver as soon as it is safe.”
He added that UPS’s new health care command center, set up at its air hub in Louisville, Ky., was keeping track of the coronavirus vaccine shipments, which must be kept frozen and require special handling. The command center “can step in with contingency plans should it appear that a package may be delayed,” he said.
Gen. Gustave F. Perna, who heads the operations of Operation Warp Speed, the federal vaccine distribution effort, told reporters on Monday that officials were ready to deal with any issues that could disrupt smooth deliveries, including wrong delivery addresses and truck or airplane accidents.
“I know you’ve seen the weather report,” General Perna said, noting that the storm “could be a problem.” He continued, “My responsibility to deliver safe and effective vaccines means get ahead of that problem.”
About 600 sites, many of them hospitals, were scheduled to receive the vaccine this week, nearly three million doses in all. Some 500,000 doses were delivered on Monday to 142 of the sites around the country.
In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a Tuesday news conference that vaccine delivery and administration would continue despite the weather.
“There’s nothing about the storm at this point that should disrupt the supply of vaccine coming in,” he said.
But the city will close virus testing sites run by the city’s public hospital system from 2 p.m. on Wednesday to noon on Thursday, said Deanne B. Criswell, the commissioner of emergency management.
New York City’s restaurants, already staggered by the loss of indoor dining this week, must close their roadway dining programs at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, ahead of the major snowstorm that is expected to sweep into the area.
The closure order is temporary, and officials said it could be lifted by Thursday night. But the storm, a nor’easter, will pose a significant test for restaurant owners and of how the city’s now-permanent outdoor dining program can withstand severe winter weather.
The city is urging restaurants to remove the tops of their outdoor dining structures, but it will not require them to take those structures off the street.
For restaurants, the storm could be yet another blow to a struggling industry that has been in dire financial straits since pandemic restrictions were first implemented in March.
As outdoor dining has become an economic lifeline, restaurants and bars have seen their fortunes increasingly tied to weather conditions.
“Man versus nature is one of those classic literary conflicts,” Emmeline Zhao, a partner and the general manager of Silver Apricot in Manhattan, said. “But I feel like I’m living that out in real time.”
New York City initially introduced an expanded outdoor dining program in June, a bid to extend economic support to restaurants by allowing for tables on sidewalks, in parking areas and on streets where dining had previously been limited or forbidden.
The city’s Department of Sanitation, which is charged with snow removal, realized the roadway dining setups could pose challenges for plowing efforts, the acting sanitation commissioner, Edward Grayson, said.
Officials were concerned that the large structures would remove the space available to plows on the city’s narrower streets, making it more difficult for them to maneuver and clear snow. They also worried that diners seated at roadway tables could be pummeled by high-velocity snow hurled in the plows’ wake.
“We want to make sure we protect public safety, which is our job,” Mr. Grayson said. “But we’re also cognizant that, especially now, these small businesses, these restaurants, need to stay open as long as possible.”
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