Planes, Trains, & Automobiles: Commuters Crushed As Huge Winter Storm Slams Northeast

It’s been well over a week since we’ve been reporting on two significant weather disturbances that caused severe headaches for tens of millions of Americans from coast to coast. The latest batch of wild winter weather continues to torment millions in the Northeast. It could make commuting this evening for drivers in Philadelphia to New York City and Boston a living hell. 

Evening Commute Nightmare?

Locally heavy snowfall possible tonight in eastern PA, NJ, NYC, and southern New England…

6pm radar: pic.twitter.com/hv1Pf8pJm7

— Ed Vallee | Empire Weather LLC (@EdValleeWx) December 2, 2019

Through the workday, rain and snow showers will switch to snow, could see 1-3 inches in NYC and 4 to 6 inches in Boston by the evening, meteorologist Bob Oravec of the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center told Reuters.

The heaviest bands of snow will be seen this afternoon in Upstate New York, Pennsylvania, northwestern New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, southern Vermont, southern New Hampshire, and Maine, Oravec said. He added that some regions could receive more than one foot of snow. 

“When it’s all said and done, some areas will have over 2 feet of snow from this storm, especially over parts of the Poconos and Catskills,” Oravec said. 

Meanwhile, the Mid-Atlantic region has seen a mix of rain, snow, and ice. Mostly rain has been seen in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. 

The worst conditions could be seen around the rush hour period for NYC to Boston when the storm is expected to ramp up the intensity. The snow is expected to last through the overnight. 

The winter storm is expected to dump nearly a foot on much of Maine in the overnight. The storm is expected to exit the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions by Tuesday. 

Reuters reports that 1,500 cancellations and delays were posted for airports across the country by late morning. The most affected airports were San Francisco, Albany, Boston, Chicago, and Newark.

As of the early afternoon, Flight Aware posted 753 delays and 56 cancellations across the country. A majority of the delays and or cancellations were seen at Mid-and Northeast airports. 

Both storms had huge impacts on the US and came at the worst time during one of the busiest shopping holidays of the year. We assume retailers, who saw foot traffic plunge this year across Black Friday, will blame the weather for their sales slump.

Ed Vallee, head meteorologist at Empire Weather, provides a storm update for the next 36 hours in the Northeast: