US snow storm – as it happened: JFK and LaGuardia airports suspend flights amid 'bomb cyclone' chaos
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Your support makes all the difference.Heavy snow and high winds are beginning to pound the US East Coast along a front stretching from Maine in the north to North Carolina in the south, knocking out power, icing over roadways and closing hundreds of schools.
The storm moved governors of multiple states – including New York and New Jersey – to declare states of emergency, a step already taken by governors of southern states.
New York City mayor Bill de Blasio also declared a “winter weather emergency,” imploring residents to “take this one very seriously”.
“Unless it is essential for you to be out on the roads, you should not be,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said.
The storm dumped snow on Florida’s capital Tallahassee for the first time in 30 years on Wednesday, and is expected to last throughout the day. New York’s John F Kennedy Airport and LaGuardia Airport closed down flights for a time during the afternoon.
It is being dubbed the “bomb cyclone”, and is the product of a rapid and rare drop in barometric pressure known as bombogenesis.
States of emergencies were in effect in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia and there were blizzard warnings from the Canadian border as far south as Virginia.
Much of the eastern United States is in the grip of a sustained cold spell that has frozen part of Niagara Falls, played havoc with public works and impeded firefighting in places where temperatures barely broke 20F ( -6C).
Areas around Boston were forecast to see about one foot (30 cm) of snow on Thursday, and the National Weather Service predicted a similar amount and wind gusts of up to 55 mph (90 kmph) in New York City.
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Schools were ordered to close in both cities.
“This could bring some very dangerous conditions,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said late on Wednesday.
“Both rush hours will be affected,” Boston Mayor Marty Walsh earlier told a news conference. “Be patient. With the amount of snow we’re getting here, we could be plowing your street and a half hour later it could look like we haven’t been there.”
Weather forecasts predicted New England bearing the brunt of this storm, and extraordinary images out of the region show some of the consequences — including storm-related surges pouring icy water into streets.
Here are a couple of the more eye-opening videos from Maine and Massachusetts:
Update: LaGuardia airport in New York has lifted its suspension on flights:
Bad news for chilly East Coasters hoping for relief: the National Weather Service says that the coldest air of the season could be arriving this weekend, bringing "dangerously cold wind chills".
All that ice and snow can make for perilous conditions, and hospitals are reportedly dealing with an upswing in weather-related injuries.
“There are going to be more accidents as people venture out,” Dr. Kathryn Crowley of the Philadelphia-area Lankenau Medical Center told CBS Philly.
Slips and falls on icy surfaces and traffic accidents on ice-coated roads are among the most common hazards. But heart attacks from shoveling snow are also high on the list.
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