BL: New York City May Get 3 Inches of Snow an Hour as Blizzard Warnings Issued
By Brian K. Sullivan
Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Blizzard warnings for as much as 20 inches of snow were posted from Washington to Long Island as a storm settled in for a daylong siege, closing government offices, grounding thousands of flights and threatening 3 inches an hour for New York.
The storm is also stirring up tropical storm-strength winds from North Carolina to Massachusetts, where gusts of nearly 60 mph (96 kph) are expected, according to the National Weather Service. The gusts may knock down trees and power lines, causing widespread power disruptions, the agency said.
“With the storm intensifying rapidly this morning, the worst-case scenario in terms of a truly paralyzing blow to the Washington-Philadelphia-New York urban corridor will be realized,” said Jim Rouiller, a senior energy meteorologist at Planalytics Inc.
He said many cities in the region “are now very near or have exceeded their all-time snowfall for a winter season. It may take days for the infrastructure associated within this corridor to fully recover.”
The storm is the second in less than a week for Washington, which received as much as 20 inches over the weekend and had been struggling to dig out. Federal offices closed early on Friday and have not been open since.
Getting Stronger
The new system is intensifying along the U.S. East Coast, and Joe Bastardi, AccuWeather Inc. chief meteorologist, believes “the resemblance of an eye” may form later today, said Tom Kines, a senior expert meteorologist with AccuWeather. Eyes and low barometric pressure are usually associated with hurricanes.
“Because it is still intensifying, by this afternoon this will be a very, very powerful storm,” Kines said by telephone from State College, Pennsylvania. “If you have a barometer at home, from Jersey on up to southern New England it is going to be reading very low today.”
The storm’s barometric pressure is expected to fall to 970 to 969 millibars, said Glenn Field, a weather service warning coordinator meteorologist in Taunton, Massachusetts. “That is an extremely intense storm,” Field said by telephone.
The storm’s barometric pressure is the kind usually found in a Category 1 hurricane, Jeff Masters of Weather Underground in Ann Arbor, Michigan, wrote in his blog. Hurricane-strength winds and seas of as high as 30 feet (9 meters) are expected to develop off the U.S. East Coast, according to weather service bulletins.
Heavy Snowfall
Snow was falling on Long Island at a rate of 2 inches per hour, Field said at mid-morning. The weather service office in Upton, New York, received 5 inches in just two hours, he said.
New York-based Consolidated Edison Inc. is adding extra crews to help avert snow- and ice-related blackouts, according to a company statement. Washington’s electric supplier, Pepco, a subsidiary of Pepco Holdings Inc., pulled its crews off the streets because of unsafe conditions, according to the company’s Web site.
Governors in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Delaware have either declared emergencies or closed some or all state offices, according to official statements. New York, Washington and Philadelphia have closed schools and some or all city offices, and Baltimore shut the city streets to all but emergency vehicles.
Pennsylvania Interstates Shut
Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell ordered Interstates 83 and 78 and parts of 81 to close. Additional road closures are expected. “For your safety, do not drive,” Rendell, a Democrat, said in a statement.
Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell asked employers in Hartford to stagger closing times to cut down on highway traffic as the storm approaches.
A blizzard warning issued early today for the New York City area is in effect until 6 a.m. tomorrow, the National Weather Service said. Washington’s blizzard warning is in effect until tonight, while Boston may receive 8 inches (20 centimeters) of snow and as much as 12 inches may fall south of the city, said Paul Walker, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather.
New Jersey Transit said it would curtail its schedules after 2:30 p.m. Amtrak, the national passenger railroad, hasn’t run a full schedule since last week’s storm and more trains were canceled yesterday, a spokesman, Cliff Cole, said.
More than 4,000 flights were grounded nationwide, and Washington’s Dulles and Reagan National airports were closed.
Flights Grounded
Delta Air Lines Inc., the world’s largest carrier, scrubbed 900 flights today and expects operations in Washington and Philadelphia to be almost entirely halted through mid-day Thursday, said Betsy Talton, a spokeswoman for the Atlanta-based company.
AMR Corp.’s American Airlines planned to shut down its operations at New York’s LaGuardia airport at noon, said Tim Wagner, a company spokesman.
The U.S. Senate won’t meet today because of the storm, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid announced on the floor. The House has canceled votes for the rest of the week.
Cattle futures fell in Chicago on speculation that the blizzard will keep consumers from going out to grocery stores and restaurants. Shoppers may stock up on essential food items, while avoiding high-end cuts of meat, like beef rib and loin cuts, said Paul Beere, a market adviser with Prime Agricultural Consultants Inc. in Brookfield, Wisconsin.
To contact the reporter on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: February 10, 2010 13:29 EST
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