HA mighty April storm hit the Northeast on Thursday, dumping rain and snow with howling tropical-force winds, causing major airport delays and whiteout road conditions, and knocking out power to more than half a million customers.
The strong storm system has been barreling through the United States since the weekend — and it’s already led to several weather-related deaths.
In Pennsylvania, two people died in separate incidents in which a tree fell on the car they were in during Wednesday’s storms. An old man died in Delaware county, and an old womandescribed as in his early 80s, was also killed in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, NBC Philadelphia reported.
Another death was reported in Armonk, New York, on Wednesday night after a tree fell on a car, killing the operator, North Castle police said.
As of Thursday morning, the system is making its way out of the Northeast, with 5 million people under wind warnings in New England and 8 million under winter warnings.
The system will produce heavy, wet snow over north-central New England and northeastern New York and will pass through Maine on Thursday, the National Weather Service Forecast Center forecast Another 12 inches of snow is possible through Friday.
The system will create “significant impacts from heavy snow and wind,” and hazardous travel due to whiteout conditions, snow-covered roads, tree damage and power outages, the NWS said.
Disrupted journeys, crashes and blackouts
Air travel has already been affected, with more than 1,200 delays and more than 300 cancellations in, in or out of the United States reported, according to. Flight Consciousness data – all within a week of spring break bookings.
The storm system also wreaked havoc on the roads.
In New Hampshire, state troopers responded three tractor trailer accidents in less than seven hours from the end of Wednesday. State police urged locals “to avoid unnecessary travel.” Massachusetts State Police also responded to several crashes Wednesday night, describing road conditions as “poor.”
Powerful winds have lashed the region since Wednesday, downing power lines and trees.
Nationally, more than 500,000 customers are without power — including more than 235,000 in Maine, 53,000 in West Virginia and more than 51,000 in New York as of 8:30 a.m., according to PowerOutage.us.
By 2:30 pm ET, more than 640,000 were without power with more than 334,000 in Maine and more than 173,000 in New Hampshire.
In New Hampshire as of early Thursday, more than 100,000 customers were without power, the state division of homeland security and emergency management said. The agency’s State Emergency Operations Center was activated in response to the storm.
New York State Electric and Gas, which serves the upstate region, said Wednesday’s severe weather led to 180 downed wires and more than 30 downed poles.
“NYSEG has pre-staged more than 2,100 additional line workers and tree personnel in their service areas in preparation for the storm and are currently shifting resources to support their hardest-hit areas,” the company said.
Utility company National Grid said it was responding to storm conditions in upstate New York by increasing staffing, extending night shifts, bringing in additional resources from other states and Canada, and pre-staging crews in areas expected to be “most severely affected”.
In Brookfield, Connecticut, a mother and her three children narrowly escaped injury Wednesday when stormy winds caused a tree to fall on top of their car, completely crushing it.
In Maine, where heavy snow is expected, Gov. Janet Mills ordered all state offices to be closed on Thursday and urged locals to “take appropriate precautions and prepare for possible power outages”.
More wind, rain and snow
The storm has already drenched much of the Northeast, with a daily record of 1.75 inches recorded at New York’s LaGuardia Airport on Wednesday, 1.55 inches in Central Park, 1.49 inches in Philadelphia, and 1 .84 inches in Newark, New Jersey.
Even Lady Liberty was hit by noisy storms, struck by lightning on Wednesday night around 6pm in a stunning moment captured by a photographer from Liberty State Park in New Jersey.
The system also brought dangerously high winds, with gusts of 67 mph reported Wednesday in Nantucket, Massachusetts, 64 mph in Stamford, Connecticut, 59 mph in Manhattan and 54 mph in Boston.
Winds are expected to remain strong through Thursday, with isolated gusts of 50-60 mph possible especially along the New England coast.
Minor to moderate coastal flood warnings also remain in effect through Thursday evening for 26 million from the Delmarva Peninsula to the Maine coast.
The system will slowly move off the northeast coast Saturday.
