Extreme Temperatures
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U.S. Northeast digs out from blizzard; new storm brews in Plains

Reuters
Sun, 10 Feb 2013 00:00 UTC

© REUTERS/Eric ThayerWorkers clear snow at Times Square in New York, February 9, 2013. A blizzard pummeled the Northeastern United States, killing at least one person, leaving hundreds of thousands without power and disrupting thousands of flights, media and officials said.

The U.S. Northeast started digging itself out on Sunday after a blizzard dumped up to 40 inches (1 meter) of snow with hurricane force winds, killing at least nine people and leaving hundreds of thousands without power.

New York City trucks plowed through residential streets, leaving hundreds, if not thousands, of motorists to dig their buried vehicles out from mountains of snow.

"I give up," Giovanni Marchenna, 52, of Manhattan said with a laugh.

"Looks like I'll be taking the subway to work until the snow melts," he added, noting he spent more than an hour shoveling snow.

Utility companies reported that some 350,000 customers were still without electricity across nine states after the wet, heavy snow brought down tree branches and power lines. About 700,000 homes and businesses were without power at one point on Saturday.

Air traffic began to return to normal on Sunday after some 5,800 flights were canceled on Friday and Saturday, according to Flightaware, a flight tracking service.

Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, and New York state's Long Island MacArthur Airport reopened on Sunday morning. Both had been closed on Saturday.

Blizzard hammers U.S. Northeast, five dead, 700,000 lose power

Tim McLaughlin and Edith Honan
Reuters
Sat, 09 Feb 2013 16:00 UTC

© Reuters/Carlo AllegriPeople arrive with their children and toboggans to a snowy Central Park in New York February 9, 2013. A blizzard packing hurricane-force winds pummeled the northeastern United States on Saturday, killing at least one person, leaving about 600,000 customers without power and disrupting thousands of flights.

A record-breaking blizzard packing hurricane-force winds hammered the northeastern United States on Saturday, cutting power to 700,000 homes and businesses, shutting down travel and leaving at least five people dead.

The mammoth storm that stretched from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic dumped more than 3 feet of snow across the Northeast, the National Weather Service said.

Coastal blizzard and flood warnings were in effect, but Massachusetts and Connecticut lifted vehicle travel bans as the storm slowly moved eastward on Saturday afternoon.

Stratford, Connecticut, Mayor John Harkins said he had never seen such a heavy snowfall, with rates reaching 6 inches an hour.

"Even the plows are getting stuck," Harkins told local WTNH television.

The storm centered its fury on Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, with the highest snowfall total, 38 inches, in Milford, Connecticut.

Power out for thousands, evacuations expected as blizzard's impact begins to be felt

John R. Ellement, Peter Schworm, Michael Levenson and Martin Finucane
Boston Globe
Fri, 08 Feb 2013 17:04 UTC

A National Weather Service map showing projected snowfall totals from the blizzard.

A potentially historic blizzard swept into Massachusetts today and is expected to dump more than 2 feet of snow, whip winds up to 70 miles per hour, and batter the coast with giant waves.

Roads are emptying out now as drivers heed an order issued by Governor Deval Patrick that all vehicles be parked by 4 p.m. Sideways-blowing snow is adding to the falling darkness.

More than 5,000 power outages have already been reported as winds down tree limbs and wires.

In Marshfield, officials said they expected to ask shorefront residents to evacuate themselves because of concerns about storm-driven tides tonight and Saturday morning.

Heaviest snowfall in many years hits Polish-Slovakian border

Robert Felix
IceAgeNow
Fri, 08 Feb 2013 13:59 UTC

Due to heavy snowfall a state of emergency was imposed in 20 towns at the Polish-Slovakian Border, near to Orava. Last night it was seen 75 cm of snow!

More than 1200 residents of the region were left without electricity after heavy snowfall knocked out power lines and substations.

I've never seen such big flakes of snow. They are as big as the coin two euros. Within 24 hours as much snow fell as usual throughout the winter. Snow cover in some places more than five feet, the governor said.

Plows can not keep up with snow removal routes.

Source: WP.PL (In Polish)

Major snowstorm in Ontario causes flight cancellations, school closings

Tu Thanh Ha
Globe and Mail
Fri, 08 Feb 2013 11:35 UTC

The worst of a winter storm into southern Ontario landed during morning rush hour, covering the region in a white shroud of snow flurries and sleet, forcing schools to close and disrupting land and air traffic. (For a list of school closures, transit delays and flight information,click here.)

Other vehicles were reported to be stuck in snowbanks, in ditches or blocking lanes after spinning out of control. At the Bayview entrance of the southbound Don Valley Parkway, cars had trouble negotiating the icy in-ramp. The DVP's Bayview off-ramp was reported to be closed because of slippery conditions. On Highway 401, the eastbound collector off-ramp at Allen Road was also closed because of the road conditions.

On the Queen Elizabeth Way, near Fort Erie, a snowplow fell into a ditch and, a few kilometres further north, a salter truck had rolled.

More than 150 highway car collisions had been reported, said Ontario Provincial Police Sergeant Dave Woodford.

There were only minor injuries, mostly from fender benders, he said.

NASA's satellite view of massive Nor'easter - frontal system stretching from Canada through the Ohio and Tennessee valleys, into the Gulf of Mexico

NASA
Fri, 08 Feb 2013 10:23 UTC

A massive winter storm is coming together as two low pressure systems are merging over the U.S. East Coast. A satellite image from NOAA's GOES-13 satellite on Feb. 8 shows a western frontal system approaching the coastal low pressure area.

The satellite image, captured at 9:01 a.m. EST, shows clouds associated with the western frontal system stretching from Canada through the Ohio and Tennessee valleys, into the Gulf of Mexico. The comma-shaped low pressure system located over the Atlantic, east of Virginia, is forecast to merge with the front and create a powerful nor'easter. The National Weather Service expects the merged storm to move northeast and drop between two to three feet of snow in parts of New England.

Southern Ontario braces for biggest snowstorm in years

Scott Sutherland
Yahoo! Canada News - Geekquinox
Thu, 07 Feb 2013 00:00 UTC

The Friday morning commute is looking to be an ugly one for Southern Ontario as the Alberta Clipper swinging through the area today is amplified by moisture from another storm system moving up from the United States.

"It might be the biggest storm since 2011," said Rob Khun, a severe weather meteorologist with Environment Canada, referring to the March 2011 storm that dumped 12.5 cm of snow on the GTA.

Snow from the storm system has begun to fall in southwestern Ontario this morning as the Alberta Clipper tracks through the area, and it should arrive in the GTA by this afternoon. This will leave about 2 cm of accumulation on the ground, however the added moisture arriving from the south this evening will turn this to heavy snowfall overnight and into Friday morning.

Total accumulations for southern Ontario are expected to be between 15 and 25 cm of snow, and strong winds will add blowing snow to the mix, making for hazardous driving conditions tonight, through the Friday morning commute, and possibly into tomorrow afternoon as well.

Eastern Ontario is expected to be even harder hit, as snowfall accumulations already forecast to be up to 25 cm from the Alberta Clipper are pushed up to 35 cm or higher by the approaching storm from the south and local amplification due to winds blowing in off of Lake Ontario.

Environment Canada has issued Snowfall Warnings from London-Essex to Kingston-Prince Edward regions, and from Niagara region up into Grey-Bruce along the shores of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay.

Monster blizzard Nemo headed for U.S. Northeast

Matt Daniel
EarthSky Org
Fri, 08 Feb 2013 01:59 UTC

A significant snowstorm is expected, which can be compared to the 1978 blizzard. Snowfall could exceed two feet (.6 meters) in some areas.

The northeastern United States is preparing for a monster storm, which many are calling Nemo, expected on February 8, 2013. It could easily produce over two feet of snow (.6 meters) and wind gusts over 60 miles (96 km) per hour, causing zero visibility and bringing cities to a standstill.

In many ways, we are looking at an historic storm that could paralyze cities such as Boston, Providence, and Hartford. We're expecting blizzard conditions in eastern and southeastern Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Northeastern New Jersey, Long Island, southeastern Maine, and New York City.

Moderate to major coastal flooding is also possible. Two storm systems will phase together to create a large pressure gradient that will result in winds sustaining around 35-50 mph with gusts over 74 mph. Tonight is the last night to get ready for a significant snowstorm that can be compared to the 1978 blizzard.

New England blizzard - one for the books? Major winter storm on its way

Denise Lavoie and Holly Ramer
Christian Science Monitor
Thu, 07 Feb 2013 08:56 UTC

New England blizzard: Forecasters are predicting more than 2 feet of snow in New England, and blizzard conditions, including high winds, blowing snow, and coastal flooding. A major winter storm heading toward New England may not be one for the record books, but even some of the nation's snow-hardiest people should proceed with caution, according to at least one expert.

The National Weather Service forecasts blizzard conditions in New England by late Friday afternoon.

As much as 2 feet of snow could fall on a region that has seen mostly bare ground this winter, the National Weather Service said. That's exciting for resort operators who haven't had much snow this year.

The storm would hit just after the 35th anniversary of the historic blizzard of 1978, which paralyzed the region with more than 2 feet of snow and hurricane force winds from Feb. 5-7.

"This has the potential for being a dangerous storm, especially for Massachusetts into northeast Connecticut and up into Maine," said Louis Uccellini, director of the weather agency's National Centers for Environmental Prediction.

Powerful storm to dump foot of snow this weekend on U.S. East Coast as region braces for coastal storm

Daily Mail UK
Wed, 06 Feb 2013 09:02 UTC

A powerful coastal storm could dump as much as a foot of snow on areas of the East Coast this weekend. Though metropolitan areas along the East Coast have enjoyed a relatively mild winter with less than half of the average snowfall, a mix of snow, wind, and rain could change all of that come Friday and Saturday. Meteorologists say that a weather system from the Midwest will meet with one from the South, creating a storm that will deliver wind, snow, and rain.

The Weather Channel reports that the Midwestern storm pattern, which passed through Chicago and Milwaukee, will mix with wetter weather coming from New Orleans, Louisville, and even Atlanta. By Thursday night, forecasts predict that the clipper system will travel from the Great Lakes region to the East Coast, passing through cities like Philadelphia, New York, and up towards Boston.