DEADLY WINTER STORM BLAMED FOR AT LEAST 16 DEATHS; IT SETS SNOW RECORDS IN BOSTON, CHICAGO, DETROIT
Winter
Storm Linus brought freezing rain and snow to the New York today. We see what
else is left.
Snow
and cold associated with Winter Storm Linus brought travel headaches
for the New York City area Monday afternoon.
State
police said two people were killed in a multivehicle accident that occurred in
two stages on Interstate 95 in Rye. A two-vehicle accident was being
investigated when a third vehicle lost control and hit the first two vehicles,
the police said.
The
accident closed northbound lanes near Exit 22. Separately, three
tractor-trailers jackknifed on I-95 and Interstate 87, and one flipped over on
the Long Island Expressway.
Public
transportation wasn't smooth either. NBC New York reports one No. 7 train was
stranded without power or heat for four hours when a rail lost power and froze
near the Queensboro Plaza.
"Everyone
on the train was in decent spirits, since there was literally nothing we could
do about it," passenger Ashley Carr told The Associated Press.
Meteorologists
and city officials are concerned a sharp drop in temperatures in the evening
will freeze any lingering puddles or slush on roads.
The MTA said New
York City subways, the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North were operating
on a regular weekday service Monday.
While
LaGuardia Airport saw a little more than 6 inches, 10 inches fell just north of
the city in White Plains. Upstate, 17 inches of snow were reported in
Clarksville, 15 inches near Brockport, 8 inches in Poughkeepsie and 8.5 inches
in Buffalo.
Just last week, New
York officials and the National Weather Service apologized for inaccurate
predictions of Winter Storm Juno, which caused much of the city to shut down
for what eventually amounted to just a few inches of snow in most areas.
Information
about the city's response to the storm can be found by visiting the
city's severe weather website or by calling 311.
Pennsylvania
Hidden
Valley saw the highest snow total in Pennsylvania, recording at least 13
inches. Springboro and Gilford both saw at least 9 inches.
Schools
in central Pennsylvania closed Monday and the state DOT urged drivers to stay
off the roads. Earlier in the day, the speed limits on Interstates 78, 81, 84,
95 and 99 were lowered to 45 mph.
Drivers
can see road conditions and other real time travel information by dialing 511, visiting
the 511PA website, or checking the 511PA smartphone app on their iPhone and
Android devices.
Gov.
Wolf said the state Department of Transportation had 2,250 trucks, 235 rental
trucks and 200 additional trucks on stand-by along with 5,400 equipment
operators ready to clear roads, reports Syracuse.com.
Patton
and Harris townships both declared snow emergencies, according to
CentreDaily.com.
Record
Snowfall
The
second brutal winter storm in a week blanketed parts of the United States in
snow, leaving behind bitter cold and dangerous travel conditions. The storm,
which has been nicknamed “Linus” by the Weather Channel, disrupted the start of
the work week for millions of people and has been blamed for several deaths, according
to ABC.
Boston
was the hardest hit by the storm, receiving 40.2 inches of snow by Tuesday and
setting a new record for the snowiest seven-day period in the city’s history, reported
CNN. Boston typically averages around 47 inches of snowfall annually but has
already received more than that in the past two weeks alone. The city has
declared a snow emergency, closing all schools on Tuesday and banning on-street
parking. A planned Tuesday parade celebrating the Super Bowl victory of the New
England Patriots was also rescheduled for Wednesday following the storm.
Over
19 inches of snow fell in Chicago, prompting major travel delays and dangerous
road conditions. 70 passengers were stuck on a commuter train just outside the
city, only reaching their destination six hours later. A 45-vehicle pileup on
Interstate 294 in the Chicago suburb of Hickory Hills hospitalized eight people
and left many commuters embroiled in traffic late Monday. More than 16 inches
of snow were reported in Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on Sunday, the
most for any February day in the city.
A
record amount of snow was dumped on southeastern Michigan, with 16.7 inches of
snow reported at Detroit Metro Airport, marking the most snow the area has
received since 1974 and the third largest snowfall on record, according to Detroit’s
local CBS affiliate. Several cities in the area have declared snow emergencies
and hundreds of schools canceled classes for a second consecutive day.
Parts
of Iowa received around 14 inches of snow, while areas of Ohio received as much
as 20 inches, forcing additional school closures on Tuesday, according to
Weather.com. The storm has been blamed for at least 10 deaths around the
country, said CNN. A 57-year-old pedestrian in Weymouth, Massachusetts was
killed Monday after being struck by a snowplow and two people died in car
accidents in Nebraska Sunday as a result of slippery roads.
//_________________________________________________//
Ice Danger for Millions as Linus
Snowstorm Death Toll Climbs to 16
February
3, 2015
It's
not over yet. Black ice and flash freezing could again make roads and sidewalks
treacherous for millions on Tuesday, forecasters warned, as the death toll from
this week's huge snowstorm rose to 15.
Disruption was set to continue after two
days of record-setting snow that dumped up to 18 inches on a vast swath of the
country from the Midwest through to the East Coast.
Ice warnings were in effect early Tuesday
all the way from southern Connecticut to Delaware and eastern Maryland, said
Weather Channel lead forecaster Kevin Roth.
"Ice on the roads could be a big
problem — especially earlier in the morning when it is tough to see — and on
sidewalks where anybody walking could slip and fall," he said.
The problem could be exacerbated by flash
freezing in which slush from Monday's snowfall was iced over by plummeting
temperatures.
Airports
were still struggling to return to normal on Tuesday. At least 757 flights were
canceled Tuesday, according to a 5 a.m. ET update from Flightaware, with New
York La Guardia, Boston, Chicago and Newark the worst hit.
Schools remained closed in Boston, where
mayor Martin J. Walsh earlier announced the victory parade for the New England
Patriots would be postponed until Wednesday to give workers more time to clear
roads.
A winter storm warning remained in effect
until 5 a.m. for northeastern Maine, where up to 18 inches was expected by
Tuesday morning.
There could be yet more snow later in the
week for New England and upstate New York if a rainy low pressure system meets
freezing air from Canada on Thursday.
Roth
said eyes were turned to Thursday, when a wet weather system currently bringing
rain to Texas could combine with a strong cold air blast moving across from the
Plains and Midwest.
"Along the boundary there will be
light snow — an inch or two — but if they combine there could be more heavy
snow for upstate New York and New England, which have already been hit
hard," he said. "At the moment only one model is predicting that, so
it is only a possibility at this stage."
In total, 15 deaths have been blamed on
Monday's snow and ice including a Massachusetts woman struck by a snowplow and
a two Indianapolis men killed in a crash on a frozen Interstate 74 in Shelby
County, Indiana.
Three men in their early 60s died in
Illinois hospitals from heart problems after collapsing when shoveling snow
outside their homes, the DuPage County Coroner said in a statement. Two further
men in their 60s suffered a similar fate in Wisconsin, while another collapsed
while operating a snow-blower, Milwaukee County Medical office said.
//________________________________________________//
TRACTOR
TRAILER TRUCK ACCIDENTS CLOSE MASS TURNPIKE AND PART OF I-91
Multiple
tractor trailer crashes have shut down the westbound side of the Massachusetts
Turnpike and closed one lane of Interstate 91 Monday night.
The
crashes come after Winter Storm Linus dumped nearly a foot of snow on the
region leaving roads covered with snow and ice, Massachusetts State Police
officials said.
Three
tractor trailer trucks crashed into each other at about 9:35 p.m. on the
Massachusetts Turnpike in Charlton. One driver was trapped but was not
seriously injured. The other two drivers were unhurt, police said.
All
westbound lanes on the Turnpike are closed and expected to be for several hours
while police and rescue workers clear the accident, he said.
One
lane of Interstate 91 southbound near exit 7 in Springfield is also closed
after two tractor trailer trucks crashed at about 8:25 p.m., police said.
There
were no injuries in the accident. Further details of the accident were not
immediately available.
Two
lanes of the highway remain open so the accident is not causing traffic
backups, police said.
//________________________________//
Flash
freeze covers Northeast in black ice and makes roads a death trap as Boston is
buried in record 40-inch snowfall
Frozen blasts in
Pennsylvania, New York and New England have brought wind chill temperatures of
-20°F
Extreme cold has prompted
warnings of black ice from Philadelphia to Maine, increasing danger on highways
Pockets near the Canadian
border will experience even worse cold from driving winds, with wind chills of
minus 35
Boston hit with record
snowfall of 40 inches in seven days; flights from Logan Airport canceled
in 12°F temperatures
Five died during the storms- three killed in traffic
accidents and two died from heart attacks while shoveling snow
The snowfall also forced authorities to postpone
Super Bowl victory parade for New England Patriots
The
Northeast was struck by flash freezing and bitter temperatures thanks to frozen
blasts of wind today, with forecasters warning the cold could coat roads in
black ice and increase the risk of accidents.
Sudden
bursts of cold were accompanied by record snowfall in places - including
Boston, which was buried by a 40-inch downfall just days after a previous
winter storm swamped the city in snow.
Weather
warnings were issued from Philadelphia to Maine over the dangerous colds and
the risk of black ice forming and causing deadly accidents on the roads.
Pennsylvania,
New York and swathes of New England were at risk of a minus 20-degree wind
chill, forecasters predicted. The figure, a combination of actual air
temperature and the extra freezing power of high winds, means people are at
risk of frostbite after just 30 minutes outside.
Temperatures
in New York City were 17°F Tuesday morning, with 9mph wind adding to the cold.
According to Weather.com,
sidewalks and roads were in danger of freezing over despite chemical and salt
treatments because of the extreme chill overnight.
Snows
continued in the northernmost states, with up to 18 inches forecast in Maine
forecast by Tuesday morning. Earlier, the snowstorm dumped more than 19 inches
of snow on Chicago at least a foot on southeastern Wisconsin.
New
York City's snow totals ranged from around 3.6 inches in Central Park to 7
inches in the Bronx while Long Island got 3 inches to 10 inches.
It
became more intense over New England, bringing the record dump in Boston, along
with a foot of slushy wintry mix to Hartford, Connecticut, Providence, Rhode
Island, southern New Hampshire and Vermont - places still reeling from the up
to 3 feet they got last week.
In
Massachusetts, state workers were urged to come in late to allow extra time for
clearing the roads, while every train line on the Boston metro system was
reporting rush-hour delays Tuesday morning.
Football
fans were especially hard-hit, as the storm has forced back plans for the New
England Patriots' victory parade after their last-minute triumph in Sunday's
Super Bowl.
The
Arctic weather has already claimed 16 victims across the northeast and midwest of the United
States.
A
woman in Massachusetts was run over and killed by a snow plow in
Massachusetts, while in Nebraska, a truck driver and a 62-year-old woman were
killed in separate traffic accidents. A Toledo police officer and a
Wisconsin 64-year-old man with a history of cardiac problems, both died after
suffering a heart attack while out shoveling snow.