Winter Storm Hits Northeast, Buries Newfoundland Under Huge Snowdrifts

A residents makes their way through the snow in St. John's, Newfoundland on Saturday, Jan.
Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press via AP
Amy Furr

A huge winter storm blasted parts of the Northeast with a dangerous mix of snow and ice as it moved offshore over the weekend.

“Motorists were faced with travel difficulties during the long holiday weekend as snow and ice created treacherous driving conditions across the Northeast in cities such as Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston,” according to AccuWeather.com.

The report continued:

New York City Emergency Management issued a Travel Advisory for Saturday as a Winter Weather Advisory took effect in the city. Winter Weather Advisories were issued for northeastern New Jersey, the upper boroughs of New York City, the Lower Hudson Valley in New York, and southern Connecticut, for 2 to 5 inches of snowfall. The advisories have since expired.

Across the New York City metropolitan area, snowfall totals of 1-3 inches were observed by the time the storm departed Saturday night.

“By the evening hours of Saturday, areas of Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York had accumulated up to 4 inches of snowfall, and Vermont saw up to 2.5 inches of snowfall,” the report concluded.

In Canada, the intense storm hit the Newfoundland province Friday with a blizzard that prompted St. John’s authorities to declare a state of emergency.

“This storm was a bomb cyclone, which intensified rapidly once it moved off the coast of New England,” according to the Weather Channel.

Friday, reporter David Cochrane tweeted photos of a home in St. John’s that was partially filled with snow.

Saturday, Newfoundland resident Candice Walsh tweeted a video of the snow piled up outside her home.

The storm brought wind gusts that reached up to 97 miles per hour and caused huge snowdrifts that blocked roads, buried vehicles, and filled resident’s yards.

“I’ve never seen the combination of the amount of snow, the rate of snowfall and the wind speed that we’ve had here over the past couple of days,” said St. John’s Mayor Danny Breen.

Despite the intense weather, Newfoundland residents took advantage of what the blizzard left behind.

 

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