With schools closed and many workers encouraged not to travel, the Northeast spent much of the day digging out from the first major storm of the winter.
Hundreds of schools from the Albany area to the eastern tip of Long Island called off classes Thursday as the storm accompanied by gusty winds caused near-whiteout conditions throughout the Northeast. "When there is a volume of cars on the road, the plows, the personnel can't do their work. And all it takes is one car to get stuck, and everything backs up. And then you have a major problems."
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo at one his storm briefings today, before sending home non-essential state workers on Long Island at 3. Many communities bore their share of major problems on the highways as Winter Storm Niko hit the Northeast hard, snarling air and commuter traffic up and down the New York/New England coast. "I've been on the road. I am telling you the roads are dangerous. And I don't care if you have a 4-wheel drive car and you think you're a superhero. They are dangerous, and many of the ramps are very very difficult to drive. So if you don't have to be out, don't be out."
Cuomo urged businesses to let employees go home early, and people who absolutely had to get somewhere to use mass transit. Connecticut state police answered hundreds of calls and responded to dozens of accidents, according to Governor Dannel Malloy: "We urge people to stay indoors, and don't get into your car unless you absolutely have to.”
Niko is expected to continue dropping snow through the evening in Massachusetts. The state says about 3,300 pieces of equipment, including plows, are clearing roads. Governor Charlie Baker says the worst is yet to come for much of the state. "The blowing and the clean up is also in front of us as well, followed by the freezing temperatures, but from my point of view this is a large but fairly typical annual event here in Massachusetts and New England."
The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority suspended bus service early in the afternoon.
Albany issued a snow emergency starting at 8 p.m. Mayor Kathy Sheehan says during the first 24 hours of the snow emergency, all vehicles must be parked on the even numbered side of the street. At 8 p.m. on Friday, all vehicles must be parked on the odd numbered side of the street for the next 24-hour period. "It's gonna be important for people to pay attention to the rules with respect to that snow emergency."
Tonight’s Albany Fire Department Open House at Albany City Hall has been postponed.
Meantime, Hudson Valley Weather’s Alex Marra says the El Nino influence on our weather pattern is apparently over, good news for the Northeast, which is experiencing a precipitation deficit. Marra says while recent rainstorms helped to chip away at the deficit, this storm and one in the not-too-distant future should revitalize the dwindling water table. "We went into this winter in some cases with 10- to 16-inch rainfall deficit. We came off of an almost snowless winter last year, which is where a lot of the watersheds get their runoff off, and then we had a pretty dry summer to boot."
The National Weather Service says Niko has dumped nearly a foot of snow on parts of upstate New York and up to 9 inches in New York City.