Spring snow slams US Northeast

Children enjoy weather as schools shut, flights grounded

NEW YORK - A fourth snowstorm in three weeks slammed the US Northeast on Wednesday, canceling flights and shutting federal offices on the second day of spring.

Washington schools were also closed, and children in Philadelphia, parts of New Jersey and Pittsburgh also enjoyed a snow day. In Boston, students were told to trudge to school.

Winter Storm Toby dumped 18 centimeters of snow on New York, the US financial capital, by 8 pm local time, significantly less than originally forecast with the storm to taper off overnight.

It remained unclear if the storm, which had been expected to pummel parts of New York with more than 30 cm of snow, would exceed the springtime blizzard that brought 25 cm of snow in April 1915.

The National Weather Service warned against gusts of 65 km/h, with power outages and downed trees possible in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Predictions of heavy snow saw New York's state governor, up for re-election, declare a state of emergency in and around the city.

But more than 4,400 flights within, into or out of the United States were canceled, including a majority at Newark and LaGuardia, two of New York's three area airports, and half at John F. Kennedy International and Philadelphia.

Boston schools close

Forty percent of flights were canceled at Washington's Reagan National Airport, the FlightAware website added.

In New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio urged employers to let staff go home early with the snow expected to quickly accumulate after 4 pm and reach "blizzard-like conditions".

"The evening rush hour is going to be very, very difficult," he told a news conference. "If you don't need to be out this evening, don't go out."

"Flights are limited right now. I am certain that's going to get worse as the day goes by. I would suspect very few flights will be happening later in the day," he added.

In Washington, forecasts of seven to 20 cm of the white stuff shut schools and federal government offices.

Congress stayed open with lawmakers scrambling to agree on a federal spending bill to stave off a government shutdown.

The Federal Reserve also continued "as planned" a meeting before raising the key lending rate for the first time this year, citing a stronger outlook for economic growth, and hinted at a slightly more aggressive pace for hikes in 2019.

In New Jersey, the governor also declared a state of emergency and schools closed in Philadelphia. New Jersey Transit, the commuter rail service, discontinued buses.

In Boston, where winters are more severe than farther south, officials ordered public schools to stay closed on Thursday.

Meanwhile, in California, the threat of dangerous mudslides was expected to grow on Thursday as a storm rolled through coastal areas, where thousands have fled from homes near hillsides that were stripped of vegetation by massive wildfires.

Intense rain measuring up to 3 cm per hour was forecast on Thursday morning for Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, northwest of Los Angeles, where 25,000 people have evacuated in recent days, weather and local officials said.

The storm began producing downpours on Tuesday night and continued on Wednesday.

Afp - Reuters

(China Daily 03/23/2018 page11)