NEW YORK: Snowstorms Winter known as “cyclone bomb” The Northeast United States blanket on Friday, cancels hundreds of flights, closing school and causing dangerous driving conditions.
Meteorologists say the weather phenomenon is effectively a winter storm that occurs when air pressure falls at least 24 millibars in 24 hours, bringing a heavy fall and strong winds.
Storms carry snow to Kentucky, Nashville, and Tennessee, then Virginia and the Washington DC area before heading north to the Atlantic Seaboard.
“When quickly intensifying close to the beach, it can mean a big storm for the east coastal cities,” Tom Kines, a senior meteorologist at Accuweather, told AFP.
National weather service recorded more than eight inches of snow in New York City Laguardia Aiport, where 340 flights were canceled at 9:15 (1415 GMT).
The number “is expected to increase,” airport said in a tweet.
The nearest JFK airport reported 220 cancellations while 250 flights were canceled at Logan International Airport in Boston.
National Weather Service (NWS) said that the highest snowfall recorded so far was 18 inches in Cheektowaga in northern New York on the border with Canada.
A few inches snow closed hundreds of schools in Massachusetts but in New York City, the plow spread across the metropolis, Eric Adams remains open.
“Children need to go to school,” he said, referring to the previous closure caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.
“We don’t have any more days to be discarded and the long-term impact leaves our children home will have an impact on us for years to come,” he said.
In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy stated an emergency, triggered several school districts to call Friday “snowday.” “We urge all the New Jerseys to stay on the road, still updated, and keep it safe,” Murphy wrote on Twitter.
Meteorology Kines said the storm would move north, with frozen temperatures and strong winds carrying “snowstorm conditions” to parts of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland in Canada on Friday night.
NWS said winter storm warnings were put in place in Maine.