Death toll rises as massive snowstorm hits northeast
Sixteen people have been reported killed by a severe snow storm moving through the north-eastern U.S. after disrupting Christmas in the Midwest.
After picking up a tremendous amount of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, the Christmas 2012 storm has moved across the eastern U.S. dumping rain and snow, causing major air traffic disruptions, and traffic jams across the interstates. This image from the NOAA GOES-13 satellite shows the system on December 27, 2012 at 1845z. The center of low pressure can be seen over New England, along with gravity waves in the cloud formations over Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. NOAA photo
Hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed, scores of motorists got stuck on icy roads or slid into drifts, and blizzard warnings were issued amid snowy gusts of 30 mph that blanketed roads and windshields, at times causing whiteout conditions.
“The way I’ve been describing it is as a low-end blizzard, but that’s sort of like saying a small Tyrannosaurus rex,” said John Kwiatkowski, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Indianapolis.
“If you are in Atlantic Canada … you are just getting going. If you are in New York City the cold air is coming down the Hudson (River),” CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said.
“If you are off to the east, you’re still going to get snow in Maine on up into New Brunswick. And that snow could be heavy at times. We’re talking about another foot in some spots.”
As the storm wraps up its weeklong run across the county, total snow accumulations of up to 2 feet are possible in central Maine, leading to hazardous roads, forecasters said.
“Strong winds will cause blowing snow to create potentially even taller snowdrifts,” CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider said. “Travelers across New England need to pay close attention to changing weather conditions and low visibility.”
Snowfall totals of a foot or more were common throughout the region: 21 inches fell in Woodford, Vermont; 17.4 inches in Addison, New York; and 15 inches in Ashfield, Massachusetts.
Storm-related deaths were reported in New York, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Virginia, the Associated Press said.
Falling trees claimed the lives of two people in Texas and Louisiana. A New York man was killed after his vehicle skidded on an icy road and an Ohio teenager died after losing control of her car and crashing into an oncoming snowplough.
