NEW YORK : A winter storm Wednesday brought more snow, freezing rain and ice to the United States’ Northeast forcing the cancellations of hundreds of flights. after causing similar havoc in the country’s Midwest on Tuesday.
Anywhere from a few inches to a foot or more of snow fell on East Coast states, and some will get the freezing rain that makes driving treacherous. It’s the area’s second go-round since Monday, when many communities were battered by wet, heavy snow.
Accumulations of 6 to 12 inches were recorded in central and eastern New York, with 5 to 10 inches in the mid-Hudson Valley and 12 to 16 inches in higher elevations of the eastern Catskills, according to the National Weather Service.
Nearly 30,000 homes and businesses in New Jersey are without electricity, where 4 to 8 inches of snow are possible north of Interstate 78. Schools there are closed or have delayed opening.
Officials in New York and New Jersey warned they were beginning to run short of the rock salt used by road crews to keep ice from building up on highways and local roads, the result of the season’s repeated storms.
“We have a salt shortage for some parts of the state, primarily New York City and the Long Island area, because there have been so many storms this season already,” New York
Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters on a conference call. “The state does have a significant amount of salt on hand, we’ll be shipping that salt around the state.” Neighbouring New Jersey reported a similar shortage.