NEW YORK, — A powerful bomb cyclone that buried parts of the Northeast under feet of snow began pulling away Monday evening, but not before leaving a wide swath of record snowfall, power outages and transportation shutdowns from Maryland to Maine. Meteorologists described the system as a “classic bomb cyclone/nor’easter,” after rapid intensification offshore helped drive blizzard conditions across the region. More than 40 million people were under blizzard warnings Monday, with alerts stretching from Maryland to Maine as governors in multiple states declared emergencies and imposed road restrictions. Officials in New York, New Jersey and parts of Massachusetts urged residents to stay off the roads even as some travel bans began easing later in the day.
Snow totals climbed into historic territory. In Rhode Island, T.F. Green International Airport in Providence measured 32.8 inches by 1 p.m., breaking the previous local benchmark set during the Blizzard of 1978 and making it the city’s biggest single storm on record, according to NBC Boston. CBS reported that accumulations topped 2 feet in multiple areas, with Long Island communities such as Central Islip and Babylon nearing or exceeding 30 inches. New York City’s Central Park had at least 19.7 inches by Monday afternoon, placing the storm among the city’s biggest on record.
The storm’s impact extended far beyond snowfall totals. Associated Press reporting said more than 500,000 customers lost power along the East Coast early Monday, including major outages in Massachusetts and New Jersey, as heavy, wet snow and strong winds downed lines and damaged trees. The National Weather Service warned that the combination of snow load and wind could make travel “dangerous, if not impossible” and raise the risk of prolonged outages.
Transportation systems across the Northeast were heavily disrupted. AP reported that more than 5,000 U.S. flights were canceled for Monday, while Reuters later said the broader tally of cancellations and delays exceeded 8,000 disruptions as airlines scrambled to restore schedules for Tuesday. Amtrak also canceled dozens of trains, and several commuter rail and transit systems suspended or reduced service.
As snowfall tapers and the storm exits, officials are shifting from emergency response to cleanup and restoration. Roads are reopening gradually, but authorities continue to warn that drifting snow, icy pavement and lingering wind gusts could keep conditions hazardous into Tuesday.
