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Heavy Snow and Winds Batter Northeast Heavy Snow and Winds Batter Northeast
(about 2 hours later)
A ferocious storm system pummeled the Northeast on Saturday, burying some parts of region in more than two feet of snow and leaving more than 650,000 homes and businesses without power, mostly in New England. A powerful nor’easter swept fast and furiously across the Northeast on Saturday, dumping mountains of snow, forcing hundreds of motorists to abandon their cars at the height of the blizzard and knocking out power for hundreds of thousands of people.
After a day of pelting wet snow, five states — New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Rhode Island — had declared states of emergency, and Massachusetts had banned vehicles from every road in the state. Major highways like Interstate 93 were almost completely abandoned; downtown Boston, in blizzard conditions, was a ghost town lost in a swirl of howling winds and snow. Dozens of cars that had gotten stuck on the Long Island Expressway Friday night remained there Saturday morning, unable to pass each other and virtually trapped by mounds of plowed snow. Through the night, winds gusted with hurricane force in some places, downing power lines and creating white-out conditions. More than three feet of snow fell in parts of Connecticut, and more than two feet were reported on Long Island and in Massachusetts, with the storm still doing damage as day broke.
The storm moved with full force into New England on Saturday, dumping two feet of snow on parts of Connecticut by Saturday morning even as the storm started to leave the New York area. New Haven reported 22 inches while nearby Hamden had 34 inches, the weather service reported. Stony Brook on Long Island had two feet of snow. States of emergency were declared in four states on Friday. The governor of Massachusetts banned travel on all roads as night fell, an order that remained in effect on Saturday. In Connecticut, where the governor had ordered no cars on state highways on Friday night, residents were told early Saturday morning to stay off all roads.
Forecasters said the storm would continue to bear down on New England through Saturday afternoon and winds could reach 75 miles an hour, leaving behind a fresh white blanket perhaps three feet thick. Still, whether by choice or necessity, hundreds of drivers tried to travel home on Friday night and beat the storm as whipping winds created white-out conditions. On Long Island, the storm descended so quickly that hundreds were forced to abandon their cars on the highways and streets as roads became impassable.
In New York City, where the National Weather Service had reports of up to 8 inches of snow in Central Park, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg told people to stay home and warned them not to “panic buy” gasoline because the supply was plentiful. But the memory of Hurricane Sandy in October was still so raw that many across the region went on buying sprees anyway, emptying store shelves and filling extra containers of gasoline in addition to their car tanks. Snowplow drivers worked furiously to clear roads, but the snow limited what they could do.
“I don’t think it’s going to be as bad as they’re saying, but I said that with Sandy, too,” said Lavel Samuels, 42, as she filled her tank at a gas station in Far Rockaway, Queens. “I’m filling up based on my experience with Sandy, in case there’s no gas on Sunday or Monday.” “It’s really hard right now, it’s wet, it’s heavy and it’s freezing, so everything is going slow,” said Jack Mandaneza, 31, as he took a break from plowing on the Long Island Expressway at the height of the storm.
But New England was bearing the brunt of the storm as heavy snows caused downed power lines throughout the region. By Saturday, 407,000 power failures were reported in Massachusetts, and more than 180,000 were reported in Rhode Island. And the Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth, Mass., shut down because of the storm. Connecticut Light and Power reported about 36,000 customers without power. On Long Island, about 10,000 customers were affected, the Long Island Power Authority said. Barbara Barkiano, 43, a housecleaner, tried to make her way along the highway behind the plows, but the snow snapped both windshield wipers on her Honda Civic hybrid.
Marcy Reed, president of National Grid, said failures could last several days because repairs would not begin until the storm ended and would require unearthing power lines buried under mounds of snow. “My knees are shaking,” she said stopping at a gas station to hand-scrape snow from her windshield. She added, “I’m going to stay right here for a while.”
Some, though welcomed the heavy snowfall, particularly skiers who have bemoaned almost two seasons of barren slopes. The storm’s impact was felt by more than 40 million people, from northern New Jersey to Maine.
For many, the memory of Hurricane Sandy — and its terrible toll — was still fresh as they crowded supermarkets and supply stores to stock up as the stormed bore down on the region.
Long lines at gas stations, and scattered reports that places were running out of fuel led Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York City to warn people not to “panic buy” gasoline.
The storm played out the way many forecasters said it would — with New York City spared from the worst of the storm, and points to the north and east hit harder.
In Central Park, a total snowfall of 11.4 inches was reported at 6 a.m., and the snowfall had ended by daybreak.
But people in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, as well as on Long Island, faced the prospect of a long weekend of digging out.
“We don’t have all the statistics in quite yet, but for some locations this is one for the record books,” said David Stark, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service based in Suffolk County Long Island.
With snow still falling, the Weather Service said it had reports out of New Haven County, in Connecticut, of more than three feet, including 36.2 inches in Oxford and 38 inches in Milford. In Commack, on Long Island, 29.1 inches of snowfall were reported at 6 a.m. and 27.5 inches at MacArthur Airport in Islip.
The deep snows and impassable roads will make it hard for utlitiy workers to restore power even as the storm abates.
There were 407,000 power failures reported in Massachusetts, and more than 180,000 were reported in Rhode Island. And the Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth, Mass., shut down because of the storm. On Long Island, about 10,000 customers were reported without power, the Long Island Power Authority said.
Marcy Reed, president of National Grid, which supplies power to the Long Island Power Authority, said failures could last several days because repairs would not begin until the storm ended and would require unearthing power lines buried under mounds of snow.
Logan Airport in Boston was expected to be closed until at least Sunday. The three international airports around New York City were slowly working to resume operations on Saturday, but with more than 5,000 flights canceled since Friday, many travelers could still face challenges.
Workers were still struggling to figure out how many people were stuck on roads or otherwise in danger across the region.
Scores of cars including tow trucks, semis and even county snowplows were strewn about and stuck in the snow along North Ocean Avenue in Brookhaven, Long Island, which had received 30.3 inches by 6 a.m.
John Lazar, supervisor of bridges for Suffolk County, shoveled furiously at the spinning rear wheel of a giant, 10-wheel county snowplow stuck just off the Long Island Expressway on Saturday morning. In front of him a dozen sedans sat idle in the middle of the road, partly buried in snow.
“This is why the plows are stuck,” he yelled. “Why isn’t this a state of emergency? Why are these people out here?”
Jasmine Stephens, 20, a college student who spent the night in her disabled white car right in front of where the plow became stuck asked Mr. Lazar if the plow might hit her if it became unstuck.
“I hope not,” Mr. Lazar grumbled.
Ms. Stephens said she had been shivering inside her car for eight hours and counting, running dangerously low on gas, out-of-reach of rescue vehicles.
“I’m freezing, I just want to go home,” she said. “Hopefully they’ll get me out of here.” But she admitted that once she was out, she did not know where she would go.
Outside her car window, snow drifts as tall as men had piled up during the blizzard. Parked and disabled cars resembled igloos and the air buzzed with the sound of furiously spinning tires.
Doris Caruso, 77, also spent the night in her Chevy Cobalt, stuck in the middle of the road. She said she spent hours struggling east on the expressway, unable to get off because of accidents and closed exits. She got off the expressway at the first opportunity, exit 63 in Holtsville, N.Y., to get some relief and did not even make it a quarter mile before she became stuck for the night.
“They let us out early from work for the storm,” said Ms. Caruso, a school cleaner. “I’ve been stuck here ever since.”
But for those who heeded warnings and stayed off the roads, and whose power was still on, the winter weather was made somewhat less severe because it fell on a weekend.
For many, Saturday was a day for fun — an excuse to stay home and play in the powder. In New York City, many people woke up early to snap photos of snow-topped streetlamps and make fresh tracks on their way to find the best hill to go sledding.
It was also good for some businesses.
“These aren’t flakes falling from the sky; these are dollar bills,” said Ed Carrier as he sat in a coffee shop in Portsmouth, N.H., and envisioned the boon for winter sports. Staff members at the Thirsty Moose Taphouse nearby said they were determined to stay open through the storm until their regular closing time at 1 a.m. (except in the case of a power failure), and even offered storm-related drink specials: $3 porters and stouts, as long as it was snowing. “It’s just a little bit of snow,” said the hostess, Kim Lovely. “Mother Nature’s just brushing out her dandruff.”“These aren’t flakes falling from the sky; these are dollar bills,” said Ed Carrier as he sat in a coffee shop in Portsmouth, N.H., and envisioned the boon for winter sports. Staff members at the Thirsty Moose Taphouse nearby said they were determined to stay open through the storm until their regular closing time at 1 a.m. (except in the case of a power failure), and even offered storm-related drink specials: $3 porters and stouts, as long as it was snowing. “It’s just a little bit of snow,” said the hostess, Kim Lovely. “Mother Nature’s just brushing out her dandruff.”
But in most cities and towns, Friday was largely a day of preparing for the worst. With hurricane-force winds, the National Weather Service expects flooding along the Atlantic Coast that could affect up to eight million people.

Nate Schweber contributed reporting from Long Island.

In Massachusetts, Gov. Deval Patrick took the unusual step of ordering all vehicles off all roads, not just state roads, by 4 p.m. Friday, well before the brunt of the storm had hit. Violators could face up to a year in prison and a fine, though exceptions were made for emergency workers, members of the news media and anyone with a snowplow.
“Two or three feet of snow is a profoundly different kind of storm than we have dealt with,” the governor said from the state’s emergency bunker in Framingham. Officials recalled only one previous such traffic ban, in the aftermath of the Blizzard of 1978, when more than 27 inches of snow paralyzed the region, forcing people to abandon their cars in the middle of roadways.
Maine declared a partial emergency, allowing it to suspend federal transportation rules, extend worker hours and bring in extra crews from Canada to assist with storm damage repair.
More than 5,300 flights were grounded Friday and Saturday, snarling the nation’s air transportation system through the weekend.
Boston’s transit system, including subway, buses and commuter rail lines, suspended service at 3:30 p.m. Friday, allowing first-shift workers to get home and second-shift workers to get to work. The city inaugurated its SnowOps Viewer, an online portal that allows viewers to see where all snowplows are in real time.
In New York City, transit officials increased bus and train service Friday afternoon to help commuters beat the worst of the storm. But New Jersey Transit suspended most of its commuter train and bus service by 8 p.m. Amtrak suspended northbound service out of Pennsylvania Station in New York early Friday afternoon and southbound service out of Boston, with the suspensions continuing into Saturday. Schools throughout New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island were shut or sent students home early.
New York was battered by a sloshy mix of rain, snow and sleet that slowly changed over to all snow overnight.
By Saturday, the total snowfall in New York City was expected to be between 10 and 14 inches. On Long Island, the snow totals will range from 14 to 18 inches, with the highest amounts at the East End.
In New London, Conn., forecasters said there would most likely be more than 24 inches of snow and even more in Boston, which could break modern records by topping 28 inches.
Jerome Hauer, the New York State commissioner of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, said that coastal areas of Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island could experience flooding and that residents should be prepared to seek alternative shelter. While the storm surge is expected to be only 3 to 5 feet — well below the 14-foot surge that the hurricane delivered in the fall — he said large waves could bring water inland.
“If you see flooding, have plans for somewhere to go,” Mr. Hauer said.
For many in New York and New Jersey, the memory of the gas shortages and prolonged power failures that followed Hurricane Sandy are still vivid, and they were taking no chances.
At Brewer’s Hardware in Mamaroneck, N.Y., Anthony Lividini, the manager, said he was selling far more blizzard and power supplies, including generators, than he had in the past.
“People are getting nervous and coming out early because after Sandy they were unable to get supplies,” he said.
Some stations were already reporting Friday that they had run out of fuel — some as early as noon.
At the Shell station on Beach 59th Street in Queens, some drivers also filled red gas cans for generators they bought to get through the post-hurricane power failures.
At a Shell station in Jericho, N.Y., Andy Harris, the station owner, said that he had sold more than 12,000 gallons of gas in the past 24 hours — more than double his usual sales.

Reporting was contributed by Marc Santora, Joseph Berger, Winnie Hu, Nate Schweber, Jess Bidgood, Christine Hauser, Michael Schwirtz and Andy Newman.