Hundreds of thousands of homes in the Northeast are without electricity Thursday, a day after the region’s second major storm in a week whipped the area with heavy snow and stiff winds, downing power lines and leaving precarious road conditions.
The nor’easter still may drop several more inches of snow in Massachusetts and northern New England into Thursday afternoon, but largely the storm did its worst Wednesday, leaving about 800,000 customers without power along the East Coast from Virginia to Maine.
Still, the storm was less severe than last weekend’s “bomb cyclone,” which left at least six people dead.
Wednesday’s nor’easter dumped heavy, wet snow at an intense rate in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and southern New England, especially west of Interstate 95, with accumulations of 2 feet or more reported in some areas.
Schools in areas such as Hartford, Connecticut, and Boston were closed Thursday as transportation officials urged people to limit their driving so crews could treat and clear roads.
Snow continues in New England
The storm has mostly passed in the Northeast.
“New England will still be feeling the effects of the wind and residual snowfall (though light) through Friday,” CNN meteorologist Michael Guy said.
Coastal flooding is also a concern, with a warning in effect for eastern Massachusetts, the National Weather Service said.
“Minor to moderate flooding; inundation of low-lying areas, especially where coast was compromised with last storm; overwash, beach erosion also expected,” the weather service’s Boston office tweeted early Thursday.
Boston faces a flooding threat Thursday due to high tide, the weather service said.
“Already observing an over 3-foot storm surge at Boston; obvious concern with onshore wind gusts upon a weakened, vulnerable shoreline,” it tweeted.
Blackouts
Winds and snow brought down plenty of power lines, piling on to the crippling outages remaining from last weekend’s storm.
The storm packed gusts of 30 to 50 mph — a far cry from the 90-mph gusts recorded during the weekend storm — but still damaging.
Hardest-hit states
In Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf announced a state of emergency for several counties. Some communities outside Philadelphia, such as Rosemont and Wrightstown Township, recorded more than 1 foot of snow.
New Jersey was walloped, with some communities reporting more than 14 inches.
In New York, Sloatsburg topped the list of most snowfall Wednesday night, with 26 inches within 24 hours, according to the National Weather Service.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo deployed 400 National Guard troops to conduct wellness checks and assist with storm recovery.
The snowstorm also brought a rare phenomenon in some parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, the weather service said. Known as “thundersnow,” it’s snow paired with lightning and resulting thunder.
Travel headaches
More than 450 flights — including at airports in New Jersey, New York, Boston and Philadelphia — were canceled by early Thursday, according to FlightAware.
As for ground travel, New York City’s Office of Emergency Management issued a hazardous travel advisory urging residents to “take mass transit if possible and allow for extra travel time.”
Amtrak has also canceled some services in affected areas.