‘Unimaginable’ snowfall covers components of the northeast – WSVN 7News | St John Information, Climate, Sports activities

By Samantha S. Pendergraft On Dec 17, 2020

GLENVILLE, NY (AP) – The northeastern’s first snowstorm of the season buried parts of New York state in more than 3 feet of snow, breaking records in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, and causing snowploughters to struggle to clear the streets.

“It was a very difficult, fast storm, and there was an incredible amount of snow,” said Tom Coppola, highway supervisor who maintains 100 miles of roads in the suburb of Glenville, Albany, Thursday morning. “It’s to the point where we have trouble pushing it with our plows.”

The storm fell 30 inches on Glenville between 1:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. Thursday, leaving a silent scene of snow-covered trees, buried cars and heavily laden roofs as the sun peeked through at noon.

“If you don’t have to be out, please don’t travel,” said Andrew Cuomo, New York governor. He said there had been more than 9,000 power outages, 600 accidents and two deaths as of Thursday morning.

Almost 40 inches of snow fell in Binghamton, where the National Weather Service said the storm set a new two-day snowfall record, beating the previous record of 35.3 inches in March 2017.

In Ithaca, it took 23-year-old Fred Cullin more than an hour and a half to dig out of his steep lake driveway, which was filled with nearly three feet of snow plowed up by plows. “It was pretty crazy,” said Cullin. “Shoveling on ice uphill was definitely interesting.”

There were double-digit concentrations in many western and central Pennsylvania regions.

“Williamsport Regional Airport made history,” said State College’s National Weather Service. It reported 24.7 inches of snow and broke the previous record of 24.1 inches that was set there in January 1964.

Boston had more than 9 inches of snow early Thursday morning, breaking the previous record for the date of 6.4 inches in 2013. In Boston’s seaport district, the streets were mostly empty except for an army of workers snow-covered sidewalks in front of luxury apartments. Shops and office towers.

“It’s been a while since we had this,” said Mark Pusung, a 33-year-old seaport resident who was walking his Shar Pei dog, Muffin. “I wanted my dog to experience it because he can run around.”

Xicheng Cai, 28, a consultant who lives and works in Seaport, wore his full polar gear, including boots, windproof pants and ski goggles. “Wonderful,” he said of the snow. “This is what Christmas should look like.”

A few blocks away, 33-year-old Sara Boxell, who lives in South Boston, was in the middle of her 4-mile run. “I love it,” she said. “Fortunately, I work from home so I don’t have to go anywhere.”

The Massachusetts chief transportation officer said it could take longer than usual to clear snow-covered highways and roads as the coronavirus pandemic knocked out one in ten plowers.

Hazardous road conditions caused dozens of accidents in New Hampshire, Connecticut and east New York. New York State Police said a snowmobile driver was hit and killed by a tractor-trailer truck on I-787 in downtown Albany at 2:30 a.m.

In Maine, snowboarder Fletcher Moffett hit a few slopes at the Sunday River ski area before signing up as a bartender. “Being outside keeps me healthy,” he said during the pandemic.

The overnight snowfall exceeded the total amount recorded for all of last winter in New York City, where 6.5 inches of snow covered Central Park – much less than the original predictions of up to 12 inches. Snow plows were careful not to damage the outdoor dining rooms built in Manhattan for the pandemic, where eating was to resume Thursday evening.

In a lighthearted moment at a daily briefing by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, the snow removal officer, Edward Grayson warned, “It’s not a night to wear your good shoes.”