On February 23rd, the U.S. east coast was struck by a record-breaking snow storm that caused disruptions for millions and thousands of flight cancellations. States like Rhode Island and Massachusetts saw as much as 36in of snow, with places like Central Park in New York seeing over 19in, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
Even as the smallest state, Rhode Island saw the most snow from this storm. Providence, its capital, saw 36in of snow, dwarfing the existing record for the single greatest snowstorm: 28.6in set in February 1978. As a result, a ban on non-essential travel was implemented in both Rhode Island and Connecticut. Later that day, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey also imposed a travel ban. “White-out conditions are making travel extremely dangerous,” she said in an online post. “If you get stuck, help will have a hard time reaching you… I strongly urge everyone to stay off the roads no matter where you live.”
As for the effects of the storm, 600,000 properties on the US east coast endured power outages. Just in Massachusetts alone nearly, 300,000 went without power, according to PowerOutage. This included 85% of customers in Barnstable County, which includes all of Cape Cod. The Boston Globe, based in the state’s capital said the over two feet of snow caused by the blizzard made it “impossible” to print and deliver a paper for the morning of the 24th. This marks the first time in the newspapers 153 year history that it did not go to print. Not only that, New York City later implemented it’s own travel ban, closing all bridges, highways, and roads. Not only that, 98% of flights out of LaGuardia airport were cancelled and 91% of flights from JFK – New York City’s primary airport hubs that typically see more than 335,000 passengers daily. Including any flight that reached those parts of the U.S., the number of cancelled flights reached more than 5,706 on the 23rd, and another 2,000 on Tuesday, according to FlightAware.
At least 85 people have died across multiple states, according to an Associated Press tally, with frigid conditions and icy roads causing car crashes, hypothermia and other fatal incidents. The storm has since been dubbed “bomb cyclone,” and is still moving, currently being over Nova Scotia in Canada.
