December blizzard slams Northeastern United States
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
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Image: NOAA.
Image: Rajkumarth.
The United States' first major blizzard of the winter season has left much of the New England region covered in snow. Stretching from Virginia to Maine, the storm, packing winds of over 50 miles per hour (80.5 kilometres per hour), dropped more than two feet of snow in some areas.
Residents prepared for what would be one of the worst nor'easters in quite some time. The storm contained similar conditions to a category 2 hurricane. Wellfleet, Massachusetts saw an 80 miles per hour wind gust, the strongest recorded throughout the storm. Connecticut, New York and Maine all recorded wind gusts of over 60 miles per hour and gusts of over 70 miles per hour blasted Cape Cod.
A total of 32 inches (81.3 centimetres) fell in Rahway, part of the hardest-hit state in the storm's path. Most New Jersey cities received over a foot of snow, while Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, and Maryland all had snow totals topping out at around 1 foot (30.48 centimetres) with Massachusetts topping out at a foot and a half.
On Monday, travel proved difficult, with flights from Philadelphia, Newark, New York City, Hartford, Boston, Portland, and Washington, D.C. canceled. Drivers also ran into problems on major highways as accidents were unavoidable on the slick roads.
Related News
Sources
- Associated Press. "Along Coast, Storm's Stranded Tell Their Stories" — Weather.com, 27 December 2010
- Andrew Freedman. "Blizzard blasts coastal cities from Va. to Mass." — Washington Post, 27 December 2010
- "Storm Summary Message" — NOAA, 27 December 2010
- "Passengers stranded at OIA as Northeast blizzard cripples air travel" — Orlando Sentinel, 27 December 2010
