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Published on January 20, 2025
Northeastern US Grapples with Flight Cancellations and Hazardous Travel Amid Winter StormSource: Unsplash/Justin Min

The latest winter onslaught to hit the Northeast has brought with it a wave of cancellations and delays across major cities, as the arctic chill is felt from airports to highways. New Yorkers found themselves digging out from under several inches of snow today, with the added bite of sharply dropping temperatures. Flight activity in John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports was thrown into disarray with about 385 flights canceled and hundreds more delayed. Newark Airport in New Jersey also faced a similar fate with 467 flights affected, according to the NY Daily News.

A "serious" winter storm brought New York City to a grinding halt, implored Zach Iscol, city Emergency Management Commissioner, "We urge New Yorkers to take this storm seriously and prepare for hazardous travel conditions," he warned, as reported by the NY Daily News. Transport arteries including the George Washington and Bayonne bridges saw speed limits reduced to a crawl of 25 miles per hour, as fresh powder made for perilous conditions on roads. Over in New England, Boston was its own snowy tableau, as flights from Logan International saw delays amidst 4 to 5 inches of snow coverage with more expected, based on reports from the New York Post.

The winter storm that clipped the edges of the Big Apple had its epicenter in the Hudson Valley with areas like Hopewell Junction registering 8 inches of white fluff. Coastal Connecticut and Long Island braced for 5 to 7 inches. ConEdison wrestled with the storm's lashings, leaving over 700 customers bereft of power in the dead of night, as the National Weather Service forewarned of snowfall rates nearing an inch per hour at the crux of the storm's fury. Meteorologist David Radell from the National Weather Service documented nearly an inch of accumulation in Central Park by early Sunday evening, with still, more to fall.

As the storm churned on, to the south, Washington D.C. was caught in its own flurry. President-elect Donald Trump’s pre-inauguration celebration attendees faced not only snowfall but also the forthcoming bitter cold that prompted moving Monday’s inauguration indoors. "I have ordered the Inauguration Address, in addition to prayers and other speeches, to be delivered in the United States Capitol Rotunda, as was used by Ronald Reagan in 1985, also because of very cold weather. The various Dignitaries and Guests will be brought into the Capitol," Trump noted on Truth Social, as recounted by the New York Post. States throughout the Northeast issued advisories and call to action, echoing the grave nature of the arctic visitation.

This strain of winter extremes is a continuation of what cities along the Eastern Seaboard have come, to expect as seasonal norm. From suspended bridge traversals in the heart of New York City to hunkered-down towns in Connecticut, the implications of such weather events become a tapestry of altered plans and the most human of adaptations to the whims of nature's less forgiving moods. Both governors Phil Murphy of New Jersey and Ned Lamont of Connecticut urged residents to take utmost care and, if possible, to remain indoors amidst these life-threatening temperatures.