A powerful winter blizzard that spared New York City the worst of its wrath still wreaked havoc across much of New England on Tuesday, with more than two feet of snow expected to fall in Massachusetts along with winds above 70 miles per hour.
Almost 12,000 people lost power in Nantucket, thousands more did in Cape Cod and the coastal town of Scituate was flooded. About one-and-a-half-feet of snow had fallen on Boston by late Tuesday morning, with more expected, the Associated Press reports. The city of Worcester, 60 miles west of Boston, recorded accumulations as high as 25 inches, NBC News reports.
Blizzard 2015: How New Yorkers and New Englanders Shared Photos
Marissa McClain posted this photo from Brookline, Mass. saying "Ventured outside. Found this man skiing down summit."Marissa McClain (@marissamcclain) via InstagramApoorva posted this photo from Times Square in New York City.Apoorva (@_apoorva) via Instagram Nicole Drummond posted from the Brooklyn borough of New York City saying "It was quiet streets early this morning in DUMBO and we got to explore it all!"Nicole Drummond (@nicoleraedrummond) via Instagram Andrea Alimonta posted this photo from New York City saying "Stay Warm!"Andrea Alimonta (@andre3nto) via Instagram John DeFoor posted this photo in Atlantic City, N.J. saying "The view from my room. I cant wait to hit the beach!"John DeFoor (@JohnDeFoor) via Instagram Jaka Vinsek posted this photo of an empty Grand Central Station in New York on Jan. 26, 2015. Jaka Vinsek (@jakavinsek) via Instagram Gwen Betts posted this photo in Boston saying "Dear Midwest: Please send snow blowers."Gwen Betts (@gwennasaurus) via Instagram Meshari posted this photo in Boston saying "Go home. Stay there. Seriously!"Meshari (@_meshari) via Instagram Garret posted this photo from New York City saying "A light with no purpose tonight thanks to the might of Juno."Garret P (@garretp) via Instagram Brandon Sullivan posted this photo from saying "These cars in Boston won't be going anywhere soon."Brandon Sullivan—AccuWeather (@btsullivan91) via Instagram David Everly posted this photo of the Manhattan skyline from Brooklyn.David Everly (@selfproclaim) via Instagram Gautham Asok posted this photo from the Emerald Necklace Conservancy in Boston.Gautham Asok (@gauthamasok) via Instagram Adrian Moyer posted this photo from the Queens borough of New York City saying "Stay warm NYC, apparently there's a storm coming."Adrian Moyer (@_adrianmoy) via Instagram Azor Ahai posted this photo from New York City saying "The blizzard soon cometh."Azor Ahai (@crazy_kwasi) via Instagram
More than 7,000 flights were cancelled because of the snow costing the economy about $230 million, the U.S. Travel Association said. Still, what some had forecast to be one of the worst winter storms in recent history clearly didn’t pack as much punch as expected. Travel bans were lifted in Connecticut and western Massachusetts. And further south in New York City, the most dire predictions failed to materialize, raising questions for city and state officials who ordered a total shutdown of the city’s transportation system. The National Weather Service cancelled its blizzard warning for New York, and one official conceded the forecast had been off.
“This is a big forecast miss,” Gary Szatkowski, a meteorologist at the U.S. National Weather Service, said on Twitter.
The heaviest bands of snowfall skirted east of the city, blanketing eastern Long Island and parts of Connecticut with more than a foot of snow. But accumulations in New York and New Jersey ranged from two to six inches as of early Tuesday morning. Forecasts had called for between 20 and 30 inches of snow in the city.
“The storm in general, I think it’s fair to say, was less destructive than predicted so far,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo during a Tuesday morning press briefing. Cuomo announced a resumption of subway service by 9 a.m. ET, but urged commuters to stay home and away from “hazardous” roads. “If you don’t have to travel today, you really don’t want to be traveling today.”
“The heaviest snows have struggled to move west of the Hudson River,” the National Weather Service announced on its New York State Facebook page, adding, “the science of forecasting storms, while continually improving, still can be subject to error.”
New Jersey lifted a partial travel ban over state roads by 7 a.m., coordinating with the state of New York, which also lifted travel bans on city and upstate county roads. Connecticut was set to lift a statewide travel ban at 2 p.m., but Gov. Dan Malloy encouraged people to still “limit travel and use common sense while driving.”
City streets remained deserted and eerily quiet early, after New York officials took the unusual step Monday of ordering all traffic cleared from city streets by 11 p.m. and suspending all metropolitan transit service.
East Coast Readies Itself for Up to 3 Feet of Snow
A couple kisses during a blizzard in Times Square in New York City on Jan. 26, 2015.Benjamin Lowy—Getty Images Reportage for TIMEA man crosses the street in New York City during a snow storm in New York City on Jan. 26, 2015. Benjamin Lowy—Getty Images Reportage for TIMEPeople walk in front of the Manhattan Bridge in the DUMBO neighborhood as it snows in Brooklyn, NY on Jan. 26, 2015Andrew HinderakerA man walks through the middle of a snow storm in Times Square, New York City on Jan. 26, 2015. Benjamin Lowy—Getty Images Reportage for TIMEA man waits to cross the street in Brooklyn, NY on Jan. 26, 2015.Andrew HinderakerA pedestrian passes through Johnstown Central Park, in Johnstown, Pa., Monday, Jan. 26, 2015.Todd Berkey—The Tribune-Democrat/APFishing boats ride out the storm at dock in Scituate, Mass., on Jan. 27, 2015. Michael Dwyer—APA worker pushes a snow blower down Lexington Avenue in Manhattan on Jan. 26, 2015.Carlo Allegri—ReutersA man stands in falling snow on West 42nd street in Times Square in New York City on Jan. 26, 2015. Mike Segar—ReutersTwo people huddle for warmth on the street in New York City on Jan. 26, 2015.Benjamin Lowy—Getty Images Reportage for TIMEA man strolls on a walking path at Liberty State Park, with the Statue of Liberty in the distance, in Jersey City, N.J. on Jan. 26, 2015.Julio Cortez—APA tugboat sails on the East River during a snow storm in New York City on Jan. 26, 2015. Jewel Samad—AFP/Getty ImagesPeople walk over the Brooklyn Bridge during a large winter storm in New York City on Jan. 26, 2015.Andrew Kelly—EPAA man crosses the street during a snow storm in New York City on Jan. 26, 2015. Benjamin Lowy—Getty Images Reportage for TIMEA woman walks though Central Park as it snows in the Manhattan borough of New York City on Jan. 26, 2015. Carlo Allegri—ReutersChildren play in Central Park as it snows in the Manhattan borough of New York City on Jan. 26, 2015. Carlo Allegri—ReutersLoaves of bread sit on a sparse shelf at a grocery store in Port Washington, New York on Jan. 26, 2015. Shannon Stapleton—ReutersA crewmember de-ices a Frontier Airlines plane at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, Jan. 26, 2015. Seth Wenig—APCrews load road salt into trucks ahead of a major winter storm in Chelsea, Mass. on Jan. 26, 2015.Brian Snyder—ReutersSnow falls in New York City on Jan. 26, 2015.Benjamin Lowy—Getty Images Reportage for TIME