BOSTON — A major winter storm that brought heavy snow and freezing rain to some communities across New England on Sunday sent residents running to their shovels and snow blowers to clear sidewalks and driveways.
Winter storm warnings and warnings were in effect throughout the Northeast, and icy roads made for dangerous travel as far south as North Carolina.
The northeast snow came as a Sierra Nevada storm that brought heavy snow closed a stretch of highway on Saturday and briefly knocked out power to tens of thousands of people in Reno, Nevada.
More than 11,000 electric customers in California were without power on Sunday afternoon.
Some Massachusetts communities had recorded more than a foot of snow by Sunday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. Nearly 13,000 electric customers in the state were without power Sunday afternoon.
Hundreds of flights were delayed or canceled at Logan International Airport on Sunday, according to tracking website FlightAware.
Snow totals were lower for coastal communities, with Boston reporting just a few inches. It was expected to snow all day.
In Cambridge, where snowfall was lighter, residents quickly ventured outside.
“I think it's funny because everyone is freaking out about it,” said Alison Conley, 26, a consultant. slices.”
Conley, who was walking her dog Sunny, said the possibility of climate change contributing to relatively warmer winter days in the region — temperatures in Boston are expected to be in the low 50s on Wednesday, causing much of the snow will melt – is worrying. .
“I find it very alarming,” she said. “It's really weird, but I don't know, from a selfish point of view it's kind of nice not to have snow.”
The storm hit Maine with snow totals of up to 12 inches in places – with locally higher amounts over southern New Hampshire and southwestern Maine. Wind gusts up to 56 km per hour can contribute to blowing and drifting snow. Moderate to heavy snow was expected to continue to fall in Vermont, with total snow accumulations of 6 to 12 inches.
Severe winter storm conditions were expected through Sunday evening, including snow in parts of New England and rain and freezing rain around the central Appalachians.
New York City saw mostly rain, but northern and western counties saw double-digit snow totals Sunday morning. Millbrook in Dutchess County, about 75 miles north of New York, recorded a foot of snow. Port Jervis in Orange County reported 13 inches (33 centimeters).
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said Saturday that she expected two-thirds of her state to get 8 inches of snow or more, “fortunately missing some of our most populated areas in the state, Long Island and New York City .”
In the West, a winter storm warning was in effect through Saturday night in the Sierra Nevada, from south of Yosemite National Park to north of Reno, where the weather service said as much as 20 inches of snow could fall in the mountains. around Lake Tahoe with wind gusts up to 100 miles per hour.
The California Highway Patrol said numerous spinouts and collisions forced an hours-long closure of Interstate 80 from west of Truckee, California to the state line west of Reno.
In Arizona, transportation officials said several highways in the state's northern reaches — including Interstate 40 near Williams and State Route 64 near Grand Canyon National Park — were closed Sunday afternoon due to weather-related crashes and slides from snowfall.
The National Weather Service said Flagstaff was expected to get 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) of snow Sunday evening, while Window Rock was expected to get 3 to 5 inches (7 to 12 centimeters).
In Nevada, the weather service said the wind chill dropped to 32 degrees around 7:30 a.m. Sunday at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. Winds were blowing up to 37 mph (60 km per hour). Wind chills of 10 to 25 degrees below zero (minus 23 to minus 30 degrees Celsius) were forecast in northern and western New Mexico early Tuesday.
The east coast system was expected to track along the northeast coast through the weekend.
A foot (30 centimeters) of snow was reported in parts of Monroe County, Pennsylvania, and 11 inches (27 centimeters) in Sussex County in New Jersey.
As warnings were lifted and reduced highway speed limits and other restrictions were lifted Sunday, motorists were warned of the dangers of patchy black ice and black ice in southeastern Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey.
In Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island, the National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning from 4 p.m. Saturday to 1 a.m. Monday, with snow accumulations between 6 and 12 inches and wind gusts up to 35 mph.
Ice arrived early Saturday in some areas of western North Carolina and southern Virginia, ranging from a fine layer to about 6 millimeters.
Forecasters also warned of another northeasterly storm Tuesday through Wednesday, which is expected to drop heavy rain on already saturated ground. They warned of possible flooding and coastal flooding and the threat of damaging winds that could topple trees and power lines.
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Associated Press reporters Ron Todt in Philadelphia, Walter Berry in Phoenix, Arizona, and Carolyn Thompson contributed to this report.