Another intense storm swirled into the tri-state, bringing high winds, freezing rain and record-setting snowfall that caused major commuting problems, made sidewalks dangerous and further tormented residents who lost power and were flooded out by Sandy.
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The nor'easter dumped 4.3 inches of snow in Central Park, which is the earliest 4-inch snowfall in the park's history and a record for the date. Parts of southern New Jersey saw more than 9 inches, while 6.2 inches was recorded at Newark Airport, which canceled most flights in advance of the storm.
The storm, which carried gusts of more than 40 mph, brought down tree limbs and electrical wires already weakened by Sandy, and utilities in New York and New Jersey reported that nearly 60,000 customers who lost power because of the superstorm lost it again as a result of Wednesday's nor'easter.
Icy conditions brought traffic to a crawl during rush hour on highways throughout the tri-state area. Weather-related problems forced the Long Island Rail Road to temporarily stop trains and close Penn Station to incoming customers for more than an hour during the evening commute, delivering even more misery to Long Island commuters, who were already dealing with crowding issues on restored trains after Sandy.
Meteorologists expect quieter weather over the next few days, with skies turning sunny by Friday and temperatures in the 60s Sunday and Monday.
NEW YORK CITY, SUBURBS AND LONG ISLAND
- A slushy 4.3 inches of snow fell in Central Park. Nassau County's Malverne recorded 6.5 inches, while Brooklyn's Sheepshead Bay had 3 inches. Flushing in Queens saw 7 inches, the Bronx's Riverdale had 4.4 inches and 6.4 inches was recorded in Great Kills on Staten Island.
- New York City schools are open Thursday for all of the city's 1.1 million students, including students from 43 schools that suffered damage during Sandy and another 13 that still lack electricity. Students from those 56 schools have been relocated to other schools.
- The Long Island Power Authority was reporting that more than 200,000 customers were without power, with nearly 50,000 having lost power in the nor'easter.
- Con Edison reported that the nor’easter knocked out electricity to about 55,000 customers in New York City and Westchester County. Early Thursday, Con Edison customers without power in New York City included 21,000 in Queens, 7,000 in Brooklyn, 4,000 in the Bronx, 3,900 in Staten Island and 140 in Manhattan.
- In Westchester, 35,000 Con Edison customers were without power early Thursday.
- Snow collapsed a Sandy disaster relief tent near Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. No one was hurt.
- Metro-North is running its regular schedule. The Long Island Rail Road was running all lines except for the Long Beach branch by 5 a.m. Thursday after weather-related problems forced a system-wide shutdown Wednesday evening.
- The mayor ordered three nursing homes and an adult care facility evacuated from Queens' vulnerable Rockaway Peninsula because of fears the weather might knock out electricity already being provided by generators. About 620 residents were moved.
- The city closed all parks, playgrounds and beaches, as well as ordered all construction sites to be secured.
- Airlines at the area's three major airports were scheduled to resume inbound and outbound flights at some point Thursday after canceling hundreds of flights in anticipation of the storm.
NEW JERSEY
- More than 7 inches of snow accumulated in parts of Bergen County. Newark Airport recorded 6.1 inches of slushy snow, and Freehold had at least 9 inches.
- NJ Transit was operating on some modified schedules, in part because of ongoing Sandy-related repairs as well as the nor'easter. Check the latest schedules here.
- High winds brought down some tree limbs weakened by Sandy, potentially stalling power restoration efforts or causing further outages. A high wind warning is in effect for much of the region through Thursday.
- Public Service Electric & Gas reported about 110,000 outages, including 40,000 caused by the nor'easter. Jersey Central Power & Light has about 238,000 customers without power, mainly in Monmouth, Morris and Ocean counties. Atlantic City Electric is reporting more than 5,000 customers in the dark.
