New York’s First Big Snow Turns Commute Into a Slog

(Bloomberg) -- A quick-moving nor'easter tied up air traffic across the U.S. Northeast, closing government offices in Washington and blanketing New York with enough snow to make the morning commute a slog.

New York's first winter storm of the season will start to taper off by mid-morning Friday, but as of 4:30 a.m. local time, close to 4 inches (10 centimeters) had fallen in New York City, and there was still more snow to drift across the surrounding region, said Bill Goodman, a National Weather Service meteorologist. Meanwhile in Boston, where schools have been canceled, heavy snow was set to continue through the afternoon.

Government offices in Washington were closed after 2 to 5 inches fell there, according to the Office of Personnel Management's website.

“It is snowing pretty good now in both New York City and Boston,” said Marc Chenard, a senior branch forecaster with the U.S. Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.

The storm was moving up the mid-Atlantic coast, where it had already contributed to 2,199 flights being canceled across the U.S., according to FlightAware, an airline tracking service. More than 1,100 of those were from airports in Washington, New York and Boston.

As of 8 a.m., the Long Island Rail Road was beset with delays, and Metro-North trains were operating on a Saturday schedule across northern areas of New York City and Connecticut. New Jersey Transit reported some trains were delayed.

Although New York roads were mostly empty of cars as the snow fell on Friday morning, officials said the main thoroughfares were cleared for commutes and for kids to go to school. Still, a number of subway lines were experiencing delays, and the Staten Island Railway and Metro North were switched to special schedules.

During a morning press briefing, New York Mayor Eric Adams urged parents to send their kids to school despite “the criticism from those who think differently.”

By dawn, 4 inches had fallen in Elmhurst, Queens. Norwalk, Connecticut, had 6 inches, and Union, New Jersey, had 5.

Snow should end in New York around 10 a.m., and it's possible that 4 to 6 inches will have fallen across the city by then, Goodman said. In southern Connecticut, as well as in Boston, totals will likely be higher by the time the entire storm is offshore by the afternoon.

There aren't any additional storms lurking over the horizon for now, Chenard said. Saturday will be sunny in New York with highs reaching 37 degrees Fahrenheit (2.78 degrees Celsius) in Central Park.