A huge snowstorm has brought chaos to the US east coast, cancelling thousands of flights, closing schools and forcing the postponement of coronavirus vaccinations as New York City braced for possibly one of its heaviest snowfalls.
The National Weather Service (NWS) issued storm warnings from Virginia to Maine - home to tens of millions of people - as heavy snow mixed with wind gusts up to 80km/h produced blizzard-like conditions along the eastern seaboard.
New York declared a "state of emergency" that restricted non-essential travel, moved all children back to remote learning and rescheduled long-awaited vaccine shots.
Salt trucks and snow ploughs moved out across New York's streets, already quieter than usual due to Covid-19, as Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the few children who had returned to classrooms should stay at home.
"There will be locusts, next, at the rate we're going," said Mr de Blasio, who also suspended outdoor dining in the latest blow to the city's beleaguered pandemic-hit restaurants.
New-Yorkers enjoy themselves in a snowy Central Park by sledding, skiing, and some even taking their four-legged friends for a walk, as a huge snowstorm hit the United States east coast.pic.twitter.com/B1dSCxeLU2
— RTÉ (@rte) February 2, 2021
More than 1,600 US flights were cancelled - mostly at airports in New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington - disrupting travel that has already been heavily curtailed by the pandemic.
Airlines cancelled all flights in and out of LaGuardia Airport and JFK Airport, while 71% of flights were scrapped at Newark Liberty Airport.
"This is a dangerous, life-threatening situation," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters.
By 4pm local time yesterday, 38cm of snow had been recorded in Central Park, according to the NWS, with 20cm falling in just six hours.
Snowfall was expected to continue today, with forecasters predicting 50cm in total before the storm moves northeast through New England.
If that much falls in the Big Apple, then it would become the city's eighth-biggest snowstorm since records began in 1869.
"This is expected to be one of the bigger snowfall events for New York City," Matthew Wunsch, a National Weather Service forecaster, told AFP.
The most snowfall to have blanketed the US's commercial capital was 69cm, over three days, in January 2016.
In Washington, where snow and ice formed since Sunday, President Joe Biden postponed a scheduled visit to the State Department due to the conditions.
The capital pushed back until today a planned return to school for tens of thousands of children who have been learning at home for almost a year because of the pandemic.
Heavy snowfall also hit New Jersey, Philadelphia and Connecticut.
New Jersey issued a state of emergency, allowing authorities to close roads, evacuate homes and commandeer equipment needed for public safety.
"This storm is going to get worse before it gets better," tweeted Governor Phil Murphy, adding that six vaccination sites in the state would remain closed today.
This storm is going to get worse before it gets better.
— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) February 1, 2021
If you don't need to be out – go back to your house.
If you’re in your house – don’t leave.
Let our road crews, power crews, and first responders have the roads to themselves.
Stay home. Stay safe. pic.twitter.com/mR7kwmGYkT
Philadelphia also declared a snow emergency, closing city government buildings yesterday and ordering residents to move their cars off snow emergency routes so the plows can get through.
In a suburb of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, a couple in their 50s were shot dead by their neighbour during an argument about moving snow in front of their house, the local police chief told AFP.
The shooter took his own life as police arrived to arrest him, he added.
The storm hit mountainous parts of California with more than 1.82m snow and heavy rain last week.
It then moved to the Midwest, dumping about 20cm of snow in Chicago, according to the NWS.
