Ron Brackett
Winter Storm Orlena is making for a trying day across most of the Northeast on Monday. Some areas have already received more than a foot and a half of snow and more is expected.
A death in Pennsylvania was being connected to the storm. The Lehigh County coroner’s office said a 67-year-old woman with Alzheimer's disease died of hypothermia after wandering away from her Allentown home, according to Lehigh Valley Live.
In Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker said the state is expected to get 12 to 18 inches of heavy, wet snow and wind gusts of up to 55 mph along the coast.
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“We’re used to dealing with snow this time of year, but it’s important for folks to take this one seriously due to the heavy snowfall, the high winds, and the speed with which this snow is going to fall when it starts to come down,” Baker said at a press conference.
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, who announced a snow emergency for the city as of noon Monday, said, "With winter in New England, you never know what to expect, but in Boston, we're always prepared and we're going to continue to be."
Hundreds of schools across the region canceled classes for Monday, and many announced they would remain closed Tuesday.
The storm also forced COVID vaccination sites to shut down in New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts and in the Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., areas according to the New York Times. New York City's mayor said sites there would be closed again Thursday.
LaGuardia International Airport in New York announced it was suspending all flight operations because of weather conditions. More than 1,600 flights were canceled around the country, including most of the departures and arrivals at John F. Kennedy and Newark Liberty, according to flightaware.com. More than 890 flights were canceled at those three New York area airports as of 11:30 a.m.
At Boston Logan International, 135 flights were canceled. More than 200 flights were canceled at Reagan National, Dulles and Baltimore/Washington International in the D.C. area. Philadelphia International saw more than 100 flights canceled.
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Ground travel has also been impacted by the storm. New Jersey Transit suspended bus, rail and most light rail service. New York Waterway ferries were suspended, and Amtrak modified its train service, canceling some trains, the Associated Press reported.
(FORECAST: Orlena Will Bring Heaviest Snowfall Through Monday Night)
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency in New York City, as well as Sullivan, Ulster, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk counties. He later tweeted that he had expanded the state of emergency to 44 counties.
Cuomo also announced that outdoor subway service would be suspended at 2 p.m., and the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad would shut down Monday afternoon.
Underground subway service was continuing, but that could change, Sarah E. Feinberg, the interim president of New York City Transit, which runs the city’s subway and buses, told the New York Times. Outdoor stations closed and riders have to get off at the last underground station before the train goes above ground.
A person stands near the Gapstow Bridge in Central Park during a winter storm on Monday, February 1, 2021, in New York City."This storm is no joke and the main concern right now is that the expected snowfall rate of two inches per hour this afternoon creates an extremely dangerous situation on our roadways," Cuomo said in a news release. "When snow is falling that quickly, it makes it very difficult for plows to keep up with it. I want New Yorkers to hear me loud and clear — stay home and off the roads and if you must travel, get where you're going before noon, and expect to remain home for some time. We've been through this before and we will get through it again."
In New York City, where more than 13 inches of snow was recorded in Central Park, Mayor Bill de Blasio issued a state of emergency, too. De Blasio banned all nonessential travel from city streets beginning at 6 a.m. Monday.
“Make no mistake,” de Blasio said. “this storm will bring heavy snowfall, and it will make travel difficult in every neighborhood in our city.”
On Sunday, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency and ordered all state government offices closed for nonessential personnel.
“This is a big one and it’s going to be with us, we think, until tomorrow night,” Murphy said at a news conference Monday. “The worst is yet to come.”
“I cannot be more forceful about this — unless there is a reason to be on the roads, do not be on the roads,” he said. “If you don’t need to be out. Do not go out. if you’re out now and you don’t need to be out, safely go back home.”
Murphy tweeted that as of 10 a.m. New Jersey State Patrol troopers had responded to 343 accidents and assisted 295 motorists.
Coastal flooding was causing problems Monday along the Jersey Shore, which was under a coastal flood warning. Roads and bridges were closed because of flooding in Absecon, Neptune City, Wildwood and Atlantic City.
In Pennsylvania, a state Department of Transportation spokesperson told WPXI that road clearing crews had worked throughout the night but some roads were covered by snow again before a crew finished its route.
A jackknifed semitrailer blocked southbound Interstate 79 near Pittsburgh for more than an hour Sunday night, WPXI reported. A truck carrying salt to spread on the roadways overturned Sunday evening in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, about 8 miles south of Pittsburgh. A Pittsburgh Department of Public Works salt truck also slid over a hillside in the South Side Slopes neighborhood.
New York State Police troopers responded to an overturned tractor-trailer early Monday on Interstate 87 in Rockland County.
The Virginia State Police said by 9 p.m. Sunday troopers had responded to about 362 traffic crashes and 321 disabled or stuck vehicles statewide.
The Maryland State Police responded to 330 crashes, 146 disabled or unattended vehicles and 891 calls for service between 8 a.m. Sunday and 5 a.m. Monday, according to the Baltimore Sun.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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