Travel chaos has swept the East Coast as a huge blizzard brought over 20 inches of snow overnight on Sunday.
Almost all flights in and out of New York City, Philadelphia and Boston were cancelled Monday morning due to the severe weather, with multiple states issuing states of emergency over the devastating storm.
Almost 9,000 total flights across the nation have been cancelled since Sunday, Officials warned travel is likely to be impacted by the storm for days.
Airports seeing the most disruptions include JFK and LaGuardia in New York, Newark in New Jersey, Philadelphia International, and Reagan International Airport in Washington DC.
The weather bomb is likely to leave travel impacted across the United States as planes are left stranded in the Northeast, affecting airports across the nation without snow as connecting flights are cut off.
Officials urged all travelers to check the status of their flights, with most airlines offering waivers to rebook without penalty due to the inclement weather.
On Monday morning, New York City airports had the highest number of cancellations at around 99% cancelled, according to FlightAware, and forecasters warned the storm is expected to bring even more snowfall throughout Monday.
Travel chaos has swept the East Coast as a huge blizzard brought over 20 inches of snow overnight on Sunday, cancelling over 9,000 flights across the nation. SNow plows are seen Monday at LaGuardia Airport in New York, where 99% of all flights were cancelled
The heavy snow has impacted millions across the East Coast, with travel restrictions in place from Boston (pictured) down to Washington DC
Snow totals in New York reached over 20 inches in Long Island, with Central Park recording 15 inches and Newark, New Jersey recording 18 inches as of 9:30am ET Monday.
With snowfall rates forecast from 2-3 inches per hour, the snow could reach historic levels, with the previous record in Central Park standing at 27.5 inches set on Jan. 22-24 in 2016.
Other historic snow totals in the city included 26.9 inches in 2006, 26.4 in 1947, and 21 inches in 1888.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani placed a travel ban on all residents in New York City, which shut down all travel on New York City’s roads and bridges from 9pm Sunday until at least 12pm Monday, mandated a snow day for all city schools, and placed the city under its first blizzard warning in over a decade.
Subway lines are running but with severe delays.
Mamdani shared a clip to his social media following announcing the news, saying: ‘No online school, no remote learning, full classic snow day.’
New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill also implemented a travel ban across the state in effect until noon Monday.
‘Due to the ongoing hazardous storm conditions, we are extending the mandatory travel restriction until 12.00pm today,’ she wrote on X.
‘Please stay inside and stay safe. Give road crews the space they need to do their jobs.’
Airports seeing the most disruptions include JFK and LaGuardia in New York, Newark in New Jersey , Philadelphia International, and Reagan International Airport in Washington DC
Forecasters said upwards of 20 inches of snow will fall in some areas, with wind gusts reaching over 50mph
Snowfall rates registered at 2-3 inches in New York
Mayor Zohran Mamdani placed a travel ban on all residents in New York City, which shut down all travel on New York City’s roads and bridges until at least 12pm Monday, mandated a snow day for all city schools, and placed the city under its first blizzard warning in over a decade
The powerful blizzard saw snow totals rapidly rise in the tri-state area by over an inch per hour on Monday morning, with all residents urged to stay inside as icy wind gusts rose to 50mph.
National Guard troops have also been deployed in several states including New York and Massachusetts, as upwards of 500,000 people have been left without power across the East Coast.
Because temperatures remain around freezing, conditions allowed snowflakes to partially melt and pack together, creating a dense form of snow known as ‘heart attack’ snow. The ‘heart attack snow’ could be twice as heavy and more difficult to shovel.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healy urged residents to stay off the streets, saying: ‘Every car that gets stranded, runs down, slips, crashes – you are creating a burden for our first responders who may need to be deployed elsewhere.’
The National Weather Services warned that travel will be ‘extremely treacherous to nearly impossible’ on Monday, and forecast snowfall rates of 2-3 inches per hour are expected over the northern Mid-Atlantic and eastern New England.
Heavy snowfall and strong winds leading to blizzard conditions will sharply reduce visibility and make travel ‘extremely treacherous’ along the Northeastern Seaboard, the forecaster said.
