Snow began to fall throughout the Northeast on Friday in what’s predicted to be a massive, possibly historic blizzard. A look at each state in the storm’s path:
CONNECTICUT
Residents were urged to get home and off the roads as soon as possible Friday after snow began to fall and the National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for entire state. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy warned that some highways could be closed as early as noon. The worst was expected to hit Friday evening into Saturday morning, with heavy snow and wind gusts of up to 60 mph making driving extremely difficult.
The governor ordered nonessential state workers to stay home Friday. Schools, colleges and state courthouses were also closed. All flights in and out of Bradley Airport near Hartford after 1:30 p.m. were canceled. Train and bus services were set to shut down later Friday.
Some gas stations ran out of fuel Thursday night during the rush to prepare for the storm. Utilities anticipate that 10 percent of customers will lose electricity, according to Malloy.
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MAINE
More than 3 inches of snow fell in Portland by Friday morning, and it continued to come down at a steady clip. The snow was blamed in a pileup involving up to 19 cars on an interstate in Falmouth. Several people had minor injuries, state police said.
Registration and practice runs for the National Toboggan Championships were being held Friday as scheduled, but Saturday’s races were postponed for a day.
Up to 2 feet of snow was forecast along the southern coast, with lesser amounts across the rest of the state.
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MASSACHUSETTS
Snow began to fall Friday, and forecasters said the storm could Boston’s record of 27.6 inches, set in 2003. Residents were urged to stay put because the forecast of heavy, drifting snow with little or no visibility would make traffic extremely difficult and in many cases, impossible. The governor ordered nonessential state workers to stay home Friday.
Power outages were also expected, and a flood warning was to take effect at 8 p.m. Friday until noon Saturday for the state’s eastern coastline.
Most airlines planned to cease operations between noon and 4 p.m. Friday at Logan Airport in Boston. Flights were expected to restart Saturday afternoon.
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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Heavy snow, blowing snow and strong winds were forecast. Hundreds of schools were closed Friday, airlines canceled flights and sporting and civic events were postponed. A blizzard warning was to begin at 6 p.m. Friday through 4 p.m. Saturday for portions of southeast New Hampshire.
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NEW JERSEY
The light rain that fell Friday was expected to turn to snow in time for the evening rush. A blizzard warning for northeast New Jersey called for as much as 14 inches of snow. Up to 10 inches were possible for most of the state, with 2 to 5 inches in south Jersey. The coast could see wave heights of 12 feet and moderate flooding.
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NEW YORK
In some upstate areas, snow fell early Friday morning and was expected to increase throughout the day, with the heaviest accumulations expected in eastern New York on Friday night. Ten to 12 inches were expected in New York City, where Mayor Michael Bloomberg said plows and 250,000 tons of salt were on standby.
More than 1,700 flights were canceled at the three major airports serving New York City. Most domestic carriers were expected to suspend operations between 2 and 5 p.m. Friday. They were expected to resume Saturday afternoon.
The state Emergency Operations Center in Albany was to be activated at noon Friday to monitor the storm’s impact on New York and coordinate response efforts from Long Island to Niagara Falls, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
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PENNSYLVANIA
In the Pocono Mountains, where more than a foot of snow could fall, schools were closed or delayed and flights were canceled at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Airport.
Farther south in Philadelphia, a light rain fell and the city was forecast to get 2 to 5 inches of snow.
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RHODE ISLAND
The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for Rhode Island through early Saturday afternoon and predicted up to 2 feet of snow and wind gusts of up to 60 mph.
State transit service was to be suspended at noon Friday.
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VERMONT
The storm blanketed the state with snow, though not as heavily as other states, and hundreds of schools were closed. Northern Vermont was expected to get 4 to 8 inches of snow by Saturday morning while southern parts of the state could get 8 to 16 inches.
