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'Nasty' Storm Snarls Travel in NortheastBy ROBERT D. McFADDEN A month across the abyss of winter, the season's first major storm buried New York and much of the Northeast yesterday, stifling travel, slowing the pace of life for millions and recasting the landscapes of 12 states. The storm, touted as a probable blizzard, roared in from the Midwest and turned into a classic northeaster, with 30-to-50-mile-an-hour winds and nebular arms revolving counterclockwise. It moved up the East Coast, gathering ocean moisture and hurling it back at the land as snow that blanketed cities and towns, closed airports, canceled hundreds of flights, choked railways and highways and filled the air with crystalline impressions.It began quietly in the New York metropolitan area before noon, a gentle whispering fall in the pale January light. But by evening, it had become a driving force of windblown snow, with gusts that hissed against the windows and mounting accumulations that, meteorologists said, only hinted at the depths to come.By late this morning, those accumulations were expected to top out at 12 to 18 inches in Central Park and 18 to 24 inches in parts of Northern New Jersey, Eastern Long Island, Southern Connecticut and shore areas of Rhode Island. Cape Cod and Southeastern Massachusetts were expected to be hit hardest, with more than two feet of snow blown by winds that gusted up to 60 miles an hour. Lesser totals were expected in the Washington area and in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and southern sections of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.The Northeast was hardly alone in wintry misery. Heavy snows pounded parts of the Midwest, with the Chicago area getting its biggest snowfall of the season: more than 8 inches by yesterday afternoon with more to come. At O'Hare International Airport, flight delays averaged seven and a half hours and hundreds of stranded passengers slept on cots near baggage claim areas. In Connecticut, Gov. M. Jodi Rell ordered a state emergency operations center to open yesterday as forecasters predicted coastal flooding in parts of New London and Middlesex Counties.Blizzard warnings were posted for most of New York State. The mid-Hudson Valley was expected to get 20 inches of snow, and up to a foot was forecast for Albany, the Mohawk Valley and parts of western New York. Three weather-related deaths were reported in Ohio, where a man fell through ice on a pond and two people suffered heart attacks shoveling snow. In Wisconsin, the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis had 12 inches of snow and up to 5 inches more was expected overnight. Southern Michigan had 6 to 14 inches of snow yesterday, and three-foot drifts were common. In the pantheon of winter storms in New York, it did not compare with the all-time record blizzard of Dec. 26-27, 1947, which interred the city in 26.4 inches of snow, and was also expected to fall short of the blizzard of Jan. 7-8, 1996, which left 20.2 inches in Central Park. But Todd J. Miner, a meteorologist with Pennsylvania State University, said it could rival the President's Day storm last year, which left 19.8 inches."This is a big, nasty snowstorm," Mr. Miner said early yesterday afternoon. "It's possible we will be heading toward well over a foot of snow in Central Park. We're not going to get two feet, but heading toward 18 inches is not a bad signpost, bringing this into the upper echelons of storms. Of the top 12 city snowstorms on record - 16 inches or higher - we've probably got a good shot at that."Mr. Miner said that in the overnight hours, the storm would almost certainly meet the National Weather Service's criteria for a blizzard - winds of at least 35 m.p.h., falling or blowing snow and visibility of less than a quarter-mile for three consecutive hours. But whatever the technicalities, you could hardly tell neighbors shoveling huge drifts from their driveway that it was not a blizzard.And it was cold, bitter cold. It was 29 below zero in Massena, N.Y., 28 below at Saranac Lake, N.Y., 14 below in Syracuse and 10 below in Albany. In New York City it was a relatively balmy; 10 above early yesterday morning and over 20 early last night. That was frigid enough to keep the customary tourist hordes away from Times Square, which looked more like a ghost town in the swirling snow, and it was obvious that restaurants, theaters and other attractions had a terrible day.The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the three major metropolitan airports - Kennedy International, La Guardia and Newark Liberty International - as well as bridges, tunnels and the Port Authority Trans Hudson (PATH) rail system, went into a full mobilization of personnel and equipment, bracing for a rough weekend. All three airports remained open, but 175 flights were canceled at Kennedy, 120 more were canceled at Newark, and 200 were canceled at La Guardia, where delays ran up to two hours. A cargo plane overshot a runway at Kennedy at about 3:30 p.m. in an accident that appeared weather-related, but the Port Authority said it remained under investigation last night. Only a three-person crew was on board, and there were no injuries.Traffic was moving on the George Washington Bridge and the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels, but there were 35 mile-an-hour speed limits on Staten Island bridges.With whiteout conditions on runways, the intensifying storm closed the Philadelphia airport at 3:30 p.m. and Bradley International Airport near Hartford at 6:30 p.m. and would possibly shut down those in Boston, Albany and other cities, stranding thousands of passengers.Acting Gov. Richard Codey of New Jersey announced that a state of emergency would be in effect from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. today, allowing the police to close roads, if necessary, to ensure public safety.On Long Island, Suffolk County declared a state of emergency as well. Up and down the Northeast Corridor, driving was treacherous on icy, snow-blown highways, roads and neighborhood streets. There were countless minor accidents, though no deaths or serious injuries were reported, and motorists were advised to stay home or use public transportation. But trains and buses were also delayed by the storm, and getting around, for those who had to, was an ordeal. Many residents heeded the warnings to stay home and many businesses closed for the weekend. The Long Island Rail Road, which operates 450 trains on 11 branches on a typical weekend, reported only two train cancellations, both on the Greenport line, and only minor delays on the rest of the system."But that could change as the storm worsens and the wind increases," said Brian P. Dolan, a spokesman. "They're predicting drifts of snow. If we get 2 to 3 inches an hour, that challenges us to keep pace with the storm." In the meantime, he said special trains were spraying antifreeze on power, rails, and activating electric and gas-powered heaters to keep switches moving.Even before the snow began falling, the Metro-North Railroad had a signal problem on its upper Hudson line between Croton and Poughkeepsie that delayed about 8 trains for up to 30 minutes. Marjorie Anders, a spokeswoman, said that railroad officials were meeting in the afternoon to decide whether to cut back service because it appeared that many passengers were staying home. But Dan Brucker, another spokesman, said late in the afternoon that service remained on or close to schedule on all its lines, although there were plans to sharply cut service today. New Jersey Transit, which operates 11 rail lines, 3 light rail systems and 240 bus routes around the state and into Manhattan, reduced its service schedule yesterday afternoon until midnight tonight. Later in the day, New Jersey Transit suspended its South Jersey bus service as of 5 p.m., and its North Jersey buses as of 7:30 p.m. It also reported delays of 15 to 20 minutes on its Northeast Corridor line. Dan Stessel, a spokesman for New Jersey Transit, said that express trains on the Northeast Corridor line had been canceled, although local trains continued to run. The Midtown Direct line between Penn Station and Dover, N.J., in Morris County was rerouted to Hoboken, where passengers could switch to PATH trains running to 33rd Street in Manhattan.Forewarned, cities and counties across the region had readied armies of equipment and sent out fleets of salt spreaders and snowplows to counterattack as the snow began falling. In New Jersey, state transportation officials and the New Jersey Turnpike Authority had more than 2,000 trucks on the roads to plow and spread salt. The Port Authority also had hundreds of pieces of equipment out, and more than 200,000 gallons of liquid de-icing chemicals for use on wings and other surfaces.In New York, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg went to the department's Queens repair shop and said 2,500 sanitation workers - using 1,450 garbage trucks with plows, 82 dump trucks with plows and 350 salt spreaders - would work around the clock in two shifts to keep major arteries and streets open. He said he expected that all of the city's 6,300 miles of streets would be plowed at least once by the start of the workweek tomorrow morning.Mr. Bloomberg also issued a few words of caution."The streets even after they are plowed will be slippery, so you should take caution," he said. "The streets will be narrower, the snow has to go some place."He also urged residents to dress warmly, check on neighbors, take mass transit to work and keep cars off the streets so the plows can get through. Many schools with Saturday classes closed. Aqueduct and the Meadowlands Racetrack canceled their Saturday racing programs, and many college basketball games were postponed. National Football League conference championship games in Philadelphia (Eagles-Atlanta Falcons) and Pittsburgh (Steelers-New England Patriots) were still on track for today and, with the snow over by game times, only bitter cold and high winds were expected to be factors. The storm's timing significantly diminished its impact. For millions of suburban commuters and students home for the weekend, the snow was not a great hardship, except for the ordeal of shoveling a driveway or sidewalk, which leads every winter to many heart attacks.But for many residents of the metropolitan area, the storm provided an opportunity - one of the few in a relatively mild winter that has recorded a total of only 4.3 inches of snow since autumn - to get out with sleds, skis or snowshoes and to frolic in the drifts. And for those so inclined, it was a chance to relax indoors, snowed in with Bach, Brubeck or a good book, cozy behind panes embroidered with frost.For those who ventured out to play - hooded, booted, muffled to the eyes - the storm offered glimpses of nature's beauty: empty streets turned into white meadows, black-and-white woodlands painted in moonlight, snowflakes glittering like confections in a bakery - frosted, glazed, powdered, sugary - and in the parks children, romping, padded like armadillos.There were many last-minute shoppers yesterday, even as the snow began falling. Doreen and Neal Erps, of North Brunswick, N.J., wheeled a cart out of a Home Depot on Route 1 in Edison with cabinet shelves. "I figure we'll be in the house all weekend long," said Mr. Erps. "We might as well do something productive, and remodeling the bathroom beats shoveling snow." Nearby, Howard Myers, of New Brunswick, N.J., was loading up his S.U.V. with groceries and firewood. "My next stop is the liquor store," he said. "I'm going to get a nice bottle of Scotch, put the logs on the fire and let the storm rage outside while I read my book."At a Home Depot on 23rd Street in Manhattan, shovels, salt buckets, windshield scrapers and other storm equipment flew off the shelves. By 12:30 p.m., only four of the 40 snowblowers delivered on Friday - some fetching $729 - were left, and the shovels were gone. "Where are the shovels?" asked an anxious customer, one of a cluster. "They are unloading them right now," an employee said."C'mon, let's go," another patron said as the group hurried downstairs to meet the delivery truck. Contributing reporting for this article were Gretchen Ruethling in Chicago, John Holl in New Jersey, David Winzelberg on Long Island, and Jennifer 8. Lee and Winnie Hu in New York
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