Northeast Can't Catch A Break As Snow, Freezing Rain Delay Flights, Commutes
NEW YORK — A mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain iced over roads, driveways and sidewalks from Delaware up into New England on Tuesday, making for a slippery and messy morning commute.
Patricia Ricciardi, 49, used a tissue to wipe sludge off the cuffs of her slacks in a south Philadelphia subway station as she headed downtown to work at her city job.
"I don't want to go to work looking like I came from a garage instead," she said. "It's disgusting."
New York City streets and sidewalks were a slushy mess Tuesday morning, with pedestrians forced to cross large watery accumulations at street corners, and icy stretches of sidewalks were like Slip n' Slides. Cars passing by intersections threw up gobs of slush onto anyone standing too close to the street.
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm advisory until 1 p.m. in New York City. The area got 1 to 2 inches of snow and sleet by early morning. It was to be followed by an inch of ice before turning to all rain by late morning.
Hundreds of schools up and down the East Coast were closed or having delayed starts, including the Washington, D.C. area, eastern New York and southern Vermont.
In New Jersey, Newark Liberty International Airport was open but the airport's largest airline, Continental, said it halted its flights there because of freezing rain and snow.
The icy weather delayed and canceled flights at airports in the Baltimore-Washington region.
Dozens of flights at Dulles International Airport and Reagan National Airport were canceled and a few were delayed. Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport also had a few delays and cancelations.
Speed limits were lowered on highways from Delaware to New Jersey.
Dozens of collisions were reported in Connecticut, including a crash between a southbound Amtrak train and a FedEx truck that became stuck at a Wallingford crossing.
Wallingford fire officials said none of the train's 90 passengers were injured, and the truck's driver was already out before the slow-moving train hit.
The eastern half of New York was expected to get up to 8 inches of snow, along with freezing rain and sleet. Coastal New Hampshire was bracing for power outages as ice was expected to build up on power lines later Tuesday.
New Hampshire could get up to 10 inches of heavy snow, the weather service said. The most serious hours of the storm were expected to hit there late Tuesday and into Wednesday.
Rail service was also affected due to ice. Metro-North Railroad, which serves commuters from Connecticut into New York City, reported up to 40-minute delays on some lines. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, which serves the Philadelphia area, reported delays on its commuter rail service and bus detours.
After a Christmas weekend blizzard dumped 20 inches of snow on New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg was criticized for the slow cleanup. Up to 12 inches of snow blanketed the area again last week, but the city was prepared and the streets were quickly plowed.
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ULA ILNYTZKY 01/18/11 10:32 AM ET Associated Press