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msnbc.com news services - MSNBC
Snowed-Under Northeast Braces for Storm 2 - CBS News
Weather-weary Northeast readies for another snow dump - Bridgeton News
More Rain, Winds To Pound Bay State - Boston Channel

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Posted: 25 Feb 2010 05:25 AM PST

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ALBANY, N.Y. - The effects of a winter storm began piling up Thursday in the Northeast even before much snow did, as airlines canceled hundreds of flights, schools closed and officials prepared to shut down major roads if needed.

The storm was expected to dump around a foot of snow and bring high winds over a swath of the Northeast from Philadelphia to New York City to Albany, N.Y., canceling flights and creating a danger of toppled power lines.

Airlines were telling passengers to call ahead, as hundreds of flights from airports in the Northeast were scratched with threats that the storm would worsen.

More than 500 flights were canceled at Newark Airport. At LaGuardia airport in New York City, 88 departures and 86 arrivals were canceled by 10 a.m. At JFK airport, 70 departures and 20 arrivals were cancelled.

Philadelphia airport spokeswoman Victoria Lupica said 15 to 20 percent of flights there were delayed or canceled by 8 a.m. ET with wind as the big risk, she said, noting that crews weren't worried about clearing the snow.

"We've had good practice," she said.

'Snowicane' controversy
A description of the coming storm as a "snowicane" by Accuweather Inc. touched off criticism — one newspaper called it a "smackdown" — by the National Weather Service.

On Tuesday, 48 hours before the storm was to hit, Accuweather called it "hurricane-like," a "monster," and a "powerful storm of historical proportions" that would wreak havoc from Pennsylvania to Maine and by Wednesday was using the term "snowicane."

That prompted a stern response from National Weather Service meteorologist Craig Evanego. "It's almost inciting the public, inciting panic," he said.

The Weather Channel called the hurricane talk "bad meteorology."

Accuweather senior meteorologist Ken Reeves called the NWS criticism "unfounded" and said there is nothing wrong in using language that gets people's attention when the situation calls for it.

Winter storm warnings stretched into Ohio and along much of the Appalachian Mountains, with snow and wind expected as far south as the Tennessee-North Carolina line. The National Weather Service said Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, about 80 miles north Philadelphia, and northwestern New Jersey could get up to 18 inches.

In Allentown, Pa., in the Lehigh Valley, 52-year-old Jim Yourgal put on knee-high snow boots and trudged three miles to his job as a valet at an orthopedic center. He figured he wouldn't be driving home in a foot of snow. His dedication was no big deal, he said.

"What else am I going to do, read a book at home? I can do that on the weekend," he said.

Lots of earlier snow
The latest snow comes just as Philadelphia and New Jersey have finally cleaned up from a pair of blizzards more than two weeks ago that deposited more than 3 feet of snow.

For Albany, the storm comes only a day after one Wednesday left 2 feet of wet, heavy snow that clogged snowblowers and stranded pickup trucks trying to plow it out. About 150,000 customers lost power, hundreds of schools were closed and at least three traffic deaths were blamed on the storm.

By Thursday morning, 60,000 homes and businesses in eastern New York were still without power. The hardest-hit areas were in the Hudson Valley and the Catskills. Another 18,000 customers in Vermont still lacked power.

In the snow-weary Philadelphia region, where a seasonal record of more than 70 inches has fallen already since December, most of it in three major storms, there was some denial about the possibility of another whopper.

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Snowed-Under Northeast Braces for Storm 2 - CBS News

Posted: 25 Feb 2010 03:45 AM PST

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Weather-weary Northeast readies for another snow dump - Bridgeton News

Posted: 25 Feb 2010 03:09 AM PST

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By The Associated Press

February 25, 2010, 5:59AM

Cindy Schultz /Times UnionAn old Chevrolet truck is partly buried in the snow on Wednesday in East Berne, N.Y. ALBANY, N.Y. -- A day after a storm dumped more than a foot of snow, causing tens of thousands of people to lose power and stalling air and rail traffic, Northeast residents braced for a repeat — a second storm packing potentially damaging wind gusts up to 50 mph and possibly more than another foot of snow.

The second part of the two-day, 1-2 winter punch was expected Thursday, and the National Weather Service said the storm would be "significant and long-lasting."

As much as a foot of snow was expected in Philadelphia, which has had its snowiest winter with more than 70 inches and is still digging out from back-to-back storms around the beginning of this month. The Albany area, which was pounded by Wednesday's weather, can expect more of the same for a second day, and the western Catskills could get up to 20 inches of snow.

Even before a flake fell, the impending storm set off some sharp exchanges among competing forecasters, with one warning of a "snowicane."

The National Weather Service criticized State College, Pa.-based Accuweather Inc. for referring to the storm that way and for saying it would be "hurricane-like" and a "monster." NWS meteorologist Craig Evanego said the terminology was "almost inciting the public, inciting panic."

Accuweather called the NWS criticism "unfounded" and said there's nothing wrong with using language that gets people's attention when the situation calls for it.

Wednesday's storm cut a swath from eastern Pennsylvania into northern New England, blanketing typically snowy regions that had been spared the paralyzing storms that hit cities farther south earlier this winter. By afternoon, some areas around Albany had about 2 feet of wet, heavy snow that clogged snowblowers and stranded pickup trucks trying to plow it out. About 150,000 customers lost power, hundreds of schools were closed and at least three traffic deaths were blamed on the storm.

Utilities warned that more outages could occur.

While Wednesday's storm missed Philadelphia, city residents faced the latest blast of winter with a bit of dread.

"Yeah, I'm kind of tired of it," said Dave Pearson, who was walking a beagle late Wednesday in tony Rittenhouse Square, where much of the grass was still streaked with slushy remnants of previous storms. "We'll see if it happens. I'm tired of it ... we'll have to deal with it."

Sam Sargent said Philadelphia's record-breaking winter is nothing compared to what he saw during three years in Rochester, N.Y. — but that doesn't mean he's happy to see so much of it.

"I left Rochester because I didn't like the snow," the Academy of the Arts photography student said. "I'm ready for spring to come."

The system creating the storm forecast to travel up the Atlantic Coast was causing problems in the South on Wednesday. The weather service issued a winter storm warning through Friday morning for mountainous areas of western North Carolina, where forecasters said up to 10 inches of snow was possible by Thursday evening.

The northern edge of Wednesday's storm reached into Massachusetts' Berkshires, Vermont and New Hampshire, dumping more than a foot of snow in some areas and prompting flooding concerns in Maine.

The storm ended a long stretch without a major snowfall in eastern New York and northern New England. The region had avoided much of the severe weather that slammed the mid-Atlantic in recent weeks.

Some New England areas had been forced to cancel winter festivals, dog sled races and snow sculpting events this year due to the lack of snow. At Vermont's Mad River Glen ski area, the storm "was a godsend," spokesman Eric Friedman said.

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More Rain, Winds To Pound Bay State - Boston Channel

Posted: 25 Feb 2010 02:55 AM PST

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Flooding A Concern In Parts Of Southeastern Massachusetts

POSTED: 5:59 am EST February 25, 2010
UPDATED: 7:49 am EST February 25, 2010

BOSTON -- Storm-weary New Englanders were bracing for another blast of wet stuff – heavy rain and winds in Southeastern Massachusetts – as the region prepared for a second powerful weather punch on Thursday.

Video: Western Mass Hard Hit |Video Forecast | Check roads | Get Weather Alerts

The second major storm was expected impact the region through Friday, with its lingering effects to be felt through the weekend, but most of the snow was expected to impact New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Storm Team 5 meteorologist J.C. Monahan said.

In Massachusetts, Monahan said, residents could expect a good drenching, with 1 to 2 inches of rainfall soaking the area, with pockets of 3 inches in some pockets, falling on several feet of snow in some regions.

A flood watch is in effect throughout the state except for the South Coast and Cape Cod, where there is little snow pack and wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour are expected in some parts of the state.

Low pressure east of the Carolinas Thursday morning will undergo rapid deepening as it tracks northeast to just south of eastern Long Island by early in the evening.

In the commonwealth, there will be spot showers through the morning Thursday, with rain becoming heavier through the afternoon and through the evening commute, tapering off after 7 or 8 p.m. On the backside of the rain there could be some light snow that will linger through the weekend.

The low will gradually weaken through the weekend before another low bypasses the area well east on Sunday.

The additional precipitation comes a day after a storm dumped more than a foot of snow in parts of the northeast, causing tens of thousands of people to lose power and stalling air and rail traffic.

The second storm is packing potentially damaging wind gusts up to 50 mph and possibly more than another foot of snow.

The second part of the two-day, 1-2 winter punch was expected Thursday, and the National Weather Service said the storm would be "significant and long-lasting."

To the south, as much as a foot of snow was expected in Philadelphia, which has had its snowiest winter with more than 70 inches and is still digging out from back-to-back storms around the beginning of this month.

By afternoon, some areas around Albany had about 2 feet of wet, heavy snow that clogged snowblowers and stranded pickup trucks trying to plow it out.

About 150,000 customers lost power, hundreds of schools were closed and at least three traffic deaths were blamed on the storm.

Utilities warned that more outages could occur.

The northern edge of Wednesday's storm reached into Massachusetts' Berkshires, Vermont and New Hampshire, dumping more than a foot of snow in some areas and prompting flooding concerns in Maine.

The storm ended a long stretch without a major snowfall in eastern New York and northern New England. The region had avoided much of the severe weather that slammed the mid-Atlantic in recent weeks.

Arts Photography

Thursday, February 25, 2010