Storm Batters U.S., Grounds 11,000 Flights and Cuts Power to 500,000 Homes

The effects are likely to persist for several days. Over 11,000 flights have been canceled through Tuesday, while more than 500,000 homes and businesses remain without electricity.

A powerful winter storm began to ease in the Northeast on Monday evening, shattering records and dumping more than a foot of snow across eight states.

The impact is expected to last for several days. More than 11,000 flights were grounded as of Tuesday, and more than 500,000 homes and businesses were without power as of 5:45 p.m. local time.

Drivers in parts of Massachusetts have been ordered to stay off the roads as snow removal teams struggle to complete their work after blizzards hit the state’s South Coast.

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey said, “We’ve received reports of abandoned and stranded cars on the roads, and tow trucks are having difficulty reaching them.” She urged drivers to stay put “for the safety of plow drivers and emergency officials who are trying to do their jobs.”

Nearly 20 inches (50 centimeters) of snow fell in Manhattan’s Central Park from Sunday to Monday. Islip, Long Island, received more than 22 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

The National Weather Service said Providence, Rhode Island, broke its record for a single snowfall with 32.8 inches of snow. The previous record was set during the 1978 blizzard on February 6-7, when 28.6 inches of snow fell.

National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Connolly said that by Monday afternoon, the snow was decreasing and conditions were improving across New York.

Connolly said, “The worst is over for New York.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani lifted the directive that had closed roads, highways, and bridges to most traffic. City schools will reopen for in-person learning on Tuesday.

However, the storm disrupted transportation across the Northeast and beyond. Amtrak suspended service between New York and Boston until Monday night, and cancellations increased across the country.

According to the airline tracking service FlightAware, as of 5:45 p.m. New York time, 11,055 US flights scheduled from Sunday to Tuesday were canceled.

Heavy snowfall damaged power lines and caused outages from Virginia to Massachusetts. According to PowerOutage.com, 519,232 homes and businesses were without power as of 5:45 p.m.

Massachusetts had the most outages with 282,024, followed by New Jersey with 93,090. Heavy, wet snow will continue to threaten tree branches, increasing the risk to nearby power lines.

Rob Carolan, owner of Hometown Forecast Services, which provides outlooks for Bloomberg Radio, said the heaviest snowfall and strong winds extended from Long Island through Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts.

John F. Wind gusts reached 47 mph at Kennedy International Airport, and gusts reached 70 mph on Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard islands in Massachusetts.

US natural gas futures rose as much as 6.8% in early Asian trading on Sunday, as traders expected falling temperatures to boost demand for heating and power-plant fuel. However, most of those gains were erased in early trading in the US on Monday, as the storm caused power outages for millions of customers in the Northeast.

Wholesale electricity prices on the East Coast grid remained low as demand fell sharply after peaking at record levels during last month’s hurricane.

Most of the electricity used on Monday was contracted for the day-ahead market, and real-time prices were lower due to lower-than-anticipated demand.

With many businesses and schools in New York City closed, demand on Monday was also significantly lower than anticipated. Spot prices in Manhattan and surrounding areas at 12:19 p.m. were $84.52 per megawatt-hour, up 12% from the previous day’s price of $75.48.

On the nearby and largest US grid, operated by PJM Interconnection LLC, which stretches from New Jersey to North Carolina and Illinois, real-time prices across the grid were around $37 per megawatt-hour, lower than the day-ahead prices.

Frank Pereira, senior branch forecaster at the US Weather Prediction Center, said a weak system moving through the Mid-Atlantic from Thursday to Friday could bring a few inches of fresh snow to New York City—perhaps even as far as Boston.

Pereira said a more severe storm could arrive by the middle of next week, but it’s too early to provide details. One computer forecast model predicts rain in major East Coast cities, including New York, while another predicts light snow.