Thousands of flights hit as winter storm pummels US

A mix of snow and ice bore down on the US Northeast early on Saturday, ‍disrupting post-holiday weekend ‌airline traffic and prompting officials in New York and New Jersey to issue weather emergency declarations even as ‍the storm ebbed by mid-morning.

Thousands of flights were cancelled or delayed across the Northeast and Great Lakes regions due to snow as thousands took to US roads and airports during the busy travel period between Christmas and New Year’s.

More than 40 million Americans were under winter storm warnings or weather advisories one day after Christmas, plus another 30 million under flood or storm advisories in California, where a so-called atmospheric river has brought a deluge of rain.

New York, the country’s largest city, was bracing for up to 10 inches (25 centimetres) of snow overnight — the most in four years.

Temperatures were forecast to drop and remain chilly into the weekend, when an Arctic blast swoops down from Canada.

People walk through Times Square during a winter storm in New York City. Reuters

More than 14,400 domestic US flights on Saturday were cancelled or delayed as of mid-morning, with the majority in the New York area, including at John ​F. Kennedy ‍International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport, according to the tracking site FlightAware.

Another 2,100 ‌international flights that had been scheduled to depart or land in the US on Saturday were cancelled, FlightAware reported.

Representatives from American Airlines, United Airlines and JetBlue Airways told Reuters that the carriers had waived change fees ​normally charged to ‌rebook for passengers whose travel plans may be affected by weather-related disruptions.

The National Weather Service (NWS) predicted snowfall across the upper Great Lakes region would move towards the US northeast.

“Difficult travel conditions are ongoing for the area and those traveling from the holiday should exercise caution if you have to be on the road,” it warned.

Children sled in the snow in Brooklyn after an overnight storm in New York City on Saturday. AFP

People in much of the Northeast were advised to stay off the roads because of treacherous conditions, with states of emergency declared in New York and New Jersey.

“The ‍safety of New Yorkers is my top priority, and I continue to urge extreme caution throughout the ‍duration of this storm,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement.

By early on Saturday, about six to 10 inches (15 to 25 centimetres) of snow had fallen across an area from Syracuse in central New York to Long Island in the southeast of the state, as well as Connecticut, said Bob Oravec, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center near Washington, ‌DC.

New York City received two to four inches of snow overnight, with 4.3 inches ‍reported at Central Park, Oravec said, the most since 2022.

A person smiles after being covered with snow from a snow plow at Bryant Park ice rink during a winter storm in New York City. Reuters

Ice storm warnings and winter weather advisories were also posted for most of Pennsylvania and much of Massachusetts.

New Jersey and Pennsylvania issued commercial vehicle restrictions for some roads, including many interstate highways.

“This storm will cause dangerous road ‌conditions and impact holiday travel,” New Jersey’s acting governor Tahesha Way said in a statement. “We are urging travelers to avoid travel during the storm and allow crews to tend to roads.”

Meanwhile, three days of heavy downpours that spawned flash flooding and mudslides across Southern California subsided, as residents of homes in the hard-hit mountain resort of Wrightwood began ‍digging out mud ‌and assessing damage.

Geese fly as people walk across the Bow Bridge in a snow-covered Central Park in New York City. AFP

The deluge, which began around Christmas Eve, was spawned by the region’s latest atmospheric river storm, a vast airborne stream of dense moisture siphoned from the Pacific and carried inland. Even ‍before the storm hit, authorities were issuing evacuation warnings to neighborhoods considered vulnerable to flash floods and debris flows, especially near hillsides previously ravaged by wildfires. Motorists were urged to avoid travel whenever possible.

Although rainfall was tapering off on Friday, a flood watch remained in effect for much of Southern California.

In Wrightwood, a town of about 5,000 residents that bore the brunt of the storm in the San Gabriel Mountains northeast of Los Angeles, county safety inspectors began initial assessments of property losses.

Agencies