Snow ‘bomb’ unleashes blizzard on east coast of America

One of the strongest winter storms in years triggers transport chaos and power outages across a region of 70 million people.

The Naked Cowboy struts his stuff in Times Square on Sunday. Picture: AFP

Blinding snow whipped up by powerful winds pummelled the eastern US on Saturday, as one of the strongest winter storms in years triggered transport chaos and power outages across a region of some 70 million people.

Major cities like New York and Boston bore the brunt of the blizzard, which the National Weather Service confirmed intensified on Saturday into a “bomb cyclone” – characterised by the explosive power of rapid drops in atmospheric pressure.

The heaviest-hit parts of New York and Massachusetts received 61cm of snow by early evening, with more than 95,000 homes in Massachusetts without power. Cold weather stretched as far south as Florida, where the NWS warned of “scattered to isolated falling iguanas from trees” as plunging temperatures temporarily paralysed the large lizards.

Residents in towns and cities across the eastern seaboard were urged to avoid all unnecessary travel for a second night of white-out conditions, with additional snowfall expected to be heaviest across New England.

In Long Island, officials said a woman had been found dead in her car by a snowplough operator.

Salt machines and snowploughs crawled along the streets of New York City, where Central Park was covered in 19.5cm of snow and regional train lines were partially shut down.

In Times Square, the famous neon billboards formed glowing halos in the snowy air. But the frigid temperatures didn’t stop Robert Burck, a Times Square fixture known as the Naked Cowboy. Wearing only his underwear, a cowboy hat and cowboy boots, he strolled through the nearly empty tourist hotspot, strumming his guitar.

“It’s fantastic,” one undaunted tourist, Gonzalo Vazquez of Spain, said in Times Square. “It’s like skiing, surrounded by lights and awesome LED screens.” In the trendy Cobble Hill neighbourhood in Brooklyn, the footpaths were almost deserted and many businesses were closed. But the few who did brave the elements smiled as they wished each other “Happy snow day!”

Battling the blizzard in New York on Saturday. Picture: AFP

New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware declared emergencies for all or part of the states.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul said the storm’s perils were not over, warning residents that “the most dangerous phase of the storm is now”. “Please continue to avoid any unnecessary travel while our crews are working to clear the roads,” she said.

In Boston, where a snow emergency was declared, Mayor Michelle Wu tweeted a reminder “to stay off the roads if you can”.

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker said there had been “serious white-out conditions for most of the day today”, and that there was still “pretty limited visibility out there”.

Eric Calessandro in the town of Marshfield near Boston said he had just lost power, but was optimistic his 8000-watt generator would pull him through. He said he “should be able to bear it out for a couple days without power”, adding that he had stocked up on food and water in advance.

Boston Public Works said 900 snowploughs were hard at work on the city streets. Plough driver Mark Burns, working in Boston’s South Shore area, said the snow had gotten heavy: “It was supposed to be light and fluffy, but it’s a little wet now.”

More than 3500 flights were cancelled for Saturday travelling within, into or out of the US, according to tracker FlightAware, and more than 1000 flights have been cancelled for Sunday. Cancellations on Friday totalled more than 1450.

Two weeks ago a winter storm blanketed a swath of eastern North America – from Georgia to Canada – cutting power to thousands of homes and disrupting thousands of flights.

AFP