Northeast Braces for Snow, Strong Winds and Coastal Floods
Snow, strong winds and floods threatened to snarl travel and shutter schools Tuesday as the Northeast braced for another winter storm.
The wintery weather was due to hit just as New Hampshire residents cast their primary votes, and followed a batch of snow and blizzard-like conditions on Monday.
More than 30 counties across Pennsylvania, West Virginia and northern Ohio were under a winter storm warning as of 5:30 a.m. ET Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
Dozens more, including parts of New England, were subject to winter-weather advisories and warnings about coastal flooding — although earlier snowfall forecasts were downgraded overnight.
Coastal New Hampshire, where presidential primary voting was underway Tuesday, was under a NWS flood warning.
The Washington, D.C., metro area could see 1 to 2 inches of snow during Tuesday's morning commute, while areas to the north of the capital could see up to 5 inches, NBC Washington reported.
Some school openings were delayed in Connecticut early Tuesday, according toNBC Connecticut. It said a handful of schools districts decided to give their students a late start to give plows a chance to clear the roads of overnight snowfall.
New York City can expect 1 to 2 inches of snow Tuesday, and the same amount will fall in parts of New Jersey. But it's eastern Long Island that will get the brunt of the storm — with up to half a foot of snow and 30-mph winds — because the unique system is approaching from the Atlantic, according to meteorologists at NBC New York.
Mayor de Blasio warned New Yorkers on Monday that there was "a significant chance" of coastal flooding through Wednesday morning.
The storm is expected to pass through by Tuesday, but the whole of the eastern U.S. can expect well-below-average temperatures to follow. Temperatures could stay below freezing as far south as northern Alabama and Georgia, Weather Channel lead forecaster Kevin Roth said.
Meanwhile, a second storm over the Northern Plains led the National Weather Service to issue blizzard warnings in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa.