New York is preparing for the heaviest snowfalls in years: In Central Park in Manhattan there was already more than 40 centimeters of snow on Monday evening (local time), as the US National Weather Service (NHS) announced. According to the weather forecasts, the snow cover in the east coast metropolis could be more than 50 centimeters high by Wednesday.
NHS meteorologist Matthew Wunsch said New York was facing one of the heaviest snowfalls of all time. Since weather records began in 1869, Central Park’s snowpack has only been eight times over 50 centimeters high. The previous snow record was set in January 2016 when almost 70 centimeters of fresh snow fell in three days.
The NHS warns of heavy snowfall and high winds for the entire northeast coast of the United States from Virginia to Maine. More than 1,600 flights have been canceled, most at airports in New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has already declared a state of emergency. Roads were kept free for the use of rescue vehicles, all unnecessary journeys were prohibited. Since many people are already working at home because of the corona pandemic, there were almost only clearing vehicles on the streets in the middle of heavy snowfall.
All schools were also closed on Tuesday, and planned corona vaccinations were postponed. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo warned of a “dangerous and life-threatening situation”.
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