'Wicked nor'easter' unleashes fury
Flights canceled, schools closed, thousands in Northeast without power
Feb. 26, 2010, 5:09 p.m. EST
By Christopher Hinton & Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The Northeast got clobbered for a third time this month by a severe snowstorm, disrupting air traffic and Friday commutes across the region.
The worst of the storm hit southern New York and the city, keeping many workers at home. Even stock traders were taking the day off, with Friday's trading volume coming in slightly below the 4.6 billion year-to-date average.
"It's hard to get traction on this snowy day in Manhattan when we don't have all the players at their desk," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Jefferies & Co.
The snowstorm was called a "wicked nor'easter" by AccuWeather. It was expected to hammer the Northeast throughout Friday with winds, snow and flooding. Snow totals in some spots could approach the 3-foot mark.
"Travel will be extremely difficult and even impossible at times across upstate New York to the Poconos, especially where massive snow drifts, downed trees or abandoned cars will hinder cleanup effort," AccuWeather said. "Highways could even be shut down for many hours."
One man was killed Thursday when a tree, collapsing under the weight of snow, struck him in New York's Central Park.
Thousands of flight cancellations and extremely long flight delays were being reported at LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy and Newark airports in the New York area; Logan International in the Boston area; Philadelphia International; and the Dulles and Reagan National airports in the Washington, D.C., area, according to the travel site Flightstats.com.
"Given expectations of significant snowfall in the metropolitan region, may carriers have already begun canceling flights," the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said. Read more about the snow's impact on airlines.
Airlines at LaGuardia were experiencing delays of up to two hours.
Train service in and around New York City also experienced delays, with the New Jersey PATH system reporting delays of up to 15 minutes earlier in the day.
Snow throughout the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's service area had accumulated from 3 to 30 inches, with the highest amounts in the northern suburbs, the MTA said on its Website.
Schools were closed throughout the region, and thousands of people were without power, according to media reports.
By Friday evening, the heaviest snow and wind was expected to let up, but poor travel conditions will likely continue through the weekend.
"The storm will slowly weaken from here on out as it takes a slow and dizzying path from Long Island to northern New Jersey and then northward to southern New England by Saturday," AccuWeather said.
It's not likely things are gong to get better with March, either.
AccuWeather is predicting March will be just as snowy, thanks to high amounts of moist air from the Pacific Ocean colliding with cold Arctic air that is pushing further south this year due to greater stratospheric pressure.
High volcanic activity in the northern hemisphere, AccuWeather said, helped warm up the stratosphere this winter with more greenhouse gases, increasing the pressure.
Christopher Hinton is a reporter for MarketWatch based in New York. Kate Gibson is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in New York.
Flights canceled, schools closed, thousands in Northeast without power
Feb. 26, 2010, 5:09 p.m. EST
By Christopher Hinton & Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The Northeast got clobbered for a third time this month by a severe snowstorm, disrupting air traffic and Friday commutes across the region.
The worst of the storm hit southern New York and the city, keeping many workers at home. Even stock traders were taking the day off, with Friday's trading volume coming in slightly below the 4.6 billion year-to-date average.
"It's hard to get traction on this snowy day in Manhattan when we don't have all the players at their desk," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Jefferies & Co.
The snowstorm was called a "wicked nor'easter" by AccuWeather. It was expected to hammer the Northeast throughout Friday with winds, snow and flooding. Snow totals in some spots could approach the 3-foot mark.
"Travel will be extremely difficult and even impossible at times across upstate New York to the Poconos, especially where massive snow drifts, downed trees or abandoned cars will hinder cleanup effort," AccuWeather said. "Highways could even be shut down for many hours."
One man was killed Thursday when a tree, collapsing under the weight of snow, struck him in New York's Central Park.
Thousands of flight cancellations and extremely long flight delays were being reported at LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy and Newark airports in the New York area; Logan International in the Boston area; Philadelphia International; and the Dulles and Reagan National airports in the Washington, D.C., area, according to the travel site Flightstats.com.
"Given expectations of significant snowfall in the metropolitan region, may carriers have already begun canceling flights," the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said. Read more about the snow's impact on airlines.
Airlines at LaGuardia were experiencing delays of up to two hours.
Train service in and around New York City also experienced delays, with the New Jersey PATH system reporting delays of up to 15 minutes earlier in the day.
Snow throughout the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's service area had accumulated from 3 to 30 inches, with the highest amounts in the northern suburbs, the MTA said on its Website.
Schools were closed throughout the region, and thousands of people were without power, according to media reports.
By Friday evening, the heaviest snow and wind was expected to let up, but poor travel conditions will likely continue through the weekend.
"The storm will slowly weaken from here on out as it takes a slow and dizzying path from Long Island to northern New Jersey and then northward to southern New England by Saturday," AccuWeather said.
It's not likely things are gong to get better with March, either.
AccuWeather is predicting March will be just as snowy, thanks to high amounts of moist air from the Pacific Ocean colliding with cold Arctic air that is pushing further south this year due to greater stratospheric pressure.
High volcanic activity in the northern hemisphere, AccuWeather said, helped warm up the stratosphere this winter with more greenhouse gases, increasing the pressure.
Christopher Hinton is a reporter for MarketWatch based in New York. Kate Gibson is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in New York.
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