Toronto Misses Huge Storm As Snow Paralyzes U.S. Northeast
Posted February 22, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
For the entire winter, the GTA has been in a bull’s eye of the worst that Mother Nature has to offer. It seemed like every storm that brewed eventually wound up giving us a direct hit, leaving the streets and sidewalks buried by snow. There were so many flakes, the city had to spend $20 million in emergency funds to help clear it all away.
But after months of relentless storms, we finally caught a break on Friday and it was a big one. A major winter dump has left as much as a foot of snow in some parts of the U.S., while giving Toronto just a few flurries. Those came and quickly left in the morning.
But anyone heading to the U.S. northeast may find ‘quickly’ isn’t a word they’ll be using. This latest blast hit places like New York and Connecticut especially hard.
More than a thousand flights were cancelled at the Big Apple’s busy airports, as travellers watched the endless snow come down. Passengers lucky enough to actually get away from it all were forced to wait up to three hours or more in delays.
And those who weren’t waiting for a plane may have been involved in one of the hundreds of accidents that dotted the highways and streets of cities across several states, as the pounding continued hour after hour.
New York City (top left) got 15 centimetres, while some suburban areas were buried in 30 centimetres. Kentucky, Missouri and Illinois all got clobbered, and areas in Massachusetts and New Hampshire were bracing for their turn. The monster howler made its way up the coast combining freezing rain with the flakes.
Five people died in Missouri after ice turned roads into skating rinks. Storm-related car crashes claimed three more lives in Connecticut and Ohio.
But despite the miserable conditions, some people were taking it all in stride. Unlike Toronto, much of the northeast has been mostly spared our endless snow. Some think they were overdue. “I’m glad to see it, finally, after such a bland, wet, warmish winter,” reflects Andrew Goldstone of New Haven. “This is the kind of weather that I love, which I’ve been waiting for. Of course, I don’t have to drive in it.”
But while we got a big break this time, our next weather event is still to come. Forecasters say Tuesday could be another big mess here, as a system brings freezing rain and snow back to a city that’s already had way too much of it. Depending on what the temperature does, we could wind up with 10-15 centimetres early next week.
And there’s little chance this one will miss us.
