The holiday travel rush across the Northeast and Great Lakes was slowed by a winter storm that brought snow and hazardous conditions between Christmas and New Year’s, affecting both road and air travel, according to flight and weather monitoring reporting. In New York City, snow fell Friday night into early Saturday, and by morning both the roads and the skies were clearing, a National Weather Service forecaster said.
More than a thousand flights were canceled or delayed across the Northeast and Great Lakes regions because of the storm as travelers headed to airports and roads during the busy period, with FlightAware reporting that at least 1,500 flights were canceled Friday night. New York City received about 4 inches of snow, slightly below some forecasted amounts.
Bob Oravec, a Maryland-based forecaster at the National Weather Service, said the storm was winding down, with “a little bit of flurries across the Northeast this morning,” and described the storm as moving from the northwest toward the Southeast. Oravec said the largest snowfall in the New York City area reached over 6 inches in central eastern Long Island, while communities farther north in the Catskills saw as much as 10 inches.
Airports in the New York area posted warnings on X on Friday, including Newark Liberty International, John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia, cautioning that weather conditions could cause flight disruptions. The National Weather Service warned of hazardous travel conditions from the Great Lakes through the northern mid-Atlantic and southern New England, and said the storm could lead to tree damage and power outages.
In New York’s Times Square, workers cleared streets and sidewalks coated with sludge and snow using shovels and snowblowers. Travelers on holiday trips described the snowfall as an unexpected but manageable experience as road crews salted and cleared routes, according to interviews with travelers included in the reporting.
Ahead of the storm, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency for more than half of the state, and Acting New Jersey Gov. Tahesha Way also declared a state of emergency for New Jersey. In a statement, Way said the storm would cause dangerous road conditions and impact holiday travel, urging travelers to avoid travel during the storm and to monitor conditions and road closures.
On the other side of the country, California faced storm aftereffects following earlier heavy rain, flash flooding and mudslides that included multiple deaths. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department reported at least four deaths, including a man found dead Friday in a partially submerged car near Lancaster, and it was also reported that some mountainous areas received 10 to 18 inches of rain over three days.
As parts of California dried after those storms, the forecast called for Santa Ana winds later in the week, with gusts of more than 60 mph in mountainous areas from Sunday night through Tuesday. Officials warned the winds could uproot saturated trees and cause power outages, while damage described in mountain communities included homes and vehicles affected by floods and mudslides in places such as Wrightwood.