A powerful winter storm brings high winds and heavy snowfall to the northeast

“It’s hard, it’s tiring; when the wind hits your face, it hurts,” said Eddy Sasso, who drove a four-wheeler with a plow in front clearing Queens sidewalks and had visible ice in his goatee and eyebrows. He had been working on it for 12 hours, he said, and would stop “when it stops”.

That said, New York City appeared to have dodged the brunt of the storm, even as swathes of snow and wind clogged the Jersey Shore, eastern Long Island and Connecticut, and points north. By late afternoon, Islip, NY, on Long Island, had got over two feetthe most of any location in the tri-state area, followed shortly by Groton, Connecticut, and Bayville, NJ

In Rhode Islandtravel restrictions were in place until Saturday evening, with large trucks, except those carrying emergency supplies, banned from all roads. Similar action was taken in Connecticut, where Gov. Ned Lamont said “terrible accidents” had occurred involving tractor-trailers. He pleaded with residents to stay off the road, but praised their hardiness.

“This is New England,” he told CNN. “We are prepared for this.”

According to FlightAware, which tracks aviation data. Sunday also looked like a bad day for travel in the region, with more than 1,000 flights already cancelled.

“We are in the throes of this northeast – this is serious,” Governor Kathy Hochul of New York said during a storm briefing on Saturday morning, adding that the cold blast accompanying the storm and the potential for loss of power, could be deadly. “You can’t have people in their homes without heating for a while.”

Facing a major weather event in his first month in office, New York City Mayor Eric Adams warned residents to stay indoors. “It’s better to be off the roads,” he said, standing on a windy sidewalk on Tiffany Street in the Bronx. “Be careful. Regroup. Good day to stay home if you don’t have to go out.”

That said, some townspeople saw Saturday’s snow day as a treat, with dog owners taking their pets to mellow Central Park for walks. “She loves the snow,” said Upper West Side resident Nancy Nelson, 65, who was with her 8-year-old dog Callie. “She’s already crawled on her stomach all the way down the street.”

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