Winterstorm Niko is anticipated to bring a foot or more of snow to densely populated areas of the Northeast, including New York City and Boston, causing closures of schools, highways and airports.
Meanwhile the final numbers are in and Montana’s recent winter storm is one for the record books. More than five feet of snow fell along the Rocky Mountain Front, breaking long-standing snowfall records at a few locations.
Winter storm warnings have been issued by the National Weather Service for large portions of the Northeast, stretching from Pennsylvania to coastal Maine on Thursday morning.
NWS predicts that Boston and New York City will get eight to 14 inches of heavy snow accumulation.
White-out conditions are expected as areas are predicted to receive two to four inches of snow an hour during the storm’s peak, which NWS says will begin between 5am and 8am Thursday morning, right in time for the morning commute.
A blizzard warning has been issued for Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket in Massachusetts, as well as eastern and central Long Island in New York.
More than 2,500 flights scheduled for Thursday were canceled as of Wednesday afternoon.
New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio announced that schools would be closed Thursday, along with after-school activities. Schools in Philadelphia, Boston and Connecticut, among other areas, will also be closed Thursday morning.
Officials in Boston have advised motorists to avoid the roads Thursday, as icy conditions on Wednesday morning already caught MassDOT and state officials off guard, leading to one of the worst morning commutes in recent memory:
VIDEO from multi-car pileup on 128 NB #wbz pic.twitter.com/R4feGJ8m4g
— Anna Meiler (@AnnaMeiler) 8. Februar 2017
The storm comes as a surprise to residents in the Northeast, who have been experiencing warmer weather than usual, with Philadelphia and New York seeing temperatures of 60 degrees on Wednesday.
Meanwhile in Montana, St. Mary (Glacier County) reported a total of 64″ of snow during the 4-day period beginning February 3 and ending February 7. This smashes the previous 4-day extreme of 43″ set back in November 1990.
The National Weather Service in Great Falls says Babb reported an unofficial total of 60″, and the most snow ever reported over a 4-day period prior to this storm was 24″ back in 1954.
This biggest blizzard of the year is going to be a big punch! That’s for sure!
People think this is the new norm. It’s climate modification creating worsening climate change.
“There IS no ‘natural’ weather anymore —Dane Wigington, lead researcher; geoengineeringwatch.org