New York City Police officers and residents keep warm before a fire in the blacked-out area of Oakwood Beach on Staten Island (AFP/Getty Images)
NOAA images show the storm brewing off the Mid-Atlantic coast. (EPA)
A steady fall of snow and ice left New York streets in a total mess tonight, as Gotham residents were urged to stay home — or at least out of their cars.
Temperatures fell into the low 30s tonight, but with windchill it felt like the high teens as this early-season nor’easter sucker punched storm-weary New Yorkers with another dose of destructive weather.
Snowfall totals hit 6 inches in parts of the city — with more than 7 inches falling in Westchester and as much as 10 inches in southern Connecticut.
The wintry mix should stop falling by the start of rush hour. But cold temperatures meant this fresh snow and ice will probably stick, creating a nasty slush and dangerous driving conditions.
Trees already weakened by Hurricane Sandy last week are now easy target this new storm’s high winds.
A downed tree on the Jackie Robinson Parkway at Exit 5 closed the thoroughfare in both directions, authorities said late tonight.
“Streets are going to be slick and sloppy,” Mayor Bloomberg warned. “Please don’t drive if you can avoid it.”
Nearly all flights at the area’s three major airports were canceled earlier today and through early Thursday morning.
Storm-battered New Yorkers, who spent much of Wednesday still digging out from Hurricane Sandy’s devastation, didn’t appreciate the double-barrelled wrath of Mother Nature.
“Everyone has major anxiety after what we just experienced a week ago,” said Staten Island resident Anthony Ferrante, whose house is less than a thousand feet from the Staten Island shoreline. “I think everybody’s freaked out about what happened.”
The Weather Channel branded this new storm “Athena.” But the National Weather Service sent out a terse statement, telling employees not to use “Athena” to describe this current system.
“The National Weather Service does not use named winter storms in our products,” the service said. “Please refrain from using the name Athena in any of our products.”
Whatever this named or unnamed nor’easter is called, officials said it won’t be as powerful as Sandy but will still be dangerous.
In New Jersey, mandatory evacuations were ordered for low-lying coastal communities around Brick, Middletown and Long Beach Island.
Gov. Chris Christie warned Jersey residents, who only recently got their power back, might be in the dark again tonight.
“We may take a step back in the next 24 hours, you need to be prepared for that, I’m prepared for that,” Christie said.
New Jersey Transit, which was already struggling to get full service back, said the nor’easter will slow their repair efforts.
There are still 369,000 Garden State customers without power Wednesday afternoon, down from the height of Hurricane Sandy darkness when 2.76 million users had no electricity.
”I hate setbacks. I don’t tolerate then usually very well,” Christie said. “The weather is what it is and we have to deal with that.”
The Port Authority is advising all travelers to check with their airlines before going to the airport in the morning, “due to a significant number of flight cancellations by the airlines in the wake of the approaching coastal storm.”
With Post Wire Services and additional reporting by Erin Calabrese, Sally Goldenberg, Dareh Gregorian and David K. Li