US News

Winter Storm Hercules brings snow, kills at least 11

BOSTON  — A storm dropped a blanket of light, powdery snow across the Northeast and ushered in frigid temperatures Friday that were unusual even for cities accustomed to arctic blasts. The winter weather, which shut down major highways temporarily and grounded flights, was blamed for at least 11 deaths as it swept across the eastern half of the country.

The nor’easter was accompanied by plummeting temperatures that on Friday morning reached 8 degrees below zero in Burlington, Vt., with a wind chill of 29 below, and 2 degrees in Boston, with a wind chill of minus 20. It dumped 23 inches of snow in Boxford, Mass., and 18 inches in parts of western New York near Rochester. Thirteen inches of snow fell in Boston, while Lakewood, N.J., got 10 inches and New York City’s Central Park got 6.

Wellington Ferreira said the cold was worse than the snow as he cleared a sidewalk in front of Johnny D’s Uptown Restaurant and Music Club in Somerville, Mass.

“My ears are frozen,” he said. “I’ve been here for a couple a years, so I’m all right, but I hate it. I’m never going to get used to it.”

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Mayor de Blasio shoveling snow outside his home in Park Slope Friday morning.
Mayor de Blasio shoveling snow outside his home in Park Slope Friday morning.Stefan Jeremiah
Snow makes it way down to the platform of the 65th Street subway station.
Snow makes it way down to the platform of the 65th Street subway station.Reuters
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A worker uses a snow blower to clear the front entrance of the Ronkonkoma Train Station Friday.
A worker uses a snow blower to clear the front entrance of the Ronkonkoma Train Station Friday.Victor Alcorn
Snow falling during Winter Storm Hercules
A man fights through the snow in Manhattan early Friday morning.Christopher Sadowski
People shoveling snow during Winter Storm Hercules.
A man shoveling snow in Manhattan.Christopher Sadowski
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Two pedestrians brave the snow during Winter Storm Hercules.
Two pedestrians brave the snow in Manhattan.Christopher Sadowski
A man walks through the snow in midtown Manhattan.
A man walks through the snow in midtown Manhattan.Christopher Sadowski
Workers try to clear up snow in midtown Manhattan.
Workers try to clear up snow in midtown Manhattan.Christopher Sadowski
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A plow pushes snow near Rockefeller Center in midtown Manhattan.
A plow pushes snow near Rockefeller Center in midtown Manhattan.Christopher Sadowski
A man operates a snow blower in Manhattan.
A man operates a snow blower in Manhattan.Christopher Sadowski
A woman walks with her bicycle early Friday.
A woman walks with her bicycle early Friday.Reuters
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A plow pushes snow through Times Square.
A plow pushes snow through Times Square.Reuters
A man shovels snow off his porch in Brooklyn.
A man shovels snow off his porch in Brooklyn.EPA
A man tries to walk down the street in the snow in Brooklyn.
A man tries to walk down the street in the snow in Brooklyn.EPA
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A school bus stays parked in a snow-covered street in Brooklyn. New York City schools were closed Friday.
EPA
The Manhattan Bridge
The Manhattan BridgeEPA
Taxis slowly make their way through snow-covered streets in New York.
Taxis slowly make their way through snow-covered streets in New York.EPA
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Snow-covered chairs and a table with icicles on its rim stand in front of a restaurant in downtown Manhattan.
Snow-covered chairs and a table with icicles on its rim stand in front of a restaurant in downtown Manhattan.EPA
Parked cars are covered in snow in New York.
Parked cars are covered in snow in New York.EPA
A man plows snow in a parking lot covered in snow following an overnight snow storm that hit the northern New Jersey region, Friday, Jan. 3, 2014
A man plows snow in a New Jersey parking lot Friday. AP
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Children make a snow pile in Times Square, during a snowstorm, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014, in New York
Children make a snow pile in Times Square.AP Photo
Heavy machinery clears the snow at LaGuardia Airport during a winter storm in New York
Heavy machinery clears the snow at LaGuardia Airport.Reuters
Men shovels snow during winter storm "Hercules" in lower Manhattan
Men shovel snow during Winter Storm Hercules in lower Manhattan.Getty Images
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Two young ladies pose for a picture in the snow at 7th Avenue on Times Square
Two young ladies pose for a picture in Times Square Thursday.Getty Images
People walk through the snow during winter storm "Hercules" in lower Manhattan January 2
People walk through the snow during winter storm "Hercules" in lower ManhattanAFP/Getty Images
People in Times Square celebrate as New York City is hit by the first snowstorm of the year on Thursday night.
People in Times Square play in the snow as New York City is hit by the first winter storm of the year Thursday night.William Miller
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People in Times Square celebrate as New York City is hit by the first snowstorm of the year on Thursday night.
People in Times Square play in the snow as New York City is hit by the first winter storm of the year Thursday night.William Miller
Times Square during Hercules
Visitors enjoy the snow on Broadway.AFP/Getty Images
NYPD booth outside mayor Bill DeBlasio's house.
The NYPD booth outside Mayor de Blasio's Park Slope home.Paul Martinka
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A worker shovels snow away in front of a store in Lower Manhattan in New York, New York
A worker shovels snow away from the front of a store in Lower Manhattan. EPA
Seth Gottfried
A man takes advantage of the snow to cross-country ski up Seventh Avenue.Seth Gottfried
Dogs are seen tied to a pay phone shelter on 3rd Ave. and 23rd St. during a snow storm in Manhattan, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2013, as they wait for their owner who was in the store.
Two dogs wait for their owner in the snow outside of a store in Manhattan.Robert Mecea
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Snow plows clearing roads from Winter Storm Hercules that was supposed to bury the Northeast in 6-12 inches as seen on Route 21 in Newark, NJ
Snow plows attempt to clear Route 21 in Newark, NJ.Christopher Sadowski
A sanitation snow plow is seen on 23rd St. during a snow storm in Manhattan
A sanitation snow plow clears streets in Manhattan.Robert Mecea
A woman takes pictures of herself as snow falls on the streets of Lower Manhattan
A woman pauses to take a selfie in lower Manhattan.EPA
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Winter storm hits New York
A person walks on a snow-covered street of Lower Manhattan.EPA
Times Square during Hercules
Times Square is left nearly empty by Winter Storm Hercules.Seth Gottfried
Times Square during Hercules
Motorists attempt to make their way through Times Square.Seth Gottfried
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Times Square during Hercules
Visitors enjoy the snow in Times Square.Getty Images
People walk on the snow covered hill of Leonard Gordon Park as snow falls over them in Jersey City, NJ.
People walk on the snow covered hill of Leonard Gordon Park as snow falls over them in Jersey City, NJ.AP
A truck-mounted snowblower clears a section of Route 128/I95 South in Dedham, Mass.
A truck-mounted snowblower clears a section of Route 128/I95 South in Dedham, Mass.EPA
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Crew clears snow in Fenway Park, home of baseball's Boston Red Sox, in Boston.
Crew clears snow in Fenway Park, home of baseball's Boston Red Sox, in Boston.Reuters
A man walks in the snow down a road along the shore in Scituate, Mass.
A man walks in the snow down a road along the shore in Scituate, Mass.AP
A tattered flag flies by a flooded yard along the shore in Scituate, Mass.
A tattered flag flies by a flooded yard along the shore in Scituate, Mass.AP
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A man clears snow from a vehicle in Albany, NY.
A man clears snow from a vehicle in Albany, NY.AP
A visitor to Rock Creek Park walks on a pedestrian bridge in Washington D.C.
A visitor to Rock Creek Park walks on a pedestrian bridge in Washington D.C.EPA
A jogger runs on the National Mall, with the Washington Monument in the background in Washington D.C.
A jogger runs on the National Mall, with the Washington Monument in the background in Washington D.C.AP
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Schools and offices were closed across the region, and police were busy responding to accidents and reports of stranded vehicles. Governors in New York and New Jersey declared states of emergency Thursday, urging residents to stay home. But few power outages were reported Friday and wind gusts actually made the snow easy to manage.

“It’s light and fluffy, so it’s easy,” said 33-year-old Michael Connors, was shoveling in front of businesses in downtown Fairfield, Conn.

Sonja Keller of Scituate, Mass., was out walking her labradoodle puppy near the ocean as waves came over a seawall. Because of high winds, the snow was knee deep in some places and barely visible in others. Her children, ages 4, 6 and 8, had gotten in almost a full day of school on Thursday but were off again Friday.

“I’m just going to stay inside, play some games with the kids,” she said. “They can go outside and play in the snow again. They enjoy the snow.”

U.S. airlines canceled more than 2,300 flights Thursday because of the snowfall and low visibility. By midday Friday, about 2,200 flights were canceled nationwide, according to the aviation tracking website FlightAware.com. The bulk of those were in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and Washington, D.C.

The brunt of the storm began late Thursday in parts of New England and New York state. Forecasters warned that gusts of up to 30 miles per hour could bring wind chills to minus 25 degrees, cold enough to cause frostbite in about 30 minutes or less, with some of the coldest temperatures expected Friday night. The weather service said people should dress warmly to avoid hypothermia and cover all exposed skin.

Warming centers opened around the region, homeless shelters saw larger crowds and cities took special measures to look after those most vulnerable to the cold. Outreach teams were searching New York City streets for homeless people at risk of freezing to death.

Temperatures in the Northeast are expected to rise above freezing over the weekend, before the arrival of another blast of frigid air that was already affecting the Midwest. In Wisconsin, a record low temperature was set Friday morning in Green Bay, where the mercury dipped to minus 18. The National Weather Service said that topped the 17-below-zero mark last recorded in 1979.

It was so cold in a place that bills itself as Snowtown USA that some events at the town’s winter festival were canceled. Organizers of this week’s Snowtown festival in Watertown in northern New York scratched a snowshoe tour, horse-drawn carriage rides, dog sled rides and a snow softball tournament as temperatures plunged below zero across the North Country. Organizers moved other outdoor activities to indoor facilities.

The weather posed the first test for New York City’s new mayor, Bill de Blasio, who was sworn in to lead the nation’s largest city a day before the heavy snow arrived.

De Blasio, who as public advocate in 2010 criticized his predecessor Mayor Michael Bloomberg for his handling of a large snowstorm, dispatched hundreds of plows and salt spreaders on the streets as soon as the snow started falling Thursday night.

“I feel great about the response,” De Blasio said Friday after shoveling the sidewalk outside his Brooklyn home. “We are vigilant. We are not out of this yet. As a great man said, ‘It’s not over until it’s over.’ But I like what I see in terms of the rigor and the intensity of the city response.”

In Hallowell, Maine, where temperatures dipped to minus 8 degrees Friday morning, David Wheelock used a shovel to search the snow where he dropped his keys outside his son’s copy and printing shop.

The 73-year-old lifelong Maine resident said he’s seen his fair share of bad winters and wasn’t too fazed by the snow and bitter cold. But he said it can be dangerous if people aren’t prepared for the worst, with things like back-up heat sources at home, and jumper cables and extra clothes in the car.

“I don’t always rely on someone else to come bail me out,” he said.

In the East, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered three major highways closed overnight. The Thruway between Albany and the Bronx, the Long Island Expressway and Interstate 84 between the Pennsylvania and Connecticut borders all reopened Friday morning. Southbound Interstate 95 closed in Philadelphia for several hours because of a jackknifed tractor-trailer.

Amtrak was running trains on all of its Northeast lines on Friday but operating on a modified schedule, spokeswoman Christina Leeds said. Commuter trains in and out of New York City were operating on reduced schedules.

Slick roads were blamed for traffic deaths in New York, Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois. Authorities said a 71-year-old woman suffering from Alzheimer’s disease froze to death after she wandered away from her rural western New York home.

As the storm approached, a worker at a suburban Philadelphia salt storage facility was killed when a 100-foot-tall pile of road salt fell and crushed him. Falls Township police said the man was trapped while operating a backhoe.

The snowstorm worked its way east from the Midwest, where it dropped up to a foot of snow on Michigan and more than a foot in parts of Illinois, prompting the cancellation Thursday of hundreds of flights at both Chicago airports. It merged with low pressure moving northeast off the mid-Atlantic coast, forming a nor’easter.