Winter Storm Warning

National Weather Service
January 11, 2011

A winter storm that forced the cancellation of thousands of flights across the U.S. South yesterday is bearing down on New York with as much as 14 inches of new snow.

The storm, which will head into Boston after hitting New York, will be a "pretty standard nor-easter," said Jeff Masters, co-founder of Weather Underground Inc. in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

"It is going to bomb off the East Coast and intensify rapidly," Masters said. "It will not be as intense as the post-Christmas Day nor-easter, but it is still a respectable snowstorm for January."

Snow is expected to start falling about 9 p.m. in New York with the highest amounts on Long Island, said Andy Carolina, a meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania. "I would anticipate disruptions in travel for that Wednesday morning commute," Carolina said. The snowfall should be over in New York, except for some flurries, by tomorrow afternoon.

Philadelphia may receive 3 inches to 7 inches, with 2 inches to 4 inches in Baltimore and 1 inch to 3 inches in Washington, the National Weather Service stated.

The storm is expected to disrupt air travel from Chicago eastward through the U.S. Northeast. At least 491 flights have been canceled so far today, according to FlightAware in Houston, Texas. At least 2,259 flights were canceled yesterday, with 1,044 of those originating from Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, according to the flight-tracking company's website. Delta Airlines scrubbed 1,608 flights, or about 25 percent of its regular schedule yesterday.

The storm comes two weeks after a blizzard struck New York and the Northeast, dropping at least 20 inches of snow on Central Park and forcing the cancellation of more than 8,000 flights.

The Dec. 26-27 storm left some New York City streets unplowed for days and garbage pickups backlogged. It cost New York at least $20 million of its $38.8 million snow-removal budget, according to the city's Sanitation Department. This massive financial hurdle was made only higher by the difficult state of affairs in the Big Apple after Nov. 8th's tragic riots and the institution of martial law in the city.

Mayor Sylvia Lockheart stated that she will "personally ensure" that the snow removal is not hindered during this storm as it was during the last. Curfew hours and limited road traffic are expected to improve snow removal, though the treacherous state of many New York City streets are likely to slow or hinder snow removal in neighborhoods that have not yet seen revitalization of the city's damaged infrastructure.

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