New York: After an unusually mild winter, marked by positively spring-like weather, tens of millions of Americans in the US north-east on Monday braced for a powerful winter storm that threatened to blanket parts of the region with as much as 2 feet of snow.
Even before the first flake fell, as the storm churned and gathered strength in the mid-Atlantic Monday afternoon, officials in New York ordered all aboveground subway service suspended on Tuesday - only the second time they have taken such a precaution in the history of the system.
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Train service on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad was also expected to be significantly impacted, and officials said they would make a decision about the commuter railroads at 4.30am Tuesday.
Several states pre-emptively declared states of emergency, and in Connecticut, Governor Dannel Malloy ordered all cars off the roads starting at 5am Tuesday. New Jersey Transit announced the suspension of all bus service, and modified service on its rail lines.
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The fast moving storm was expected to be at its most intense during the morning, when wind gusts of more than 80 kilometres per hour could create blizzard conditions, and officials ordered schools across the region closed on Tuesday.
In states all along the Atlantic Coast, officials announced the deployment of an armada of snow-fighting equipment even as they warned people to avoid the roads.
In advance of the storm, airlines cancelled thousands of flights on Tuesday, and local and state leaders from Maryland to Massachusetts urged residents to avoid travel if possible.
The National Weather Service, in its weather alert, noted that "even small changes in the track of the coastal low will lead to extreme shifts in snow totals".
If the forecasts hold, the late winter storm could smash records for March snowfall in the region and could come close to topping the record in New York City, 27.5 inches (69cm), which was set in January 2016.
Parts of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts were expecting up to 45cm of snow, and a blizzard watch was posted that included Boston.
New York Times