A blizzard paralyzes New York

In the heart of New York, Central Park was enveloped in a beautiful white coat on Tuesday, the megacity and other regions of the northeastern United States – more than 30 million inhabitants – paralyzed by 30 centimeters of snow in places.

The results of this blizzard, as expected by American Weather: More than 1,220 flights to and from New York were canceled by midday, including nearly half at LaGuardia Airport, more than a quarter at Newark, New Jersey’s largest airport, and the New York suburbs, according to the FlightAware website. , as well as 20% traffic on the historic JFK Airport platform.

“avoid moving”

Schools, courts and even government offices are closed and roads are almost deserted after the National Weather Service (NWS) advised motorists to drive away. “with the greatest caution” Or “Avoid traveling if possible”. New York City (8.5 million inhabitants), its emblematic places like Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge or Times Square and all the suburbs where millions of other inhabitants live, were covered in the morning with a thick and magnificent white coat, reminiscent of images. Epinal in the winter of one of the most famous cities in the world. A few joggers and dogs in Central Park but already a few snowmen and snowball fights, according to AFP photographers.

The last snowfall in the city was on January 16, completing 700 days without snow. “Four to eight inches (10 to 20 cm) of snow expected with winds gusting to 65 km/h” During the day, according to the New York City (NYC) warning system. 2.5 to 5 cm of snow fell per hour since morning “certain areas” of the New York metropolitan area, particularly in the residential suburbs of Westchester County, north of the city, between the Atlantic and Hudson rivers, according to the NWS. The same thing to the west, in the industrial and bedroom suburbs of New Jersey, and to the east on the Long Island peninsula that points to the Atlantic.

Change in atmosphere

In total, 32 million residents of the states of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania are affected by the severe weather, according to the NWS, with New Jersey towns receiving up to 33 cm of snow. Except for a small snowy episode in mid-January, New York City has not seen this much rain since February 2022. On the other hand, in Christmas 2022, “Snowfall of the Century” And more than a meter of snow in the north and west of the vast state of New York, mostly rural, caused dozens of deaths, especially in the city of Buffalo on the Canadian border, hundreds of kilometers northwest of New York City. In the United States and the rest of the world, climate change is increasing the frequency, intensity, and unpredictability of summer and winter weather.