New York tells nonessential state employees to stay home

NEW YORK - A strong late winter storm lashed the northeast of the United States with blizzard on Tuesday, grounding more than 6,000 flights and knocking out power to about 250,000 customers.

New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland and Pennsylvania have declared states of emergency.

It was easily the biggest storm in a merciful winter that had mostly spared the US Northeast, and many weren't happy about it.

"It's horrible," said retired gumball-machine technician Don Zimmerman, of Lemoyne, Pennsylvania, using a snowblower to clear the sidewalk along his block. "I thought winter was out of here. ... It's a real kick in the rear."

Eighteen centimeters of snow fell in New York while the city's northwest suburbs have seen more than 30 cm. At least 50 cm of snow was observed in parts of eastern Pennsylvania.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has instructed nonessential state employees to stay home. In Massachusetts, where the forecast called for 30 to 45 cm of snow, Governor Charlie Baker encouraged motorists to stay off the roads and to take public transit only if absolutely necessary, saying the fast snowfall rates would make driving hazardous.

The storm came just days after the region saw temperatures climb into 15 C, and less than a week before the official start of spring. February, too, was remarkably warm.

"The winters seem to be upside down now. January and February are nice and then March and April seem to be more wintry than they were in the past," said Bob Clifford, who ventured out on an early morning grocery run for his family in Altamont, near Albany, New York.

His advice: "Just hide inside. Hibernate."

Schools in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and elsewhere were closed.

The airports with the most cancellations are: Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey; LaGuardia Airport in New York; JFK International Airport in New York; Logan International Airport in Boston; Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in Maryland.

At least 817 flights have been canceled for Wednesday, according to FlightAware.com.

Hundreds of passengers were stranded at Kennedy Airport due to flight cancellations in New York. The aboveground portions of the New York subway system were shut down.

Massive power outages occurred in Massachusetts. More than 60,000 electric customers lost power during the storm in Massachusetts, the state's emergency management agency said.