Winter Storm Grounds Flights as It Hammers Northeast

More than 1,500 flights canceled on Wednesday as snow blankets East Coast from West Virginia to Massachusetts

  • Share
  • Read Later
J. David Ake / AP

Crews work to remove the snow from the tarmac at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21, 2014, after winter storm battered the Mid-Atlantic region

Updated: Jan. 22, 2014, at 7:15 a.m. EST

A fierce winter storm that hammered the eastern United States on Tuesday continued to cause disruptions Wednesday, with commuters and travelers facing dangerous road conditions and at least 1,500 canceled flights.

Stretching from Kentucky to New England, the storm hit hardest along the heavily populated Interstate 95 corridor between Philadelphia and Boston. Some areas saw almost a foot of snow, and the white landscape was expected to remain at least for the rest of the working week, with temperatures staying below freezing. The winter-storm warnings that were issued in 13 states carry into Wednesday morning, and blizzard warnings in Cape Cod, Mass., will continue through midday, Weather.com reports.

A state of emergency called Tuesday afternoon in Delaware, New York and New Jersey, will lapse at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, but commuters have been urged to avoid driving, in part to make way for workers to clear the roads. Early Wednesday morning, 1,700 plows are expected to hit the roads in New York in an attempt to clear away the snow.

PHOTOS: Winter Storm Pounds Northeast

With wind chills in New York City causing the mercury to plummet into the negative teens, the city’s Office of Emergency Management has called the conditions “life-threatening,” citing increased risk of hypothermia and frostbite. Public schools in Boston and several districts in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky will remain closed on Wednesday, the Associated Press reports.

This story was updated to provide the most recent details about the storm.