Twitter/@dcassell (NEW YORK) — A massive nor’easter pummeling the East Coast is responsible for at least five deaths.
The storm strengthened rapidly Friday, undergoing what’s known as bombogenesis or “bombing out,” when a low-pressure system drops 24 millibars in 24 hours. Dubbed a “bomb cyclone,” the catchphrase was coined earlier this year as a nickname for another nor’easter back in early January.
At least five have died in the storm. A 6-year-old boy died in Virginia after a tree fell on his family’s home, officials said. Others include an 11-year-old boy hit by a falling tree in New York state and a 77-year-old woman struck by a branch outside her home in Baltimore.
The latest
3:00 p.m. ET: It’s snowing across much of the interior northeast this afternoon, including Syracuse and Albany, New York; New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania. Sussex County, New Jersey, has already seen 10 inches of snow.
New York City is seeing a mix of rain, snow, sleet and winds.
Connecticut and Boston are getting hit with heavy rain, flooding and whipping winds. The highest wind recorded so far was 78 mph in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, and in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.
High wind warnings
3:00 p.m. ET: High wind warnings remain in effect with gusts from 50 to at least 65 mph from the Carolinas to Massachusetts.
Over 2.2 million customers are without power from Massachusetts to Virginia.
In Pennsylvania, a school bus was toppled over by high winds. No students were on board, and the driver’s injuries were minor.
In Tewksbury, Massachusetts, a driver escaped with non-life-threatening injuries after a tree fell on this car, officials said.
In Washington, D.C., winds reached 71 mph at Dulles Airport and 62 mph at Reagan International Airport.
Prince William County Public Schools in the Washington, D.C., area are closed today due to high wind warnings.
The federal government has also shuttered all of its offices.
Travel at a standstill
3:00 p.m. ET: Over 1,000 flights have been canceled in the United States today, according to FlightAware. Nearly half of all scheduled flights at New York City’s LaGuardia Airport have been canceled today, the airport said.
Amtrak said it is temporarily suspending service along the Northeast corridor.
Flooding in Massachusetts
3:00 p.m. ET: Coastal flood alerts are in effect from Maryland to Maine, with major and possibly record coastal flooding expected in Boston area tonight into Saturday.
The third highest tide on record happened today at Boston Harbor, reaching 14.67 feet.
“Do not try to drive through the water!” the Duxbury Fire Department in Massachusetts said. “This person needed to be rescued from their vehicle.”
“I can’t stress this enough: This is not a snowstorm, but it’s a heck of a storm and people need to take it seriously,” Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said at a news conference Thursday night.
The forecast
3:00 p.m. ET: Blizzard warnings have been issued for parts of upstate New York, which could see 50 mph winds, whiteout conditions, an additional foot of snow this afternoon.
Parts of New York, Pennsylvania and northwest New Jersey could see 1 to 2 feet of snow through this evening.
By tonight the nor’easter will pull away, leaving lingering rain and snow for coastal spots from Atlantic City to Boston.
By early Saturday morning, the region will be much drier, but the threat of winds and coastal flooding will remain into mid-day Saturday.
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