Snow in the West and flooding in the Northeast. And more foul weather is on the way
CONCORD, N.H. — Drenching rains, flooding and fierce winds stranded vehicles, shuttered schools and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands in the Northeast, the swan song of a bout of violent weather that battered most of the United States. Forecasters warned Wednesday that more misery was not far behind.
The storm hit the Northeast on Tuesday night and moved out Wednesday after toppling trees, downing power lines, and forcing water rescues on flooded or washed-out roads.
Another storm could bring heavy rain and high winds to the Northeast from Friday night into Saturday, forecasters said.
The effects of the storm by region, and what’s still to come:
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania
A couple of Pennsylvania communities got more than 4 inches (10 centimeters) of rain, and others came close. Emergency responders rescued some drivers as low-lying roads flooded.
In Lower Macungie, outside Allentown, a Mercedes remained in the middle of a now-dry two-lane road Wednesday afternoon, its owner having yet to retrieve it. An orange cone, a sign that rescuers had cleared the car, sat atop it. All told, first responders rescued four motorists in the bedroom community.
The storm surge at Philadelphia was the highest in records dating to 1900, said Jeff Masters, a meteorologist with Yale Climate Connections. The storm flooded roads, uprooted trees and cut power.
The previous high surge came during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
New England and Canada
Winds gusted to 95 mph (153 kph) at Maine’s Isle au Haut, an island in Penobscot Bay, said Jon Palmer, of the National Weather Service.
Winds pushed a parked but empty Southwest Airlines plane into a jet bridge early Wednesday at Portland International Jetport, Maine’s largest airport, officials said. No one was hurt, but a wing was damaged and a new aircraft was sent to operate the flight.
The storm canceled events and government functions in Maine, where some areas were still recovering from a snowstorm over the weekend and flooding the previous month. In a parking lot at a Portland wharf, lobstermen used pumps in an attempt to thwart floodwaters.
In Vermont, winds gusted to 70 mph, and rain followed heavy, wet snow. Many schools closed or delayed classes.
The storm also hit Atlantic Canada with snow, rain, and high winds and waves, closing schools and cutting power to thousands in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.
West
An avalanche at the Palisades Tahoe ski resort in California killed one person Wednesday and injured three others as a major storm with snow and wind gusts moved into the region, officials said. One The resort was the site of the 1960 Winter Olympics.
The storm is expected to bring as much as 2 feet (61 cm) of snow to the highest elevations in the Sierra Nevada by Thursday. The National Weather Service issued a rare snow squall warning as night fell Wednesday east of Reno, Nevada, with as much as 2 inches (5 cm) of snow per hour possible in some areas. The weather service said rare snowfall was possible on the Las Vegas Strip.
Storms in the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountains had already dumped 29 inches (74 centimeters) at Stevens Pass in Washington and 30 inches (76 centimeters) outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, according to the National Weather Service.
Authorities issued warnings for very dangerous avalanche conditions in mountainous areas of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Washington and Oregon.
