United States Southeastern United States Areas in eastern
North Carolina and southeastern
Virginia saw upwards of of snow.
North Carolina North Carolina was one of six US states where a
state of emergency was declared due to the storm. Snow totals in the state ranged from less than in the east, from in the central part of the state and along the I-95 corridor, and from in the west.
Mid-Atlantic states Late on December 25,
WPVI-TV announced that the
National Weather Service had issued blizzard warnings for northern and parts of central New Jersey, New York City,
Long Island and coastal southern
New England.
Amtrak's
Acela Express and regular
Northeast Regional service was shut down completely between Boston and New York. Areas to the east of New York City received 10 to 20 inches while 20 to 30 inches of snow fell across New York City, Northeast and Central New Jersey and the Lower Hudson Valley.
WCAU-TV in
Philadelphia forecast a snowfall of between in Philadelphia itself (which received ), while nearby
Trenton, New Jersey and parts of southern
New Jersey were expected to receive snowfalls of or more. Wind gusts were expected to reach between . Delaware had declared a State of Emergency on Sunday evening.
Pennsylvania On December 26, several closures were announced on
KYW-1060 (the all-news radio station in
Philadelphia), including the
Please Touch Museum and
Independence National Historical Park. Philadelphia mayor
Michael Nutter declared a
snow emergency beginning at 2:00 p.m. local time. The
NFL game between the
Minnesota Vikings and the
Philadelphia Eagles at
Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, scheduled for Sunday, December 26, was postponed until Tuesday, December 28. Ironically, it was scheduled to be played Sunday afternoon, but flexed to the primetime slot, displacing the
San Diego Chargers-
Cincinnati Bengals game to the afternoon. Pittsburgh declared a State of Emergency Sunday afternoon with an expected accumulation of . as the result of the storm.
New York City The Greater New York area had sustained winds of 30–45 MPH with gusts to over 60 MPH during the afternoon and night of December 26. More than 400 passengers were stranded on the
A train on the
IND Rockaway Line for seven hours starting shortly before 1 a.m. One train did not open its doors when it stopped at the station. Dozens of
LIRR trains were frozen onto the platforms. Hundreds of plows were on the road. NYC's
major airports,
Kennedy,
Newark and
LaGuardia were shut down until 6:00 p.m. Monday evening. The MTA ran on a limited schedule, even on Tuesday morning, with many above ground subway lines not functioning. By Wednesday, only the
Sea Beach Line,
Franklin Avenue Line, and
Greenport Branch remained suspended. The subway resumed full service on Thursday, the LIRR Friday morning. Areas in and around New York City, which were most impacted by the storm, reported between of snowfall by Monday morning. Measurement was made difficult due to snow drifts caused by the winds. Central Park's reported of snow from the storm is the sixth-largest snowfall on record for that location. Residents of the city were complaining to Mayor
Michael Bloomberg about the slowness of the snowplows attempting to reach their areas. By the late afternoon on Tuesday, snowplows had reached the minor streets in
Brooklyn. Many residents of
Staten Island, however, had yet to see one. Many plows became stuck in the snow that had accumulated on the streets and several could not get through as many residents had simply abandoned their cars in the middle of roads once it became too hazardous or impossible to move. These cars became stuck as the snow accumulated around them, creating roadblocks for the plows. Both Mayor Bloomberg and the chief of the sanitation department were urging residents to stay indoors and not shovel snow back onto the streets that had already been plowed. State Senator
Carl Kruger called the response a "Colossal Failure". Multiple explanations have been proposed for the relatively slow response of the snow cleanup in the New York City metropolitan area. For example, the local media did not fully alert the general public until Christmas Day about the impending storm due to the complexity and lateness of the forecast models predicting the storm; thus, public awareness was delayed. Another possible cause was that Mayor Bloomberg had previously laid off 400 New York City Sanitation workers due to budget cuts; therefore, fewer plows were at work. In addition, some city workers who are responsible for managing the snow removal process had taken the day off from work during the storm due to the Christmas holiday. Also, a
snow emergency was not declared, contributing to the number of abandoned cars on the streets. On December 30, the New York Post reported that several sanitation workers confessed that cleanup was intentionally slowed down to protest the aforementioned budget cuts. On January 3, 2011,
WCBS-TV reported that prosecutors had obtained a video of two sanitation trucks driving down 155th Street in
Whitestone, Queens after the blizzard with their plows raised so as not to remove the snow. Allegations were also made that sanitation workers slept on the job, hung out at a doughnut shop for 11 straight hours while on the job, and drank beer for six or seven hours while on the job. Claims were also made that supervisors encouraged such work stoppages. However, a month later,
The New York Times reported that the allegations of a slowdown remained unsubstantiated and that Councilman Daniel Halloran, who had originally reported the confessions, had not named his sources. A man who attempted suicide by jumping from a ninth-story window was saved when he landed on a huge pile of garbage that had accumulated during the blizzard. Two casualties were reported as the result of emergency workers being unable to reach those in need: a newborn baby and an elderly woman.
New Jersey ,
Jersey City, New Jersey New Jersey declared a State of Emergency on Sunday, December 26. They were affected the hardest because of its high winds and snow. Over of snow was estimated in some counties such as
Union County.
Interstate 78,
Interstate 80, and
Interstate 280 experienced congestion, closures, and accidents.
New Jersey Transit suspended all bus service,
North Jersey Coast Line service, and
Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Service.
River Line service had partial closures and the
Newark Light Rail was delayed for 20–30 minutes. Many people in the state were stranded on roadways and only emergency vehicles were allowed on the roads. The highest amount recorded was in
Brick, New Jersey, where 36 inches of snow accumulated. and
Elizabeth had one of the highest totals of snow of any city affected by this storm, of heavy snow. Blizzard Warnings were prompted for eastern New Jersey, while Winter Storm Warnings were issued in the western portion. Blowing and drifting snow was a big problem on December 26 and 27.
Newark Liberty International Airport in
Newark had received of snowfall in about three hours, an instance of very heavy snow in a short time. Snow drifts as high as seven feet were spotted in portions of eastern New Jersey. The NJ Transit was shut down on late December 26 due to blizzard conditions occurring in the area.
Cape May was one of many southern New Jersey towns that were affected by snow bands containing four-inch per hour snowfall rates. When the storm was off the coast of New Jersey, bands of heavy snow formed one after another, increasing already-hefty snowfall amounts even further. There were reports of snow plows getting stuck in the snow late at night on December 26 and the early morning of the 27th. On the 26th, visibilities in some towns were less than 0.1 miles. This caused
whiteout conditions in towns along the
Raritan River and the Atlantic coastline. Cape May had reported nearly 15 inches of snow after the storm had moved out to sea. The town had lesser snow amounts due to a break in the southern half of the snow bands pivoting toward New Jersey. The snow totals were only expected to reach 10 to 15 inches at the highest. Instead, the highest amount was in
Brick, New Jersey where 36 inches fell, nearly 3 feet of snow fell. I-95 Northbound was mostly covered in layers of snow, which was dangerous for some drivers. The higher snowfall amounts occurred in central and northern coastal areas of New Jersey. The blustery winds in New Jersey gusted as high as 65 mph. The fact of the high winds caused the blizzard warnings to be issued by the
Mount Holly, New Jersey (
Philadelphia, PA area) National Weather Service officials. Snow fell so fast that traffic came to a complete halt. Motorists had to be rescued the following day as snow continued to pile up and trap them on interstates and local streets, which themselves became completely impassable. Citizens began calling into news stations asking for help and giving reports, while plows and other emergency personnel became stuck everywhere.
Newark Mayor
Cory Booker notably used Twitter to help stranded residents and assure citizens.
New England Connecticut Boston declared a State of Emergency Sunday afternoon with an expected accumulation of over . Heavy snow and winds of up to caused a gas station roof to collapse in
North Haven, and widespread tree damage and power outages throughout the state. Service on the
Metro-North New Haven Line and its branches was suspended on Monday due to equipment and switch failures caused by the storm. The greatest snow totals were in the western part of the state, with
Wilton receiving 18 inches of snow.
North Canaan reported 16.1 inches, and 13.9 inches of snowfall was reported at
Bradley International Airport. The blizzard was nicknamed Winter Storm "Adrienne" by
WFSB-TV Channel 3. The local CBS affiliate has unofficially named local winter storms since 1971.
Maine Blizzard conditions arrived in Maine on December 27. On December 28, a
ski lift at the
Sugarloaf ski resort derailed, causing several skiers to receive injuries after falling to the ground, sending seven to the hospital.
Massachusetts Coastal Massachusetts, along with coastal Maine, bore the brunt of the storm with a recorded wind gust of in
Scituate, Massachusetts. Wind gusts routinely over were widespread during the blizzard in coastal areas. Hurricane-force wind gusts of were recorded along coastal portions of Eastern
Massachusetts. High winds caused near zero visibilities and treacherous travel conditions in many areas. The strong easterly winds also piled up water along the eastern coast of Massachusetts, leading to major coastal flood damage.
Atlantic Canada In
Atlantic Canada, the nor'easter was the fourth major
winter storm to hit the area in four weeks. Blizzard conditions forced numerous road closures and resulted in the death of a minivan driver on December 27 near
Fredericton, Prince Edward Island. Wind gusts approached , and up to of snow fell in
New Brunswick, while
Nova Scotia was hit by heavy rain and unseasonably warm temperatures and rain continued in eastern
Newfoundland. ==See also==