NEW YORK (AP) — The latest nor’easter lost some punch as it rolled into New England on Thursday, as millions of others in the Northeast dug out from the storm that dumped more than a foot of snow in some places, knocked out power to tens of thousands of customers and had many wishing for more spring-like weather.
“We’re supposed to be getting ready for Easter, not a nor’easter,” said 46-year-old Raeme Dempsey, as her 6-year-old daughter, Jadalynn, pulled her toward a Philadelphia park so they could see the trees blanketed in freshly fallen snow.
Long Island took a hard hit, with Bay Shore and Patchogue leading the way with 19 inches of snow. While some parts of Pennsylvania saw more than a foot of snow, major cities along the Interstate 95 corridor saw much less. New York City’s Central Park recorded about 8 inches while downtown Philadelphia got 7.
The storm weakened a bit in the early hours of Thursday, and Boston expected to escape with just a few inches of snow before it tapered off Thursday afternoon. Along the Massachusetts coast, winds gusted to 40 mph (64 kph) and some towns dealt with flooding.
“It’s time to move on to another season,” said Pancho Ortega, who was clearing the sidewalk outside his soon-to-open restaurant in Philadelphia.
Airlines canceled more than 4,000 flights Wednesday, but airlines lumbered back into service throughout the Northeast on Thursday. On the ground, Amtrak scaled back service on the Northeast corridor between Washington and Boston, and continued a modified schedule Thursday. At least two traffic deaths were reported in New Jersey and on New York’s Long Island.
Patience wore thin as the fourth major storm in three weeks pounded the region.
“I want warm! I’m done with the cold,” said Yana Damoiseau, a pedestrian in New York City.
In New Jersey, some streets flooded along the shore, including one in Point Pleasant Beach where a pair of ducks cruised back and forth through an intersection where a plastic garbage can bobbed in the waves. The state’s major utilities reported slightly more than 75,000 customers without service early Thursday.
The storm also unloaded snow on Virginia and West Virginia as it pushed into the Northeast. Virginia reported more 240 traffic accidents.
But not everyone was sick of the snow.
In Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania, about 90 miles outside Philadelphia, 10-year-old siblings Talia and Miles Broadhurst made their own fun on yet another day off from school, climbing onto the family SUV and sliding down the snow-slicked windshield and hood before plopping onto the snow.
“If the snow keeps me away from school, I’m fine with it,” Miles said.
