Residents across the U.S. Northeast awoke Friday to steady snow that could bring a foot or more of accumulation to many areas, and a sloppy mix of sleet and ice to other spots.
Pennsylvania_Weather_47599 Jason Fried scraps ice off the windshield of his minivan, on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, in Erie, Pa. "I'm over it," said Fried, 42, of the latest batch of winter weather in the Erie region. (Christopher Millette/Erie Times-News via AP)
Christopher Millette/Erie Times-News via AP
Winter_Weather_63244 Cars drive on snow covered Interstate 495 North in nearly whiteout conditions during a winter storm in Haverhill, Mass., Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. Parts of New England are expected to receive about a foot of snow from the storm. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
AP Photo/Charles Krupa
Winter_Weather_Vermont_06338 Andy Brown, a highway equipment operator for the Brattleboro, Vt., Public Works, drives a snowplow to clear the streets during a snowstorm that hit the area on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. (Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP)
Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP
Winter_Weather_Vermont_03004 Zackerie Nichols, of Brattleboro, Vt., walks down Putney Road during a snowstorm that hit the area on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. (Kristopher Radder /The Brattleboro Reformer via AP)
Kristopher Radder /The Brattleboro Reformer via AP
Winter_Weather_Vermont_03113 Chris Pratt, a Brattleboro, Vt., resident, clears his vehicle off during a snowstorm that hit the area on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. (Kristopher Radder /The Brattleboro Reformer via AP)
Kristopher Radder /The Brattleboro Reformer via AP
Winter_Weather_Vermont_02330 Greg Worden, owner of Vermont Artisan, in Brattleboro, Vt., shovels the sidewalk in front of his business during a snowstorm that hit the area on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. (Kristopher Radder /The Brattleboro Reformer via AP)
Kristopher Radder /The Brattleboro Reformer via AP
Winter_Weather_Massachusetts_47406 Parking attendants clear the crosswalk in front of the public garage in downtown New Bedford, Mass., Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, after another snow storm covered the area. (Peter Pereira/The Standard-Times via AP)
Peter Pereira/The Standard-Times via AP
Winter_Weather_05941 Pat Napoli shovels snow from his driveway during a winter storm Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, in Haverhill, Mass. Parts of New England are expected to receive about a foot of snow from the storm. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
AP Photo/Charles Krupa
Winter_Weather_49797 A U.S. Postal Service delivery vehicle heads up a hill on a snow covered road during a winter storm in Derry, N.H., Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. Parts of New England are expected to receive about a foot of snow from the storm. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
AP Photo/Charles Krupa
Winter_Weather_New_York_10482 An immature American Bald Eagle stands on the edge of the ice in Irondequoit Bay in Irondequoit, N.Y. on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. Residents across the Northeast awoke to a steady snow that could bring a foot or more of accumulation to many areas, and a sloppy mix of sleet and ice to other spots. (Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat & Chronicle via AP)
Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat & Chronicle via AP
Winter_Weather_New_York_01387 Snow covers the street in in Rochester, N.Y., on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. Residents across the Northeast awoke to a steady snow that could bring a foot or more of accumulation to many areas, and a sloppy mix of sleet and ice to other spots. (Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat & Chronicle via AP)
Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat & Chronicle via AP
Winter_Weather_New_York_11112 Snow covers Interstate 490 in Rochester, NY on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. Residents across the Northeast awoke to a steady snow that could bring a foot or more of accumulation to many areas, and a sloppy mix of sleet and ice to other spots. (Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat & Chronicle via AP)
BOSTON (AP) — A snowstorm that started in the predawn hours Friday dumped nearly a foot of accumulation in some areas of the U.S. Northeast by the time it wound down late in the day, while other spots contended with a sloppy mix of sleet and ice.
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for most of New England and eastern New York, and a winter weather advisory stretching from Ohio into coastal areas of southern New England and northern Maine.
By mid-afternoon, some areas of New England had received more than 10 inches (25 centimeters) of snow, and the weather service warned of a flash freeze in the evening hours as temperatures dropped from the low 30s into the low 20s, causing wet roads to freeze over, making driving dangerous.
Governors across the region urged residents to stay off the roads if possible, and slow down and keep a safe distance from plows if driving.
“If you don’t have to travel tomorrow, we urge you to consider staying home, and if you do need to travel, please use caution throughout the day,” Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said in a statement late Thursday.
Major airports across the region reported hundreds of outgoing flight cancellations, including more than 300 at Boston’s Logan International Airport and more than 100 at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.
With travel treacherous, the New York State Thruway temporarily reduced the speed limit to 45 mph (72 kph) across a large stretch of the highway on Friday morning, and the speed limit on the Massachusetts Turnpike was reduced to 40 mph (64 kph).
Police reported multiple accidents. Massachusetts State Police reported a jackknifed tractor-trailer on the Braga Bridge in Fall River, and a tractor-trailer rollover on the Massachusetts Turnpike in Auburn.
In Vermont, emergency vehicles responded to a crash involving about 30 vehicles northbound on Interstate 89 in Milton. The Vermont State Police confirmed one fatality. Other injuries were not life-threatening, officials said. The crash occurred at about 4 p.m. in heavy and blowing snow amid icy road conditions.
Slick roads caused by the weather were blamed for four traffic fatalities in Missouri, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said. The victims included a 74-year-old Warsaw woman who died Friday after a crash a day earlier on Interstate 44 near St. Louis. The car she was a passenger in was going too fast for wet road conditions when it hit a concrete median barrier, authorities said.
The other victims were an 18-year-old man from Ballwin, a 52-year-old man from St. Peters and a 54-year-old man from Ashland.
Commuter rail service was temporarily suspended on a section of New Jersey Transit’s Morris and Essex Line after a tree fell on overhead wires in Chatham.
A commuter train was delayed in Massachusetts when it struck an unoccupied sidewalk snowplow that had been left on the tracks in Waltham. No one was hurt.
Public school children in many Northeast states were on vacation this week, but schools and colleges that were still open opted to either cancel classes for the day or make Friday a remote learning day.
Ski areas cheered the fresh snow that came after unseasonably warm temperatures earlier in the week.
“Mother Nature is officially confused as to how to spend her time, but she seems to have a great short-term plan for now,” Mad River Glen in Fayston, Vermont, said on its website Friday.
