Winter Storm Kenan 2022 LIVE–Blizzard brings 24 inches of snow as roads and rail are brought to a standstill

Winter storm deaths in 2020

According to Statista, six lives were claimed in 2020 from winter storms.

More people died that year from extreme cold, as 13 lives were lost.

How winter storms cause deaths

Most who die from winter storms are not killed by the weather itself.

A majority of the deaths are traffic accidents on icy roads.

Some also die from heart attacks while shoveling snow, and hypothermia from prolonged exposure to cold weather.

College student found dead in New York

A college student died after being found outside a bus garage exposed to subzero temperatures, authorities said.

Tyler Lopresti-Castro was found near the Silas Lane Bus Garage by two city employees, according to the Oneonta Police Department.

Video footage from the garage shows the 20-year-old emerging from a wooded area behind the garage around 2:15am.

“A search of the surrounding area indicates Tyler may have walked off the roadway… climbing through the snow and crossing a drainage creek before emerging on Oneonta City property,” said Police.

The SUNY Oneonta college student was “suffering from extended exposure to extremely cold, subzero temperatures,” said police.

He was taken to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Video shows street flooding

In Massachusetts, several areas became flooded as the winter storm rocked the state.

Videos are circulating social media of Nantucket streets underwater.

PATH trains resume schedule

In New York and New Jersey, the PATH train service has announced it will operate on its Sunday schedule today.

24′ in Bristol, Rhode Island

The town received a reported 24 inches of snow and had 67mph wind gusts, which classified the storm as a blizzard.

Crash caught on video

A speeding SUV crashed into a concrete curb during the storm.

No injuries were reported from the incident.

Eastern Massachusetts gets over 30″

The morning forecast by The Weather Channel reported that some parts of Eastern Massachusetts were dumped with over 30 inches of snow.

Motorists stuck in snow on east coast

New York City received up to a foot (30 centimeters) of snow by mid-afternoon Saturday.

Police on Long Island said they had to help motorists stuck in the snow.

In Philadelphia, where 6 inches (15 centimeters) fell by early Saturday, few drivers ventured onto streets covered in knee-high drifts.

Delaware allowed only essential personnel to drive in two of its three counties.

Virginia, where a blizzard this month stranded hundreds of motorists for hours on Interstate 95, did not hesitate to get resources at the ready.

Ocean City, Maryland, recorded at least a foot (30 centimeters) of snow. Maryland State Police tweeted that troopers had received more than 670 calls for service and responded to over 90 crashes by midmorning.

114,000 People without power

Power outages were limited in most of the impacted states, with the exception of Massachusetts, where 114,000 out of 2.6million customers were without electricity, according to PowerOutage.us.

The storm hit nearly 44 years to the day after a monstrous blizzard crippled New England in 1978.

Dumping more than 27 inches (70 cm) of snow on Boston, that storm killed dozens of people, trapped others in their homes and shut down major highways for a week.

Coastal flooding hit Boston area

In the seaside town of Newburyport, north of Boston near the New Hampshire border, officials strongly encouraged residents living along the shore to move to higher ground.

Video posted on social media showed wind and waves battering North Weymouth, south of Boston, flooding streets with a slurry of frigid water.

Other video showed a street underwater on Nantucket.

Tens of thousands of homes and businesses lost power in Massachusetts, with failures mounting over the day Saturday.

Weather considered ‘serious’ threat

AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said: “The area that we think will be hit the hardest and will be at risk for closures will be central and eastern Long Island to New England.”

His colleague Jonathan Porter added: “This is going to be an intensifying storm that will produce a lot of wind, which raises concerns for blowing and drifting snow, power outages and blizzard conditions in some areas.

“There is also a serious coastal flooding and beach erosion threat, especially in eastern Massachusetts.”

Another winter storm is brewing

Another winter storm is already brewing and is expected to hit central parts of the US around the middle of next week, the NWS has warned.

With the current storm still battering the eastern states, it looks like more Americans will suffer further significant snow, sleet, and freezing rain.

While the NWS said it was too early to give accurate information it added “a large, impactful and potentially significant is possible from the southern Plains through the lower Great Lakes”.

What happens during a cyclone?

It occurs when a midlatitude cyclone rapidly intensifies, dropping at least 24 millibars — A millibar measures atmospheric pressure — over 24 hours.

This can happen when a cold air mass collides with a warm air mass.

An example is when chilly air moves over warm ocean waters.

The formation of this rapidly strengthening weather system is a process called bombogenesis, which creates what is known as a bomb cyclone.

How much snow did New York get?

According to the National Weather Service, the City was expected to receive between 8 to 12 inches of snow, as well as severe winds all weekend.

On Saturday night, the powerful snowstorm moved more deeply into southern New England, according to the National Weather Service.

Storm Kenan is New York’s first major snowstorm of the season.

The snowfall went up to nearly 8 inches later that day, according to weather reports.

NYC sees giant snowball fight

Hundreds of New Yorkers braved Winter Storm Kenan to participate in a massive snowball fight Saturday afternoon at Washington Square Park.

The packed event was loosely organized by a group of local comedians called Sidetalk NYC.

The comedians simply posted the place and time in a casual invite on their Instagram account on Saturday morning, when there was about five inches of snow already on the ground.

Four hours later, hundreds of fun-seekers were ready to dish out some snowballs in a classically chaotic New York snow day.

“We announced it today at 10:30am and had over 1,000 people pop out for the snowball fight at 2:30pm,” Sidetalk NYC creator Jack Byrne said.

As the winter war snowballed, some people were even seen taking off their shirts in the heat of the battle.

Trains through northeast canceled

All Acela train service between DC and New York/Boston was canceled by Amtrak.

“Travel is not recommended through [Saturday] evening,” said the NWS New York City office. “If you must travel, use extreme caution and have a winter survival kit with you.”

“Get home safely tonight, remain home over the weekend, avoid any unnecessary travel,” said Hochul in a statement.

Over 78,000 customers were without power in Massachusetts, according to PowerOutage.Us. Cape Cod was hit the hardest with nearly a third of customers dealing with outages.

Over 1,000 flights canceled on Sunday

According to FlightAware, 1,211 flights in the US were canceled on Sunday.

This comes after 3,500 flights were canceled across the US Saturday.

The cancelations include almost every flight in or out of Boston and well over 1,000 flights in the New York City area.

Jet slides off runway in Chicago

Terrifying video shows the moment when a jumbo jet skidded off the snow-covered runway at O’Hare Airport in Chicago.

The China Airlines Cargo 747 crashed into cargo bins after sliding across the slick, snowy runway.

One of the cargo bins was sucked into the left engine, which erupted into smoke. In the video, the plane comes to a stop after being shaken by the crash.

No injuries were reported, said the Chicago Fire Department.

Boston Public Works trying to clear snow

The Boston Public Works Department shared video on Twitter of teams trying to clear snow from the streets.

“We currently have 900 pieces of equipment clearing Boston streets,” the department tweeted on Saturday.

Horror pile-up caused by snowplow

Footage shows the moment a “reckless” snowplow driver sparked a 40-car pile-up after spraying debris and ice into traffic.

At least 12 people were injured following the incident on the Ohio Turnpike in Erie County last Sunday.

Temperatures dropped to a bone-chilling 19F as drivers navigated treacherous conditions.

Video shows the snowplow spraying large amounts of hardened snow and slush into the path of motorists traveling in the opposite direction.

Michael Lemon, who filmed the remarkable footage on his dashcam, told 3WTKR: “I’ve never seen anything like that. I didn’t know how to react.

“I was just dumbfounded that somebody could be so reckless.”

Around 40 cars were caught up in the incident. One was left with a hole the size of a beach ball in its windshield, while another was seen in a ditch off the highway.

East coast slammed by ‘Arctic Blast’

An Arctic Blast has other names that might be more familiar such as polar vortex or a blue norther.

The International Business Times defines an Arctic Blast/polar vortex as the following.

“a low-pressure area that typically forms around the North and South Poles that strengthens and weakens year over year.

“A strong vortex is typically a well-defined cold front that is contained and bordered around the arctic regions,” the article reads.

Dangerous conditions continue into Sunday

The National Weather Service posted a series of key messages for the upcoming storm to Twitter, courtesy of its Weather Prediction Center.

“A powerful and dangerous winter storm will bring significant impacts to portions of the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, and New England through Saturday,” the NWS wrote.

Blizzard conditions are expected along the coast, with heavy snow, strong winds, whiteout conditions, and power outages.

“Significant coastal impacts are possible, including coastal flooding and beach erosion,” the NWS wrote.

Snowfall accumulations greater than 12 inches are expected along the Northeast coast, with some regions facing two-foot snowfall estimates.

Dangerous temperatures will likely continue into Sunday morning.

Elderly woman found dead in her car

An elderly woman was found dead in her car overnight in Uniondale, New York.

The woman, who has not yet been identified, was found by a snow plow operater, Nassau County executive Bruce Blakeman said.

Blakeman added the cause of death had not been officially determined but speculated that she likely suffered a heart attack or another sudden health event and was unable to get help while stuck in the storm.

“It’s a sad situation, but it illustrates how dangerous it is, people should not be out unless it’s absolutely necessary,” Blakeman told NBC New York Saturday.

Winds reach 76mph in Massachusetts

Provincetown, MA, has been battered by wind gusts reaching 76mph as Winter Storm Kenan hits the northeast.

Wind speeds have reached 66mph south of Plymouth while Nantucket saw wind gusts of up to 60mph, according to the National Weather Service.

Some parts of Provincetown were also reported to experience power outages due to the storm.