Event Summary

A rapidly intensifying low pressure system tracked from off the Southeast US coast on Christmas Day and then passed the Mid Atlantic Coast on Sunday December 26th to just east of Long Island by early Monday morning December 27th. This intense low pressure system spread snowfall into the region Sunday morning, with bands of heavy snow plus embedded thunderstorms and very strong winds affecting the region Sunday afternoon through Sunday night. The powerful blizzard (defined when sustained winds or frequent gusts greater than or equal to 35 mph accompanied by falling and/or blowing snow, frequently reducing visibility to less than 1/4 mile for three hours or more) brought a widespread area of 20 to 30 inches of snow across the NYC metro and Lower Hudson Valley, with 10 to 20 inches across Long Island. The heavy snow was accompanied by area wide winds of 25 to 40 mph and gusts in excess of 60 mph Sunday afternoon into Sunday night, resulting in near whiteout conditions with blowing and drifting snow and making all forms of travel extremely difficult to nearly impossible. In fact, all three major New York Airports were closed during and for a period after the storm. Bus service was severely hampered, and all service on the LIRR and several lines of MTA North, MTA subway, and PATH were suspended Sunday night into Monday morning due to high snow drifts. New York City struggled with snow removal due to the overwhelming blowing and drifting snow and stranded or abandoned buses and cars littering the streets, which severely hampered emergency services response times. In addition, 8000 customers lost power in New York City and Southern Westchester Counties, 8500 in Putnam and Northern Westchester, and 12,000 on Long Island during the height of the storm. Strong winds blew roofing material off a warehouse on the 2900 Block of Richmond Terrace in Mariner's Harbor, striking nearby power cables and resulting in the streets closure between Union and Dehart Avenues Sunday night, December 27th. Strong winds and whiteout conditions forced the closure of the lower level of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge Sunday night as well.