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| Winter storm Juno |
A crippling blizzard predicted to dump historic snowfalls swept into the American north-east as shops reported panic buying, airlines cancelled thousands of flights and governors announced states of emergency and travel bans.
Meteorologists forecast up to two feet of snow would fall in New York city in a few hours while 30 inches could carpet Boston.
But just as alarming were the heavy winds that would drive the snow as gusts were expected to reach 50mph in New York and near hurricane-strength 70mph in Cape Cod, whipping up towering drifts and exacerbating the rapid accumulations.
As the storm bore down on America’s most populated corridor, a 250-mile stretch from New Jersey to New England, political leaders had the same message for the 50 million residents in its path: go home and stay there.
“It will be like a tidal wave of snow,” predicted Henry Margusity, a meteorologist with AccuWeather forecasting company, while the National Weather Service described the storm as “life-threatening”. Some regions were expected to be battered by “thundersnow” with thunder and lightning accompanying intense downpours of snow. » | Philip Sherwell, New York | Monday, January 26, 2015
