An exceptionally powerful and reportedly deadly winter storm that brought historic snowfall totals to large portions of the mid-Atlantic and New England finally moved out to sea on Sunday evening, though the fallout from the winter weather was still being felt on Monday morning.
The National Weather Service reported parts of six states received more than 30 inches of snow, including a whopping storm-high total of 42 inches near Glengary, West Virginia. Another seven states saw at least a foot of snow, and five states experienced wind gusts that exceeded 60 mph.
There were conflicting media reports on the death toll, though Reuters reported 31 people died.
Schools in several states remained closed on Monday as the cleanup process continued. The National Weather Service’s office for Baltimore and Washington, where some of the storm’s record totals were posted, said it would likely take several days to clear all roads and sidewalks.
The Weather Channel is referring to the storm as Winter Storm Jonas.
Record snow totals were seen in parts of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland, the National Weather Service said, and in some cases the previous marks were obliterated.
The service reported that Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown, Pennsylvania, saw 31.9 inches of snow in two days, including 30.2 on Saturday alone. The previous single-day and two-day records were 7.7 inches and 25.6 inches, respectively, and records dated back to 1922.
The service noted that Allentown usually only sees 32.9 inches of snow in a year, meaning the recent storm came within three-tenths of an inch of exceeding the region’s yearly snow total.
The storm also set snowfall records in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, (30.2 inches total, 26.4 inches on Saturday), Baltimore-Washington International Airport (25.5 inches on Saturday), JFK International Airport in New York (30.3 inches on Saturday), Laguardia Airport in New York (27.9 inches on Saturday), and Newark, New Jersey, (27.5 inches on Saturday), the service reported.
More than 8,000 United States flights were cancelled on Friday and Saturday, according to flight monitoring website FlightAware.com, a large percentage of them in the areas impacted by the storm. Another 1,509 U.S. flights were cancelled as of noon ET on Monday, the site reported.
Cities or airports that didn’t quite see record amounts were still busy digging out from the snow.
More than 22 inches of snow fell in Washington, the National Weather Service reported, and the city’s suburbs saw between 19 and 39 inches. The Office of Personnel Management said all federal government offices were closed Monday, and the city’s public schools were also closed.
In West Virginia, where the storm’s highest snow totals were posted, the state Department of Education reported that schools were closed entirely in more than 50 of the state’s 55 counties.
The storm also created hazardous travel conditions, in some cases stranding motorists.
In Pennsylvania, Governor Tom Wolf’s office reported that two trucks jackknifed while trying to climb a mountainous stretch of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, blocking traffic behind them. According to a news release, 250 first responders helped evacuate the motorists, and authorities also set up warming stations, passed out food and gave away gas to allow cars to remain warm.
The Virginia State Police responded to 1,410 crashes and 2,040 disabled vehicle calls between Friday and Sunday morning, according to a Twitter post. The agency reported five people in the state died from hypothermia.