After leaving over 100,000 people across the south without power, a massive winter storm has now dumped record amounts of snowfall across parts of the northeast.
The 130-year-old record for snowfall in Philadelphia was blown away on Thursday and for the first time in the history of the city they have had four snowfalls of six inches or more in the same winter season. This winter is now in the top 5 for snowfall in the city’s history.
City officials told residents to stay home as the snow fell at rates of as much as 2 inches an hour. If someone had to travel, they were told to take a fully charged cell phone and warm clothes in the likely event they would be stuck by the conditions.
Bus and rail service was suspended throughout the region because of the unsafe travel conditions.
Meteorologists say the back end of the storm could bring a second major punch with significant snowfall including thundersnow.
As predicted, a huge winter storm has left tens of thousands across the south without electricity and placed layers of ice on trees and power lines.
The storm system is now bearing down on the northeast, potentially bringing a foot and a half of snow to Philadelphia, New York and Boston.
North Carolina officials reported scenes similar to two weeks earlier in Atlanta where drivers abandoned vehicles on roads so coated with ice that they were unable to continue driving. Commutes that normally lasted a few minutes were taking hours. Police across the region reported thousands of car accidents.
At least 14 people have been killed in incidents related to the storm. A teenager in Atlanta barely escaped being a victim when a tree quickly fell just feet from where he was standing.
The weather was so bad in parts of north Georgia that the Oconee County Sheriff declared Valentine’s Day to be canceled so men did not go outside to try and buy gifts for their wives.
The top two made it back-to-back-to-back.
Mississippi and Utah finished first and second for the third consecutive year in Gallup’s annual survey of the most religious states in the United States. The survey has been conducted annually since 2008.
Vermont and its neighboring New England states continue to rank near the bottom.
Mississippi reported that 61 percent of residents classified themselves as “very religious” meaning they consider religion to be an important part of their lives. They also attend a worship service at least once a week, many more than once. Utah is close behind with 60 percent. Alabama was third followed by Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia.
Vermont was the least religious with 22 percent of residents saying they were “very religious.” Vermont was followed by New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts and western state Oregon.
The poll showed the number of “very religious” Americans was up slightly at 41.4 percent while the number of “nonreligious” fell to 29.4, the lowest of any previous survey.
Hundreds of thousands of people across the northeast were without power on Wednesday morning after another major winter storm struck a wide area.
Reuters reported that over 550,000 people across the upper Midwest and northeast were in the dark Wednesday morning and it was likely the number would rise throughout the day as the storm continued to move east.
Up to a foot of snow is expected to fall along the East Coast. New York could receive up to 6 inches of snow and upper New York could see anywhere from 5 to 16 inches according to the National Weather Service.
Over 2,400 flights nationwide have been canceled because of the storm.
The storm is a second blast in week for the area. Last Monday a storm dumped heavy, wet snow over much of the same region.
Parts of the lower northeast are reportedly expecting a layer of ice to form on top of the snowfall making travel even more hazardous.
Another polar blast is heading toward the eastern United States and could bring heavy snow to the northeast.
The storm through the day Tuesday is predicted to bring up to 12 inches of snow to the eastern seaboard from Virginia to Massachusetts. The storm will also bring heavy winds that could cause snowdrifts, poor travel conditions and downed power lines.
The Federal Government shut offices for Tuesday in preparation for the storm’s arrival. Forecast models called for 6 to 10 inches in the capital.
In addition to the snow and winds, the storm will bring cold temperatures far into the south. Forecasters call for lows in the teens from towns as far south as Memphis, Tennessee through the entire northern part of the country.
Temperatures across the eastern U.S. could be as much as 25 degrees lower than normal for this time of year.
A massive winter storm that has brought snow over New England for the last 36 hours will end up dumping as much as 30 inches of snow in parts of Boston.
The storm has also brought temperatures in the dangerous range.
Most communities across the northeast are reporting temperatures that are topping out in the single digits above zero with wind chills significantly below zero.
New York City told residents to stay home until the storm ends. Meteorologists with the National Weather Service said the wind chill through the northeast corridor is so low that exposed skin could start to freeze in 15 minutes.
School districts across the region were closed to keep children safe.
Officials believe that temperatures will rise into the 40s on Sunday with rain helping to clear roads.
New England is in the path of a major snowstorm that will begin Thursday and continue into the weekend.
Two storm cells are merging in the mid-Atlantic region and moving up the Eastern seaboard. Blizzard like conditions are likely from New York through Boston and into Maine.
Officials say it won’t be one of the worst storms to hit the area but the frigid temperatures combined with the snow will make traveling through the area very hazardous. Residents are being warned that long-term power outages are a possibility from the heavy snow and high winds.
The storm is also expected to cause major headaches for travelers who are returning from Christmas and New Years vacations.
Transportation officials are warning that layers of ice are likely to form on highways after nightfall and are advising people to stay in through Friday if possible.
The latest arrests for Knockout Game attacks have surprising results.
A 14-year-old girl and three other children aged 10 and 11 were arrested for a series of assaults in October and November.
The victims include a youth the gang hit in the head with a rock and another who had a plastic bag held over their face to suffocate them.
“Kids are kids — when you’re talking 10 and 11 year olds getting involved in these type of things, sometimes they don’t realize the magnitude of what they’re doing,” NYPD Deputy Inspector George Fitzgibbon told reporters.
The police say that the attacks, despite only striking Jewish children, were not motivated by hate.
The youths were charged with assault, endangerment and criminal mischief.
A 20-year-old Long Island man is behind bars after police say he committed at least seven “knockout game” attacks dating back to April 2013.
Darryl Mitchell is expected to be charged today with the assaults of residents from Babylon, New York to Amityville, New York.
One of the victims, Darryl Jones, said that Mitchell came at him out of nowhere and landed a single roundhouse punch to the face. The blow caused a gash above his eye that required seven stitches.
“If I wasn’t strong enough, I probably would’ve passed out,” told WABC. “He was walking on the sidewalk and I moved out of the way just to step into the street and he stood in front of me holding up his hands and hit me in the face.”
The victims ranged in age from 17 to 69.
Civil rights leaders and music stars are joining together to try and put an end to the knockout game in New York.
Reverend Al Sharpton, hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and others have joined together for a series of social media announcements aimed at ending the violent game where a group of youths videotape a member of their gang striking a random stranger with the intent of knocking them out with one punch.
“The knockout game is not a game,” Rev. Sharpton said in a YouTube video. “It is vicious. It is ugly. It must be stopped.”
Sharpton then released a statement saying the game cannot be tolerated.
“These kids are targeting innocent people, and in many cases specifically targeting Jewish folks. We would not be silent if it were the other way around, and we will not be silent now. This behavior is racist, period. And we will not tolerate it,” he wrote.
Russell Simmons said in his video that those who participate in the game are cowards.
“How come you all want to hit people that look like they’ve got on devotional clothing and might not hit you back? Why don’t you hit somebody that might hit you back?” Simmons said in a video.
A newly elected New York Councilwoman wrote in an open letter that said many of her black constituents feel threatened by the growth of the Jewish community and that could be contributing to the increase in violence.