New York Blizzard Forces Citywide Travel Ban as Historic Nor'easter Batters Northeast
A powerful nor'easter sweeping the US north-east has prompted citywide restrictions in New York City and widespread disruptions across the region. The new york blizzard has produced heavy snowfall, fierce winds and coastal flooding that have led officials to close roads, suspend flights and declare states of emergency.
New York Blizzard prompts city travel ban and street closures
New York City imposed a full travel ban from Sunday evening until noon on Monday, closing all streets, highways and bridges to non-emergency traffic as the city prepared for heavy accumulations. Mayor Zohran Mamdani ordered the shutdown and announced schools would be closed; he warned the most severe snowfall could reach as much as 28 inches (70cm) overnight into Monday while earlier guidance set expected accumulations for the city at 18-24 inches. The ban came amid forecasts of temperatures falling to -6C (20F) in parts of the city.
Power outages spike in New Jersey and Mid-Atlantic states
Tracker PowerOutage recorded nearly 90, 000 properties without power in New Jersey, with tens of thousands more affected across Delaware, Maryland and Virginia as of 03: 00 local time (08: 00 GMT). Officials warned that gusts along the coast could reach 65-70mph (104-112km/h), increasing the risk of downed tree limbs and further outages.
Airports and events hit: thousands of flight cancellations and cultural shutdowns
Flight monitor FlightAware registered around 5, 500 US flight cancellations on Sunday, with hundreds of additional delays; thousands more flights were cancelled on Monday. New York’s John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports were among the worst affected. The storm also forced the cancellation of all Broadway shows on Sunday evening and led the New York Racing Association to call off Sunday’s eight races at Aqueduct Racetrack.
State responses: emergency declarations and National Guard on alert
States of emergency were declared across the region, with one governor declaring a statewide emergency and placing 100 members of the National Guard on ready alert. Officials in multiple states instituted travel restrictions or bans as the storm moved in. The measures were taken to manage the expected impacts on transportation, power infrastructure and public safety.
Snow, wind and forecasts from the National Weather Service
Forecasters warned the system could be the most powerful nor'easter in nearly a decade across much of the region and that 59 million people were under weather warnings. The US National Weather Service cautioned snowfall rates of an estimated 2-3 inches per hour, with total snowfall reaching 1-2 feet (30-60cm) in some places and creating "nearly impossible" travel conditions described as "extremely treacherous. " NWS meteorologist Cody Snell said the storm’s magnitude across a very populated part of the country had not been seen in several years.
Local snowfall reports and regional reach
Parts of the north-east were already blanketed before the main arrival: Manorville, New York, and Howell, New Jersey, each recorded 10 inches (25cm) of snow as of midnight local time (05: 00 GMT on Monday). Forecasters said much of the US north-east and Canada’s maritime provinces would be affected from Sunday evening into Monday, raising concerns about coastal flooding in addition to inland snowfall.
What makes this notable is the combination of rapid snowfall rates, widespread power loss and coastal wind gusts concentrated over a highly populated corridor—conditions that have driven unprecedented public-safety actions, from travel bans to mobilizing the National Guard. The timing of the storm, moving in from Sunday evening into Monday, compressed the window for late evacuations and last-minute travel, magnifying the immediate impact on commuters, airports and event schedules.
Residents and officials continued to brace for further accumulations and hazards as crews prepared for emergency response and power restoration amid the historic storm.
