Lirr status unclear as Northeast digs out from bomb cyclone blizzard

A bomb cyclone that meteorologists have called the strongest in a decade left more than 2 feet of snow in parts of the Northeast, shut schools and disrupted flights; impact on lirr service is unclear in the provided context, and forecasters say another storm could arrive later this week. Communities are digging out even as roads, power and mass transit begin a slow recovery.

Lirr status unclear as neighbors, government workers and "Darth Vader" scramble

Neighbors and government workers scrambled to dig out much of the northeastern United States, aided in some places by a powerful railroad snow-clearing machine nicknamed "Darth Vader. " The cleanup followed a blizzard that blanketed the region with snow and left mass transportation starting to come back online in some cities by Tuesday.

Flights: thousands disrupted, more than 2, 000 cancellations Tuesday

The storm resulted in thousands of flight cancellations across the country; more than 2, 000 flights in and out of the United States were canceled Tuesday. Most of the cancellations involved airports in New York, New Jersey and Boston, compounding the challenge of moving people while roads and sidewalks remained piled with snow.

Schools split on reopening in New York City, Philadelphia and Long Island

New York City canceled classes Monday but Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that schools would reopen for in-person learning Tuesday. Spokespeople for Mamdani didn’t respond to an email seeking comment, but his schools chief, Chancellor Kamar Samuels, said in a post that they were "confident in our decision to reopen. " Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella said schools should remain closed, while Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, described the situation as "a big mess. "

Philadelphia switched to online learning Monday and Tuesday. Districts on Long Island and elsewhere in the New York suburbs said they would cancel school again Tuesday.

Storm strength, blizzard criteria and extraordinary snowfall totals

Meteorologists called Monday’s storm the strongest in a decade and said it dumped more than 2 feet of snow in parts of the Northeast. At least 20 locations officially hit blizzard criteria Monday, and 39 locations recorded more than 30 inches of snow, figures that underline the storm's severity across the region.

The weather service described the event as a "classic bomb cyclone/nor'easter off the Northeast coast. " A bomb cyclone occurs when a storm’s pressure falls by a certain amount within a 24-hour period, mainly in fall and winter when frigid Arctic air can reach the South and clash with warmer temperatures.

Outlook: clipper system, a Thursday mix and only light new accumulation near hardest-hit areas

The National Weather Service said it is tracking another storm that could bring more snow to the region later this week. Forecast guidance calls for a clipper system to move from the Upper Midwest into the Northeast over the next 24 hours, with the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the Tug Hill Plateau and parts of the Appalachians expected to see several inches of snow.

Forecasters said the areas just hard hit by the blizzard will likely see only light amounts from the next system — a dusting to 3 inches possible — and that the next system is not expected to be as strong. Frank Pereira, a meteorologist for the weather service in College Park, Maryland, warned that "any additional snow at this point is probably not going to be welcome. "

Another system Thursday is forecast to bring some rain to the Southeast and mid-Atlantic and a mixture of rain and snow to the Northeast, with no additional snowfall accumulation expected from that system.

Recovery under way: roads, power and transit making gradual progress

By Tuesday roads were beginning to reopen, mass transportation was coming back online in some cities, and power had returned for some of the hundreds of thousands who had lost electricity in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware and Rhode Island. Officials and residents faced the dual challenge of clearing heavy drifts while preparing for the possibility of more wintry weather later this week.