Massive snowstorm slams Northeast, triggering travel bans and forcing thousands of flight cancellations

A massive winter storm slamming the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic with blizzard conditions on Monday has prompted travel bans in some cities and states and forced thousands of flights to be canceled. 

More than 40 million people are under blizzard warnings along 700 miles of the East Coast from Maryland to Maine. The region is grappling with slick roads and whiteout conditions.

Travel bans

Some are being told not to leave home unless absolutely necessary, as heavy snowfall, high winds and coastal flooding continue.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a ban on all nonessential travel until noon Monday, leaving its normally busy streets deserted.

Travel restrictions were also issued for Long Island and Westchester, New York, as well as New Jersey.

The National Weather Service said travel conditions were “nearly impossible.”  

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the storm was expected to make history as one of the top 10 worst winter storms in the last 150 years. Some parts of New Jersey and Long Island were seeing just shy of two feet of snow early Monday as the storm continued to strike.

Heavy snow and gusty winds were creating blizzard conditions between New York City and Boston, causing chaos on Interstate 95. On highways in Connecticut, some drivers resorted to pushing their cars stuck in the snow, while others left to tend to their vehicles caught up in wrecks that caused hours-long traffic delays.

In Boston, the mayor urged people to stay off the roads. Parts of New England could get up to two feet of snow. 

“Boston is no stranger to nor’easters, but this is gonna be a big one,” said Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. “And so we need everyone to just be inside, stay warm, stay safe, and let the plows do their work.”

More than 400,000 power outages were reported across the East Coast as of early Monday, according to poweroutage.us. Many of them were in Massachusetts and New Jersey. 

Flight cancellations and delays

More than 10,000 flights have been canceled through Tuesday, according to flight tracking service FlightAware.

Flights are basically suspended from Philadelphia north to Boston. Many of the cancellations are at major hubs in Boston, New York and Philadelphia, although Baltimore and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia are also seeing a significant number of cancellations.

Airlines began canceling flights on Saturday to get ahead of the storm. Cancellations for Monday topped 5,300, while Sunday saw more than 3,400 cancellations.

Over 1,300 U.S. flights have been canceled for Tuesday, which is also when airlines are hoping to resume service in some areas.