April snowstorm turns Northeast into a winter wonderland
A major winter-like storm unloaded up to 18 inches of snow in some parts of the interior Northeast. Elsewhere, heavy rains caused flooding and at least one fatality was blamed on the stormy weather.
By
Thomas Leffler, AccuWeather staff writer &
Allison Finch, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Apr 19, 2022 6:52 AM EST
|
Updated Apr 19, 2022 7:54 PM EST
This Pennsylvania town received heavy snow accumulation over the course of a few hours on April 18.
A major winter-like storm unloaded up to 18 inches of snow in some parts of the interior Northeast and set new April snowfall records in Pennsylvania and upstate New York. Elsewhere, the storm system unleashed heavy rains that caused flooding and at least one fatality was blamed on the stormy weather.
In Maryland’s capital of Annapolis, one death was blamed on the wet and windy weather. According to WBAL, a local news station, one man was found dead and three others were injured after a tree collapsed on a home Monday night.
In New York City, the heavy rain caused all southbound lanes of the Major Deegan expressway to close during Tuesday morning’s commute due to flooding. Northbound lanes of the highway were passable but still covered in water. According to ABC 7, a local news station, many vehicles were stranded on the highway and at least one car had to be towed.
Once the rain stopped Tuesday morning, the water started to recede and all lanes of the expressway were reopened at 9 a.m. EDT. Other low-lying areas in New Jersey and Connecticut experienced flooding Tuesday morning.
The highest snowfall totals came out of central New York near the Catskill Mountain Range and northern Pennsylvania. Around 10 a.m. EDT Tuesday, 18.0 inches of snow was reported in Virgil, New York, which is located about 125 miles west of the state’s capital of Albany. About 150 miles northeast of Virgil in Bleecker, New York, 18.0 inches of snow was also reported.
The highest snowfall total in Pennsylvania was just south of the New York border in New Milford, where 16 inches of snow fell. Hyde Park, Vermont, which is just south of the Canadian border measured 8.5 inches and Riverton, West Virginia, which is northeast of West Virginia capital of Charleston, measured 8.0 inches of snow Tuesday.
At Penn State University’s University Park campus 3.3 inches of snow was measured, making it the latest snow (1 inch or more) since 1993.
Many took to social media to express shock and dismay at having to witness so much snow during this stage of April, more than halfway through the month.
"Two days ago it was near 80 (degrees F)," one Maryland citizen commented via Twitter, "today it's snowing. Gotta love Maryland weather."
The sarcastic reply highlighted the lack of enthusiasm from residents who are wanting true springlike weather. Another comment summed up the situation in one word: "Yuck!"
Gusty winds accompanied the late-April storm with a gust of 67 mph clocked at Mystic Island, New Jersey, according to the National Weather Service. Other top wind gusts from Monday evening into Tuesday were clocked in North Cape May, New Jersey (66 mph); Atlantic City, New Jersey (65 mph); Lewes, Delaware (64 mph); and Nantucket, Massachusetts (62 mph).
The combination of heavy snow and windy conditions led to more than 310,000 power outages across the Northeast, according to PowerOutage.US. In New York, more than 196,000 customers were without power Tuesday morning and in Pennsylvania, more than 52,000 customers were without power. Maine and Vermont also reported more than 50,000 power outages combined.
On the New York and Pennsylvania border, Broome County in New York experienced a high volume of power outages, with nearly half of the customers in the county without power on Tuesday morning. Jason Garnar, the Broome County executive said that power restoration in the county with be a “multi-day event” according to a tweet from Bob Joseph, a journalist at the local news station, WNBF. Garnar said while the New York State Electric and Gas Corporation (NYSEG) works to restore the electricity, shelters will be set up for those without power.
The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Norton, Massachusetts, lost power around 12:30 a.m. local time, resulting in its radar being shut down while the peak of the storm passed through its forecast area. Just before 4 a.m. EDT, the power was restored and the radar became operational again.
A radar image showing a large storm system bringing rain, snow, and even a mix of snow and rain across the Northeast during the morning of April 19, 2022.
On early Tuesday morning, Binghamton, New York, reported 3 inches of snow in just one hour, an impressive hourly snowfall rate for a snowstorm regardless of the month. By Tuesday afternoon, Binghamton recorded 14.2 inches of snow, breaking the all-time April record for two-day snowfall, which was set back in 2007 when 13.6 inches fell from April 15 to April 16. The one-day snowfall record for April was also broken after 11 inches was measured since midnight Tuesday, breaking the previous record of 6.9 inches set back in 1983. This was also the latest date for 11 inches of snow on record, said the NWS.
The odd timing of the snowstorm impacted the spring's signature sport. Progressive Field, home to Major League Baseball's Cleveland Guardians franchise, had a coating of snow Monday morning. This became the impetus for the Guardians to postpone a scheduled Monday contest with the Chicago White Sox, rescheduling the April game for July.
The other Chicago squad, the Chicago Cubs, saw its iconic Wrigley Field also hit with snow approximately 90 minutes before a game with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Cubs game was not postponed, leading to the house organ instrument playing a rendition of "Let It Snow." Although not snow-related, the same storms forced a postponement of a clash between the New York Mets and San Fransisco Giants due to rain.
The cold and snowy weather across the Northeast will eventually fade away to more seasonable warmth during the second half of the week, allowing most of the snow to melt and for folks to once again put away their snow shovels, perhaps for the final time this season.
For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform.
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News / Winter Weather
April snowstorm turns Northeast into a winter wonderland
A major winter-like storm unloaded up to 18 inches of snow in some parts of the interior Northeast. Elsewhere, heavy rains caused flooding and at least one fatality was blamed on the stormy weather.
By Thomas Leffler, AccuWeather staff writer & Allison Finch, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Apr 19, 2022 6:52 AM EST | Updated Apr 19, 2022 7:54 PM EST
This Pennsylvania town received heavy snow accumulation over the course of a few hours on April 18.
A major winter-like storm unloaded up to 18 inches of snow in some parts of the interior Northeast and set new April snowfall records in Pennsylvania and upstate New York. Elsewhere, the storm system unleashed heavy rains that caused flooding and at least one fatality was blamed on the stormy weather.
In Maryland’s capital of Annapolis, one death was blamed on the wet and windy weather. According to WBAL, a local news station, one man was found dead and three others were injured after a tree collapsed on a home Monday night.
In New York City, the heavy rain caused all southbound lanes of the Major Deegan expressway to close during Tuesday morning’s commute due to flooding. Northbound lanes of the highway were passable but still covered in water. According to ABC 7, a local news station, many vehicles were stranded on the highway and at least one car had to be towed.
Once the rain stopped Tuesday morning, the water started to recede and all lanes of the expressway were reopened at 9 a.m. EDT. Other low-lying areas in New Jersey and Connecticut experienced flooding Tuesday morning.
The highest snowfall totals came out of central New York near the Catskill Mountain Range and northern Pennsylvania. Around 10 a.m. EDT Tuesday, 18.0 inches of snow was reported in Virgil, New York, which is located about 125 miles west of the state’s capital of Albany. About 150 miles northeast of Virgil in Bleecker, New York, 18.0 inches of snow was also reported.
The highest snowfall total in Pennsylvania was just south of the New York border in New Milford, where 16 inches of snow fell. Hyde Park, Vermont, which is just south of the Canadian border measured 8.5 inches and Riverton, West Virginia, which is northeast of West Virginia capital of Charleston, measured 8.0 inches of snow Tuesday.
At Penn State University’s University Park campus 3.3 inches of snow was measured, making it the latest snow (1 inch or more) since 1993.
Many took to social media to express shock and dismay at having to witness so much snow during this stage of April, more than halfway through the month.
"Two days ago it was near 80 (degrees F)," one Maryland citizen commented via Twitter, "today it's snowing. Gotta love Maryland weather."
The sarcastic reply highlighted the lack of enthusiasm from residents who are wanting true springlike weather. Another comment summed up the situation in one word: "Yuck!"
Gusty winds accompanied the late-April storm with a gust of 67 mph clocked at Mystic Island, New Jersey, according to the National Weather Service. Other top wind gusts from Monday evening into Tuesday were clocked in North Cape May, New Jersey (66 mph); Atlantic City, New Jersey (65 mph); Lewes, Delaware (64 mph); and Nantucket, Massachusetts (62 mph).
The combination of heavy snow and windy conditions led to more than 310,000 power outages across the Northeast, according to PowerOutage.US. In New York, more than 196,000 customers were without power Tuesday morning and in Pennsylvania, more than 52,000 customers were without power. Maine and Vermont also reported more than 50,000 power outages combined.
On the New York and Pennsylvania border, Broome County in New York experienced a high volume of power outages, with nearly half of the customers in the county without power on Tuesday morning. Jason Garnar, the Broome County executive said that power restoration in the county with be a “multi-day event” according to a tweet from Bob Joseph, a journalist at the local news station, WNBF. Garnar said while the New York State Electric and Gas Corporation (NYSEG) works to restore the electricity, shelters will be set up for those without power.
The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Norton, Massachusetts, lost power around 12:30 a.m. local time, resulting in its radar being shut down while the peak of the storm passed through its forecast area. Just before 4 a.m. EDT, the power was restored and the radar became operational again.
A radar image showing a large storm system bringing rain, snow, and even a mix of snow and rain across the Northeast during the morning of April 19, 2022.
On early Tuesday morning, Binghamton, New York, reported 3 inches of snow in just one hour, an impressive hourly snowfall rate for a snowstorm regardless of the month. By Tuesday afternoon, Binghamton recorded 14.2 inches of snow, breaking the all-time April record for two-day snowfall, which was set back in 2007 when 13.6 inches fell from April 15 to April 16. The one-day snowfall record for April was also broken after 11 inches was measured since midnight Tuesday, breaking the previous record of 6.9 inches set back in 1983. This was also the latest date for 11 inches of snow on record, said the NWS.
The odd timing of the snowstorm impacted the spring's signature sport. Progressive Field, home to Major League Baseball's Cleveland Guardians franchise, had a coating of snow Monday morning. This became the impetus for the Guardians to postpone a scheduled Monday contest with the Chicago White Sox, rescheduling the April game for July.
The other Chicago squad, the Chicago Cubs, saw its iconic Wrigley Field also hit with snow approximately 90 minutes before a game with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Cubs game was not postponed, leading to the house organ instrument playing a rendition of "Let It Snow." Although not snow-related, the same storms forced a postponement of a clash between the New York Mets and San Fransisco Giants due to rain.
The cold and snowy weather across the Northeast will eventually fade away to more seasonable warmth during the second half of the week, allowing most of the snow to melt and for folks to once again put away their snow shovels, perhaps for the final time this season.
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For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform.
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