East Coast blizzard halts travel, cancels 8,000+ flights

More than 40 million people are waking up under blizzard warnings this morning as a powerful winter storm barrels up the east coast

Overnight, snow and wind intensified from the mid-Atlantic through southern New England

with snowfall rates hitting 1 to 2 inches an hour in some areas and gusts strong enough to create whiteout conditions

New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, all under blizzard warnings from this massive system

In New York, a state of emergency is in effect. A citywide travel ban remains in place through midday and schools are closed for what the mayor called the first old school snow day since 2019

Mayor Zoran Mamdani ordered most travel banned across the city from 9 p.m. Sunday until noon today

only allowing emergency and essential traffic as crews prepare for the height of snow and wind

Governor Kathy Hochul warned this could rank among the worst in the city's history

This will be something the likes of which we've not seen in years. And in fact, New York City is bracing for one to make some history

being the top 10 worst winter storms in the last 150 years

Pennsylvania is also preparing for major impacts in and around Philadelphia. Governor Josh Shapiro laid out what the area is expecting

Listen to this. We expect there to be very, very significant snowfall in the Philadelphia region

Right now, those estimates are about 18 to 24 inches. Wow. Air travel is already heavily disrupted

The airlines have canceled nearly 8,500 flights today, with major hubs in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia largely shut down

The heaviest snow is forecast to taper off later this afternoon, but the wind and risk of power outages could linger