NEW YORK - A snow storm and brutally cold weather targeted the New York City region on Tuesday into Wednesday, causing serious traffic and transit problems all over.
The National Weather Service says 16 inches of snow fell in Manalapan, N.J. Parts of Maryland have 11, as does New York City. At Philadelphia's airport there's 13.5.
Winter Storm Warnings were posted for New York City, Long Island and parts of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut for Tuesday, January 21, 2014. They were replaced by Wind Chill Advisories early Wednesday with "real-feel" temperatures below zero.
New York City, Long Island and parts of New Jersey saw a foot or more of snow due to the storm.
New York City's Office of Emergency Management issued a Hazardous Travel Advisory.
The NYC Sanitation Department was in full alert with workers on 12-hour shifts and 450 salt spreaders and more than 1,700 snow plows on the roads, according to Commissioner John Doherty. New Yorkers can track the progress of clearing operations by using the PLOWNYC feature at NYC.gov.
The plowing of snow on many roads was proceeding slower than normal because of the high number of cars on the road and the traffic that caused, according to city officials, including Mayor Bill de Blasio and Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty. Traffic on the Upper East Side and well as in Midtown was especially brutal, with cars barely moving.
The mayor urged motorists to stay off roads so that snow plows can "do their job." He also asked New Yorkers to avoid driving at night and on Wednesday morning to allow the Sanitation Department to get as much accomplished overnight when the snowfall was expected to die down.
Schools across the tristate region dismissed students and staff early on Tuesday. NYC public schools were open on Wednesday, the school chancellor said late Tuesday night.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie declared a state of emergency on Tuesday afternoon.
A few hours later, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo followed suit and declared a state of emergency for New York City, Rockland, Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk.
A charter bus went off the road and slid down an embankment on I-80 in Roxbury Township, N.J., Tuesday evening, according to State Police. At least three people suffered minor injuries. The bus was heading east when the accident occurred neat Exit 28. Police shut down the right and center lanes while the recovery and investigation is underway.
NJ Transit was cross-honoring tickets system wide on Tuesday and Wednesday to give customers additional travel options. That enables customers to use their ticket on an alternate travel mode. It was operating trains on an enhanced weekend schedule on Wednesday.
Metro-North and Long Island commuter railroads were reduced service after 8 p.m. Tuesday because of snow accumulation. The MTA said the measure is designed to lower the risk of trains becoming stranded. Train and bus service was being reduced on Wednesday, as well.
"If you have a mass transit option, use mass transit tonight," said de Blasio, who also urged New Yorkers to "stay in this evening."
Alternate side of the street parking rules in NYC were canceled for Tuesday and Wednesday. Parking meters remained in effect.
Trash and recycling pick-ups in NYC were canceled for Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Port Authority placed crews on 12-hour shifts to deal with snow removal at the airports and bridges and tunnels.
By Tuesday afternoon, more than 2,200 flights were canceled and thousands more delayed at airports from Washington to Boston.
The snow also forced the cancelation of Christie's party for his second inauguration that was scheduled for Tuesday night on Ellis Island.
The snowfall will be done early Wednesday but the cold weather will set in for several days. The high temperature on Wednesday is only going to be around 18 degrees.
A Wind Chill Warning and other advisories were posted for several counties in the tristate area.
