US storm not yet over

Blizzard in the US’ northeast has caused transportation chaos, disrupting air, rail and road travel [EPA]

Just as air travel was getting back to normal in the UK, it has all started falling apart again elsewhere – this time in the US.

The storm currently hitting the Eastern Coast of the US is a record breaker – many places have never seen this much snow fall so quickly.

If you have this type of snow storm coming, there is nothing you can do to fight it. You have to simply sit back and wait for it to pass.

On the plus side, at least it was well forecast. Warnings were given in plenty of time and people knew there would be widespread disruptions. People had time to change their plans, or just expect a long wait.

We forecast winds gusting up to 100kph and snowfalls of 50cm. With these conditions, there was always a strong chance of seeing power outages. We are already hearing the first reports of this in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Airports knew they would be forced to close. JFK is reporting 26cm of snow so far, with winds gusting to 50kph. It is impossible to operate in these kinds of conditions.

The situation in JFK is not exceptional; in fact elsewhere it is even worse. Ponoma in New Jersey is reporting 56cm of snow on the ground and Boston is being buffeted by 83kph gusts of wind. They are also suffering freezing fog, so everything is being covered by thick ice.

And the storm is not over yet.

The blizzard warning remains in affect from Maine to New Jersey. With the exception of New Jersey, these warnings go out until 17 GMT Monday. This is still a few hours away, so it is going to be a while before we can really assess the damage.