Nor’easter Leaves Thousands Without Power While Creating Havoc in Air Travel

By Kurt Stolz on 26 October 2021
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Times Square in the rain.

Millions of people on the East Coast were preparing Monday night for a powerful nor’easter on the heels of a storm that was one of the strongest ever to hit the West Coast.

The National Weather Service in San Francisco reported an unprecedented 11” (28 cm) of rain at the base of Mount Tamalpas in Marin County while downtown San Francisco was drenched with 4” (10 cm) of rain, the fourth wettest day in recorded weather history that goes back to the days of the Gold Rush.  One storm system dropped to a barometric pressure of 945.2 mb – the equivalent of a major hurricane – making it the strongest storm to affect the Pacific Northwest on record.

Meanwhile, the governors of New York and New Jersey each issued state-of-emergency declarations ahead of the nor’easter, which is expected to bring with it up to 4” of rain as well as power outages.

Over 4,000 customers in the Northeast were already without power in the early morning hours, with over 600 in the borough of Queens in New York City.

“Take this seriously,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement Monday evening.  Hizzoner warned those who live in basement apartment to have plans in case of significant flooding.

On Monday, major storm systems left thousands in the Chicago area without power, as over 4” of rain fell in some parts of the region.

Almost 400 flights were cancelled at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport on Monday, with almost 1,000 delayed, according to statistics from FlightAware, a service that tracks such information.  On Tuesday, over 1,500 flights in the United States had been cancelled as of 10:30 a.m. EDT, while almost 800 are experiencing delays.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)

 

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