A Record! Blizzard '06 Officially Biggest (in NYC)

AP via WCBSTV.com ^ | 2/12/06 | AP

[conservative in nyc]

A record storm blanketed the city in 2 feet of snow on Sunday, stranding tens of thousands of air travelers and sending sanitation workers into overdrive to try to get the streets passable by Monday.

By 1 p.m., the National Weather Service reported that 26.9 inches of snow had fallen in Central Park, the highest tally since records started being kept in 1869. The record was 26.4 inches in December 1947. The snow is measured by the official Central Park measurer for the National Weather Service.

The storm caught some New Yorkers by surprise, coming on the heels of an unusually mild January.

"It's sort of crazy because it was so warm a couple of weeks ago and now we have knee-deep snow," said Skye Drynan, walking her dogs Bella and Forest in lower Manhattan early Sunday.

With visibility at less than a quarter mile, Mayor Michael Bloomberg urged New Yorkers to stay off the roads.

"This is a dangerous storm," Bloomberg said. "Don't drive unless you have to."

The mayor, speaking at a salt storage facility on the Hudson River, said that with 2,200 snow plows and 350 salt spreaders working, he hoped to have all the city's 6,300 miles of streets cleared by Monday's rush hour.

Bloomberg said 2,500 Department of Sanitation employees were working in 12-hour shifts, with vacations and days off canceled, and temporary workers were being hired at $10 an hour to shovel snow.

The storm closed all three of the region's major airports, and airlines canceled more than 500 inbound and departing flights -- 200 each at La Guardia and Newark airports and 120 at Kennedy. The Port Authority said Kennedy could be open by 5:30 p.m., but La Guardia will not open until at least 6 a.m.

[conservative in nyc]

26.9 inches of Global Warming in Central Park. The forecasts were way, way too conservative. It's finally stopped snowing.

The Broadway shows will go on and most of the subways are running (except where they go in open-cut viaducts in some of the outer boroughs).

[Mamzelle]

Well, is it pretty, anyway?

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

I was cheated. Only about 8" light and fluffy.

[burzum]

The Broadway shows will go on and most of the subways are running (except where they go in open-cut viaducts in some of the outer boroughs).

What? No strike when the people are defenseless?

[mware]

Looks like the kids in NYC may get the first snow day in a decade.

[BenLurkin]

Bush responsible: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1577217/posts?page=1

[JRios1968]

And of course, it's because of Global Warming, and it's ALL Bush's Fault.

[abner]

My car is in there somewhere...

[rwfromkansas]

you are lucky....man, I would love to see something like that here

[iPod Shuffle]

It is almost 90 degress in Los Angeles.

[Mercat]

The Great White Hurricane of 1888 beats it in serveral categories.

[big'ol_freeper]

Cecil County, MD 20 inches.

[Katya]

90 degrees...yuck, that sounds awful. I couldn't live without four real seasons...my kids and I put in a whole day of sledding....sitting down with a mug of cocoa.

[jecIIny]

As a New Yorker recently transplanted to the left coast, I read this with a certain sadistic glee. I need to call some family members and ask them about the weather (its sunny and 75 here).

[aliquando]

We have not had a decent snow in years. I don't mind but my kids feel like their missing out on a lot of fun. Speaking as someone who lived in the Pocono's until I was ten, they are missing great fun.
Enjoying life in Atlanta!

[jimbo123]

Central Park rocked this afternoon. The kids loved it. Nice that the snow happened on a weekend.

[soccer_maniac]

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Looks beautiful....

springtime temps here at the the SoCal beach....

[Hank Rearden]

It is almost 90 degress in Los Angeles.

It's always 90 degrees in Los Angeles, with light and variable gunfire. Boooooring.

I lived in L.A. long ago, and didn't know how much I'd truly appreciate seasons once I abandoned it.