Extreme weather conditions have gripped the United States East and West coasts, as heavy rain and snow wreaked havoc across the northeastern part of the country on Tuesday.
New York and New Jersey declared states of emergency to free up additional resources, as a powerful coastal storm called a “nor’easter” barreled through the region and New England.
More than 15 million people across the northern Atlantic seaboard were under winter storm warnings, with the National Weather Service warning of widespread minor coastal flooding and tree damage.
Precipitation and strong winds had knocked out power to more than 260,000 homes across New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the website PowerOutage.us.
The Berkshires in northwestern Massachusetts had the heaviest snowfall with recordings of 71 centimetres in the town of Windsor.
Local police have urged residents to stay indoors and off the roads.
Almost 300 flights were cancelled Tuesday at Boston’s Logan International Airport while more than 250 were scrapped at New York City’s LaGuardia airport, according to the website FlightAware.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, California continues to be pummelled by heavy rain, with flood watches and warnings put in place.
The worst affected regions were expected to be the central coast and inland towards the Sierra Nevada mountain range where more snow was forecast to add to an already bumper snowpack.
Forecasters said conditions in the mountains were “very dangerous” with a high risk of avalanches.
A parade of storms has pummeled California this winter, leading to damage estimated in the billions of dollars as they washed out communities, brought down power lines and caused landslides.