ENGLISH     NYT1206snow

Early Winter Storm Snarls Travel and Knocks Out Power
By ANTHONY DePALMA


The first major winter storm of the season ? uncommon in its timing and its intensity ? bullied its way up 
the Eastern Seaboard yesterday, snarling airports and highways, closing schools and offices and blanketing 
New York with more snow in a single day than the city received through all of last winter.  

The vast storm caused thousands of traffic accidents from North Carolina to Connecticut as it barreled 
across a third of the country in the last few days, powered by a blast of arctic air and an 
intensifying El Ni?o that meteorologists are predicting will cause extreme weather well into next year.

For many, though, the oddest aspect of the storm was that so much snow fell so early. Winter does not 
formally begin until Dec. 22, but meteorologists consider the first week of December the beginning of 
the season.

Nothing like this storm has come to New York City since 1938, according to meteorological records. 
Coming just a week after Thanksgiving, and with leaves still clinging to the sycamore trees in Bryant 
Park, the snow was a blustery dose of weather reality for those lulled by years of mild winters into 
thinking that the season is no longer what it used to be. 

The six inches that fell on Central Park by late last night was nearly double the 3.5 inches that was 
recorded throughout all of last winter. 

"This could be payback time," said Frederick J. Gadomski, a meteorologist at Pennsylvania State 
University. "Cold and snow are still a part of New York winter weather. This early taste of winter 
should be a reminder of that."

And a reminder that snow brings both economic costs and benefits. For ski resorts in the area, the first 
significant snowfall since February 2001 is a welcome blast of winter. The storm will also lay down snow 
cover that will help replenish reservoirs badly hurt by a lack of significant snow last year. Malls and 
stores just beginning their crucial holiday shopping seasons are hoping that the snow will be a wash, 
making it difficult for shoppers to travel for a while but convincing them that Christmas is only three 
weeks away. 

The storm was also a fiscal reality check for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and other elected officials 
in the region, who are struggling to balance their budgets. For them, the accumulating piles of snow look 
like nothing so much as mounting debts. "Every mayor would love to have very few snow days," 
Mr. Bloomberg said yesterday as he took command of the first snow emergency of his administration.

Facing a $6.4 billion deficit next year, the mayor equated snowflakes with dollar signs, telling reporters 
that it costs the city about $1 million an inch to clear the snow. A four- to six-inch snowfall in the 
first week of December would clearly make a substantial dent in the city's $20 million snow removal budget. 

Still, streets had to be cleared. The city's armada of 1,000 plow trucks and 2,300 sanitation workers began 
work at daybreak and continued throughout the day as the snow continued falling heavily, snarling traffic 
on city streets and for suburban commuters throughout the region. 

Gray skies and swirling snow made it difficult to see more than a few blocks around Times Square, and 
forced Staten Island Ferry pilots to slow down crossing times until visibility improved. 

But the signs of winter were unmistakable everywhere. By late afternoon, street corners in Times Square 
were overflowing with slush the consistency of leftover farina; snowblowers that had not been fired up 
all last winter were coaxed, stumbling and coughing, out of storage; and bicycle messengers tried to 
continue looking cool as they negotiated slippery streets while pedaling in yellow rubber boots. 

Meteorologists at the National Weather Service consider this storm "noteworthy" because of its power and 
unusual timing. They have followed it intensely since it gathered strength in the Western states earlier 
this week. Jim Hoke, director of the service's hydrometeorological prediction center, said the storm 
ran along a rough axis from Oklahoma to North Carolina before turning northeast along the coast. 

"That's when a nor'easter developed off the North Carolina coast," Dr. Hoke said. 

Continued
1 | 2 | Next>>

Early Winter Storm Snarls Travel and Knocks Out Power
(Page 2 of 2)

The storm hit North and South Carolina particularly hard, pelting large sections of the states with 
freezing rain and unaccustomed snow. Electric service to 1.5 million people in both states was 
knocked out, and highways became automotive skating rinks as drivers with little experience with 
freezing conditions tried to negotiate dark and snow-slicked roads. 
 
At least 20 people have died in the storm since it roared out of the West, news agencies reported. 
Authorities said eight people were killed in traffic accidents in Kentucky and Missouri. On Long Island, 
the acclaimed tenor saxophone player Bob Berg, 51, of East Hampton was killed and his wife, Arja, 52, 
was injured yesterday morning on Route 27 when their car was struck by a cement truck, the authorities
 said. She was in stable condition last night in Southampton Hospital, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Carolina Power and Light reported that 470,000 customers in North Carolina were without power yesterday 
afternoon. Duke University had to cancel a national Internet chat it had planned for prospective 
students Wednesday night because the organizers could not get to the campus. 

After turning toward the Northeast, the storm plowed up the coast, dumping six inches of snow in 
Washington, Baltimore and other major cities.

The snow made winter seem to encroach on autumn the way the hockey season seems to overlap with 
football. The last time it snowed so much so early was in 1938, when a late November storm dumped
 8.8 inches in New York City.

Yesterday morning, snow started falling in the New York region about 7 a.m., beating forecasts by 
a few hours. Classes in many southern New Jersey schools were canceled before children arrived. 
In other areas, schools were open but classes were dismissed early. 

Two days of subfreezing temperatures earlier in the week meant that snow began accumulating as soon 
as the first flakes hit the pavement, offering the kind of day tow truck drivers like Frank Guenther 
live for. 

"Today is the money day," said Mr. Guenther as he hooked chains from his tow truck to a white Ford 
van that had spun off the Garden State Parkway near Pleasantville, N.J. Mr. Guenther, 37, said his 
family's business, Guenther & Sons Towing, had 10 trucks out and could not respond to all the calls
 that came in. 

Sgt. Kevin Rehmann of the New Jersey State Police estimated that there were hundreds of minor accidents 
across New Jersey. And although the southern part of the state received more snow, Sergeant Rehmann 
said it was the more heavily traveled northern section, around Interstates 80, 78 and 287, where 
most of the accidents were concentrated. 

On Long Island, there were power failures and at least 280 minor accidents by midafternoon, even as 
hundreds of snowplows tried to keep major expressways clear. Thomas R. Suozzi, the Nassau County 
executive, said the county's budget problems made the early snow more unwelcome than usual. 
He estimated that the storm would cost the county nearly $150,000, and said, "If this happens an
 awful lot between now and the end of the year, we're going to have a problem." 

Keeping highways clear and traffic flowing also taxed New Jersey's officials. Kevin Davitt, 
a spokesman for Gov. James E. McGreevey, said the state had spent money clearing roads after
 a series of small ice storms in recent weeks. "While the budget for snow removal and storm 
preparation is not broke," Mr. Davitt said, "it's perilously close, and this doesn't help."

The region's trains were a far safer and more reliable bet than cars for most of the day. 
The Metro-North Railroad reported that its trains were running on or close to schedule 
throughout the day. New Jersey Transit and the Long Island Rail Road began experiencing 1
5- to 20-minute delays by early evening. 

The snow and near freezing temperatures caused mounting delays of up to five hours at 
metropolitan area airports. By late afternoon, flights leaving Newark Liberty International 
Airport were delayed by as much as four hours. Incoming flights did little better, being 
delayed by about two hours. Dozens of flights were canceled throughout the day. 
La Guardia Airport and Kennedy Airport both had substantial delays and cancellations. 
Noting that hundreds of travelers were likely to be stranded, Mayor Bloomberg encouraged 
them to bring "books and magazines to read."

In Connecticut, which was hit hard by a snowstorm last week that skirted New York and New Jersey, 
Gov. John G. Rowland ordered agency heads to dismiss all nonessential state workers at 1 p.m. 
A long line of cars, their headlights glittering in the gray afternoon, stretched down arteries 
leading out of Hartford. Children throughout the region were delighted by the early onset of winter, 
and undoubtedly hoped that a big snowfall during the first week of December would lead to many other 
snow days ? and school cancellations ? before spring, which is not entirely wishful thinking. 

"It certainly is possible that this storm is a harbinger of what is to come this winter," said 
Dr. Hoke of the National Weather Service. With El Ni?o threatening to stir up trouble, there is an 
increased likelihood of more winter storms, he said, but "winter storms do not necessarily mean snow" 
in this area. 

Despite the professional prognostications, some people remain convinced that old-fashioned winters 
are unlikely to return. 

Keith Desimone, a computer network consultant from Garden City, N.Y., who works on Wall Street, 
said he doubted the early snowfall was an omen of a cruel winter. "Weather is so crazy, I wouldn't 
count on it," said Mr. Desimone, 25. "For all we know, this could be the only snow we get all winter." 

<