A powerful nor’easter dumped several inches of snow across New York City Wednesday.
Snowfall was at its heaviest in the late afternoon and early evening, according to the National Weather Service, impacting the evening commute for many. Thundersnow, or snow accompanied by thunder and lighting, was also reported in the city during the afternoon.
While meteorologists initially predicted that parts of the city would get up to 12 inches of snow, the highest amount recorded was 4.1 inches in Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn. Middle Village in Queens got 3.5 inches, Oakwood Heights on Staten Island got 3.8 inches, Central Park got 2.9 inches and Morris Park in the Bronx got 2.5 inches, according to the latest NWS totals.
Mayor Bill de Blasio, during an afternoon news conference, urged New Yorkers to report any heat or hot water outages. At least four New York City Housing Authority developments had reports of outages Wednesday, he said.
NYCHA’s Office of Emergency Management activated its situation room in order to manage its response to storm-related issues, according to the mayor’s office. The room will be staffed by different departments from city agencies to “ensure situational awareness, incident tracking and response coordination.”
The housing agency also increased the number of heating services staff who were expected to be on hand overnight to deal with any storm-related issues.
The Department of Transportation suspended alternate side parking for Thursday.
Public schools remained open, according to the Department of Education. Field trips, after-school programs and all other activities were expected to continue as planned.
The forecast for Thursday and Friday is partly sunny with temperatures in the low 40s, the NWS said.
