1,500 Flights Grounded by Third Nor’easter in Two Weeks

On Tuesday, March 13, the north-eastern United States was hit with its third substantial snow storm in two weeks, and it took a serious toll on travel.

The nor’easter was officially classified as a blizzard in some places around noon, when the National Weather Service recorded three straight hours of blizzard conditions. The storm brought winds of up to 60 miles per hour, and is expected to leave as much as two feet of snow behind in Boston and other parts of New England.

Blizzard warnings came along with warnings to commuters and travellers, promising “dangerous to impossible” travel conditions thanks to the piling snow and blistering wind. In a storm like this, visibility can also become a problem.

All told, about 1,550 flights were canceled on Tuesday, according to a report by CNN. More cancellations may be on the way, as the storm left a heavy, wet snow that can be hard to move in a hurry, and can leave a trail of ice behind. Most of the cancellations so far were in Boston’s Logan International Airport.

In addition, Amtrak suspended its Northeast Corridor service between Boston and New York, with no word yet on when it will reopen. Massachusetts, where the worst of the impact is expected, has cancelled all ferry services for the time being. The storm makes for choppy seas, as the Martha’s Vineyard Shipyard official Instagram account showed in a harrowing video on Tuesday afternoon.

This makes the third nor’easter to hit the region since the month of March began. On March 2, a storm turned into what meteorologists call a “bomb cyclone” just before it slammed the north-east. The ominous title made headlines and dominated news cycles for some time.

Many hadn’t fully excavated their homes and cars from that storm before another one hit last week. The watery snow lingered along the sides of roads right up until Tuesday, when it was compacted and buried by the fresh crop.