Snow storm socks area still recovering from Hurricane Sandy

The portion of the U.S. northeast ravaged by Hurricane Sandy is being hit by snow storm The Weather Channel has dubbed Athena.

While the National Weather Service is adamant it won’t be adding names to its winter storm coverage, there’s no doubt this storm is a big one.

According to the Washington Post, at least 12 inches of snow has fallen on parts of New Jersey. New Jersey was especially hard-hit by Sandy. 

Dave Tolleris, a meteorologist for WxRisk.com, wrote on his Facebook page that a snowstorm following a hurricane-type system by just a few days is practically unheard of.

“THAT has never happened before… well not since 1870 and probably not since 1776,” he wrote.

In New York, where thousands of people are still without power, the storm didn’t rage quite as hard, but it still complicated efforts to turn the lights back on, the New York Times reported.

“With good weather forecast for the next few days, the recovery is expected to move forward. Over all in the tristate area, about 683,000 homes remain in the dark, down from a peak of 5.3 million last week, according to federal figures,” the Times wrote.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie actually said having a major snowstorm was better than the alternative: more rain. Flooding was a major problem in New Jersey and while there was a great deal of snow, almost no flooding was reported.

The good news is, according to The Weather Channel, that the snow probably won’t stick around for long.

Temperatures will be in the 50s, perhaps even the 60s, by this weekend.