April Nor’easter dumps rain, snow on East Coast (VIDEO)
Kashmiri girls walk in a park after a snowfall in Srinagar. A cold wave further tightened its grip in Jammu and Kashmir with most places in the state recording sub-zero temperatures. The icy temperatures have frozen many bodies of water in Kashmir as well as drinking water taps while an avalanche warning has been issued in some snowbound hilly areas.
A spring nor'easter packing high winds and heavy snow walloped the East Coast on Monday, closing some schools and cutting power to at least 75,000 in Pennsylvania and upstate New York.
Most of the snow was falling across upstate New York, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, where the National Weather Service predicted rates of more than an inch per hour through midday Monday, MSNBC reported.
Up to a foot of snow was expected in the higher elevations of central and western Pennsylvania, as well as New York state, south of Buffalo. A winter storm warning was issued for parts of northeastern Ohio, where 3 to 7 inches of snow was forecast, The Associated Press reported.
In addition, flood watches were in effect in parts of eastern New York and northern Maine, according to the National Weather Service.
The heavy, wet snow was weighing down trees, which snapped and cut power lines.
An estimated 25,000 power outages were reported in New York state by noon EST, with another 50,000 outages in Pennsylvania, MSNBC reported.
A number of schools in western Pennsylvania were closed Monday ahead of the storm, CBS News reported.
Major League Baseball postponed games in Boston, New York and Washington due to heavy rain and snow. And the scheduled arrival of the space shuttle Enterprise in New York City was pushed back until at least Wednesday, according to UPI.
Despite the disruptions, the storm brought welcome moisture to parts of the Northeast.
"We're down 7 or 8 inches," weather service forecaster Charlie Foley told the AP. "This won't completely wipe out the deficit but it will certainly help."
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