Wintry weather hits Northeast as holiday travelers take to roads
Wet snow blanketed parts of the Northeast on Wednesday, threatening to snarl travel as millions of Americans take to the nation’s roads, rails and skies for the holiday weekend. The snow came down fast in states including New York, Connecticut and New Jersey.
Trying to avoid the weather, Emerson College student Jared Watterworth decided to leave Boston on Tuesday for the bus ride to Southington, Conn.
“Knowing it was supposed to snow, it would have been nuts (to wait),” said Watterworth, 18.
Forecasters predicted the storms would leave up to 10 inches of snow in Connecticut and 6 inches outside New York City. Up to 4 inches were forecast in parts of New Jersey. On Massachusetts highways, state police reported numerous minor accidents.
The storm also led to power problems. At 8 a.m., more than 5,800 Connecticut Light & Power Co. customers were without electricity.
John Carey, at the Connecticut Department of Transportation storm center, said 632 state trucks were out, plus 200 more from hired contractors to fight the snow.
“It’s very heavy. It’s tough keeping up with it,” Carey said.
The Northeast’s storms come as travelers nationwide faced the threat of long airport lines, higher gas prices and blustery weather.
The AAA travel group predicted air travel nationwide would climb 6 percent over Thanksgiving 2001, which came 10 weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks.
“The increase in air travel shows that a lot of people think the (security) system today is a little easier to maneuver and is still effective,” said AAA spokesman Tom Calcagni.
AAA predicted 35.9 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home by Sunday, a 1.7 percent increase from last year.
At Boston’s Logan International Airport, most planes were departing on time.
“We lucked out because the storm came in early … so that gave us a big jump on dealing with it,” said Phil Orlandella, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority, which operates the airport.
Travelers were waiting an average of less than 10 minutes Wednesday morning at 15 of the biggest U.S. airports’ security checkpoints, said Robert Johnson, spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration, which finalized its takeover of the nation’s airport security last week.
Tammy Cooper, who was traveling from Detroit with her husband and 3-year-old daughter, arrived 31/2 hours before their flight to Providence.
“We got here way too early,” said Cooper, who said a friend who works at the airport told her to expect hour-long waits at security checkpoints. “Instead, it looks like it’ll be about 60 seconds.”
The speedy service came even as some of the lowest air fares since the late 1980s were likely boost air travel, according to the Air Transport Association, which represents the major U.S. carriers.
Still, 30.8 million Americans were expected to choose the highway over the runway, a 1 percent increase over last year, AAA said. Some said going by car was cheaper; others feared crowd delays at airports.
“I’m not as concerned about flying as in the last year,” said Joe Koch, a 38-year-old salesman who drove Sunday from Washington, D.C., to Albany, N.Y., to see siblings. “It’s the challenges of the airport, all that waiting on long lines, that make driving easier.”
The wintry weather complicated matters.
“It is New England, so it’s not the first time we’re going to see snow,” said Maj. John Leyden Jr. of the Rhode Island State Police. “But it’s the first time we’ve seen it this season. We recommend that drivers leave more time to reach their destinations.”
Drivers were also contending with gas prices that are up about 25 cents, to $1.45 a gallon, from last Thanksgiving.
Amtrak expected to sell more tickets as the weather deteriorated. Spokesman Dan Stessel said the commuter railroad added 58 trains in the Northeast, and some had already sold out.
As Chicago’s Union Station filled with rail travelers, Deb Desmond was on the floor near her husband and 10-year-old daughter. They had come in from Toledo, Ohio, and were waiting to transfer to a train bound for La Crosse, Wis.
“All three of us, it cost $467,” she said, explaining why they chose the rails despite the long layover. “To fly, it would have been $250 to $300 each.”
Said her husband, Greg: “She’s a cheapskate.”
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On the Net:
AAA: http://www.aaanewsroom.net
National Weather Service: http:/
win.nws.noaa.gov