Northeast’s Freezing Temps Could Cause Dangerous Roads

A man braces against the wind, waiting the cross Main Street in Worcester, Mass. during a snow storm, Monday, Feb. 2, 2015. (AP Photo/The Telegram & Gazette, Rick Cinclair)

A man braces against the wind, waiting the cross Main Street in Worcester, Mass. during a snow storm, Monday, Feb. 2, 2015. (AP Photo/The Telegram & Gazette, Rick Cinclair)

BOSTON -- Frigid temperatures have followed a snowstorm into the Northeast, bringing minus 20 degree wind chills in parts of Pennsylvania, New York and New England, and minus 35 degrees in pockets near the Canadian border.

The bitter cold prompted warnings of "flash freezing" and black ice from Philadelphia to Portland, Maine.

Here's the latest on the storm and its aftermath:

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SNOWFALL AND WARNINGS

A winter storm warning was lifted early Tuesday for northeastern Maine, where up to 18 inches of snow was forecast by Tuesday morning. Rockland, in Maine's Knox County, received 14 inches of snow and there were widespread reports of at least 10 inches.

Earlier, the snowstorm, which dumped more than 19 inches of snow on Chicago and more than a foot on southeastern Wisconsin, deepened off the southern New England coast. It brought accumulations approaching 18 inches in the Boston area and around a foot of slushy wintry mix to Hartford, Connecticut, Providence, Rhode Island, southern New Hampshire and Vermont - places still reeling from the up to 3 feet they got last week.

Hardest hit in New Hampshire was Weare, in Hillsborough County, which was hit with more than 15 inches of snow.

New York City's snow totals ranged from around 3.6 inches in Central Park to 7 inches in the Bronx while Long Island got 3 inches to 10 inches.

The Philadelphia area received about an inch of snow before the precipitation changed to rain. Forecasters said portions of the Lehigh Valley got up 8 inches, and there was up to a foot in northern Pennsylvania. Much of New Jersey got several inches of snow while parts of northern Ohio received at least a foot.

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A PARTY POSTPONED

As Boston recovers from its second major winter storm in a week, Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced the victory parade for the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots would be postponed until Wednesday morning.

"We look forward to celebrating with Patriots fans during better weather on Wednesday," Walsh said in a statement.

School was canceled in Boston and some suburbs for Tuesday and Gov. Charlie Baker ordered a delayed start for nonessential state agency workers to allow more time for clearing roads.

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A DEADLY TOLL

Fifty-seven-year-old Cynthia Levine was struck and killed by a snowplow just before 10 a.m. Monday in the parking lot of a condominium complex in Weymouth, south of Boston, the Norfolk district attorney's office said.

In New York, state police said they were investigating a two-vehicle crash on Interstate 95 when a third vehicle lost control on the highway and hit the two vehicles from the first crash. The cause was not immediately known, but the crash occurred as snow and freezing rain hindered travel throughout the region.

Doctors in Ohio said Toledo Mayor D. Michael Collins was heavily sedated and in critical condition Monday, a day after he went into cardiac arrest and his SUV crashed into a pole on his way home not long after a news conference.

Illinois State Police say ice was responsible for crashes on Interstate 294 in the Chicago suburb of Hickory Hills that involved at least 45 vehicles, one of them a state police squad car. Eight people were taken to area hospitals

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DISORDER IN THE COURT

The storm delayed two of the nation's biggest court cases - the murder trial of former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez and jury selection in the federal death penalty trial of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Testimony was to resume Tuesday in the Hernandez trial. But federal court officials in Boston, who follow the city's school closure schedule, said the Tsarnaev proceedings would be delayed a second day.

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COMMUTING PROBLEMS

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority riders were warned to expect delays Tuesday because of the cold. On Monday, Boston's MBTA was running despite the heavy snowfall, with delays including one train that lost power south of Boston, temporarily stranding about 50 passengers.

Rush-hour commuters in New York City were stranded on a packed subway train that lost power for 2 1/2 hours Monday before it could be towed to a station. Five other trains were stuck behind it.

In Henniker, New Hampshire, crews on Monday were cleaning up snow using plows loaned by the state and surrounding towns. A fire had destroyed the town's plow fleet three days earlier.

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SOME REALLY DIG IT

Tony Troc looks on the bright side of shoveling snow: Hey, it's a pretty good workout.

"It doesn't bother me at all," the supermarket warehouse worker said after clearing another 8 inches of snow from his driveway in Whitman, 20 miles south of Boston. "If I didn't like it, I'd be in Florida."

Todd Penney of Tolland, Connecticut, said digging out is fun.

"I actually get some perverse pleasure in snowblowing, just like I get some perverse pleasure in mowing my lawn on the tractor," he said. "When you have the tools that make the job easier, it's kind of like this alone time, this me time. It's kind of Zen."

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SIX MORE WEEKS OF WINTER?

The handlers of Pennsylvania's most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, said the furry rodent has forecast six more weeks of winter.

Members of the top hat-wearing Inner Circle announced the "prediction" Monday morning.

Legend has it that if Phil sees his shadow on Feb. 2, winter will last another six weeks. If not, spring comes early.

BY PHILIP MARCELO AND DENISE LAVOIE - Feb 3, 6:28 AM ESTAP

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Associated Press writers Mark Pratt and Sylvia Lee Wingfield in Boston and Pat Eaton-Robb in Columbia, Connecticut, contributed to this report.

 
 

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