CNN) -- The season's first major snowstorm walloped the Northeast on
Saturday, closing Boston's Logan International Airport and dumping at least
23 inches in parts of New York.

The storm was heading northeast, and was expected to be centered northeast
of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, by Sunday morning, according to the National
Weather Service.

The storm hit much of New England late Saturday with heavy snow, coastal
winds and blizzard conditions. It was expected to move northward Monday into
Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, said Bob Oravec, a meteorologist with the
Weather Service in Camp Springs, Maryland.

"Anytime you get a storm that produces 1 or 2 feet, it's definitely a big
event," he said. "Being the first of the year is always problematic --
getting people used to winter again."

"The effects of the storm will be fairly long-lasting across much of New
England," Oravec said.

Eight traffic deaths have been blamed on the storm, The Associated Press
reported. One death was reported in Pennsylvania, one in Connecticut, and
two each in New Jersey, Vermont and Virginia.

The weather service posted blizzard warnings through Sunday morning for Long
Island, northeastern New Jersey, Connecticut, and sections of eastern New
York including Long Island. A warning was posted for northeastern Maine
until Sunday evening.

Logan airport shut down Saturday evening with no prediction on when it might
reopen, said Barbara Platt, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Port
Authority, which manages the airport.

Platt said the airport had closed several times Saturday for plowing. By 10
p.m., the airport had reported 11 inches of snow.

She couldn't say how many flights were affected, but an airport spokesman
said earlier that 176 inbound flights and 149 outbound flights were
canceled, and more were expected.

At LaGuardia Airport in New York City, most flights were canceled. Those
that were not were landing and taking off with 30-minute delays, the Port
Authority of New York and New Jersey reported.

At Newark Liberty International Airport, 200 flights were canceled, and
delays of 30 minutes to three hours were the norm. At John F. Kennedy
International Airport, numerous cancellations were reported.

Baltimore-Washington International Airport closed for a half-hour in the
afternoon.

Impacts from the flight cancellations were felt in areas unaffected by the
storm. Delays of up to several hours were reported at Hartsfield-Jackson
International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia.

Riverdale in Bronx County, New York, reported 23 inches as of 8 p.m. EST.
Also in New York, Suffolk County posted up to 18 inches; and Central Park,
13 inches, meteorologist Wes Junker said.

Essex County, Massachusetts, had up to 12 inches.

Boston Mayor Tom Menino declared a snow emergency for his city at 2 p.m.

A spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency said he was
expecting 2-4 inches of snow per hour, with whiteout conditions, lasting
into Sunday.

One-two punch
The snowfall has come as a one-two punch -- with the initial blow Thursday
over parts of New York and Pennsylvania, followed by a lull Friday, and then
a second wind Friday night into Saturday, Oravec said.

Although nearly all of New York's city streets had been salted and more than
1,300 plows were at work, Mayor Michael Bloomberg pleaded with New Yorkers
to use buses and subways. "Leave your car home," he said.

Being the first of the year is always problematic -- getting people used to
winter again.
-- Bob Oravec, meteorologist with the National Weather Service


Still, he noted, "The city is open. Broadway is open. The movie theaters are
open. The restaurants are open. The parks are open." Bloomberg predicted the
city would be back to normal by Monday.

New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey told CNN, "We're getting hammered."

Forty accidents had occurred along the New Jersey Turnpike, where the speed
limit was lowered to 35 mph.

Two people died when an SUV swerved into a tractor trailer, he said.

Still, McGreevey added: "We haven't declared a state of emergency. All roads
are open ... Right now, we think it is manageable. We want to get through
this. My daughter's second birthday is tomorrow, and Elmo better show up."

CNN correspondent Adaora Udoji and producers Ronnie Berke in Boston and Phil
Hirschkorn in New York contributed to this report.



--
Viaene Björn
http://users.telenet.be/weathersite

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