NYC Digs Out From Biggest Blizzard In Five Years

A person uses a snowblower in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn – Gardiner Anderson/for New York Daily News

New York Daily News: MANHATTAN, NY – The snowstorm that struck the city Monday was the city’s biggest since the blizzard of 2016, which was the largest on record, the National Weather Service said Tuesday.

Measurements in Central Park reached 17. 2 inches as of 7 a.m. Tuesday, which was two inches shy of the President’s Day snow storm of 2003 which dumped 20 inches in the park. In 1888, a blizzard reached 21 inches. The 2016 storm saw a staggering 27.5 inches in the park.

“This was a pretty sizable event,” Dominic Ramunni, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said of Monday’s blizzard. “Overall, we ranked this as the 16th highest snowfall for Central Park.”

As New Yorkers continued to dig out cars, navigate sidewalks and bomb down their local sledding hills the subways had returned to service with some delays and the Long Island Rail Road was running on its weekend schedule.

“I don’t think we were prepared for it really,” said Ricky McDonald, who was shoveling his SUV out of a snowdrift in Brooklyn Tuesday morning. “I don’t think everyone was aware of how strong it was going to be. But I like it!”

McDonald, 64, said it would take about an hour to dig out his vehicle.

“First of all, I’m in transportation. This isn’t really digging anything out,” said McDonald, who works as a bus driver in New Jersey. “This snow is going to melt. On a scale of 10, this is probably a three.”

Electrician Muhammad Ali, 46, was also digging out his car before work in Boerum Hill. A foot of snow was on one side of his car packed against the sidewalk.

“Nobody is going to do this for me. If I want to go out to work, I have to do this,” he said. “I had to wake up earlier for this. I’ve been here for about 45 minutes.”

Kennedy Airport registered 12.6 inches of snow, while LaGuardia hit 13.3 inches.

Elsewhere, White Plains recorded 22.5 inches of snow and on Long Island, Hicksville saw 17.6 inches.

The highest level recorded was 26.2 inches in Bloomingdale, NJ, officials said.

Ramunni said New Yorkers will experience some light snow and bands of rain and snow showers through the day Tuesday. The precipitation will taper after midnight but temperatures will stay at or below freezing.