New York officials apologize for Juno forecast
January 28, 2015
Travel bans across New York City have been lifted and public transport has been re-opened, easing the many emergency measures put in place ahead of the predicted onslaught by Winter Storm Juno.
Politicians were forced to defend their decision to shut down the city's transport system ahead of the predicted storm cell.
"You plan the best you can and you lean toward safety," New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday (local time).
"It may actually have brought us back to full operating capacity sooner but I do not criticize weather forecasters. I learn."
Forecasters originally predicted the storm would dump a meter (three feet) of snow and have hurricane-force winds. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city of eight million people received only a fraction of the 60 centimeters (two feet) of snow predicted to fall on the city.
La Guardia International Airport recorded 28 centimeters of snow, and Central Park was covered with almost 20 centimeters.
New Jersey based National Weather Service forecaster Gary Szatkowski apologized on Twitter for the overblown forecast.
More than 7,700 flights were cancelled, schools, business, and government offices were closed in anticipation of the extreme weather conditions.
Juno slams New England
Meanwhile, residents in New England hit by Winter Storm Juno have begun cleaning up after large amounts of snow fell over the region on Monday and Tuesday.
New Englanders were hit with more than 60 centimeters of snow during the storm.
The blizzard conditions across the eastern region makes Winter Storm Juno one of the top snowstorms of all time to hit the region.
Juno began on Monday evening and continued most of Tuesday when the blizzard warning was downgraded as the snow tapered off.
Chilling winds and freezing temperatures also hit the area, with the low in Boston expected to reach minus 12 degrees Celsius (10 degrees Fahrenheit), with a wind chill factor of minus 20 on Wednesday.
Forecasters predict the temperature will not move above freezing for the next week or so.
jlw/sgb (AFP, AP)