Snowstorm spares New York, hits Massachusetts

The blizzard, previously labeled "crippling" and "historic" heaped up to 60 cm (roughly 2 feet) of snow on the US states of Massachusetts and Connecticut, but proved to be less severe than predicted by the authorities.

After a lighter-then-expected snowfall during the night between Monday and Tuesday, the National Weather Service cancelled a blizzard warning in the New York region.

"The storm has moved further east and will be departing faster than our forecasts of the past two days," the National Weather Service said. "The result is much less snow than previously predicted."

The storm, however, claimed the life of 17-year old boy, who was killed in a sledding accident after crashing into a light pole on Long Island.

Nuclear power plant shut down

A blizzard warning remained in effect for parts of other states to New York's north, including Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The states of Maine and New Hampshire, for their parts, declared a state of emergency. The Weather Service warned that winds and snow would grow in intensity over the region on Tuesday evening, adding that hurricane-force gusts would lead to "life-threatening whiteout conditions."

Flooding was reported in the coastal areas south of Boston, and the city itself could receive up to 64 cm (two feet) of snow.

Winds as high as 126 kilometers (78 miles) per hour were recorded in Nantucket, an island off the coast of Massachusetts. In addition, nearly 35,000 people in the region bearing the brunt of the storm were without power, most of them on Massachusetts' eastern peninsula, Cape Cod, and surrounding islands, according to the local utilities companies.

A nuclear power plant in Plymouth was forced to shut down after lines for transfer of electricity went down, officials said, adding that there was no danger for the public.

'Just playing it safe'

Travel bans were lifted in New York on Tuesday morning local time, and life began to go back to normal for most of the American metropolis. The subway system was also restarted, after being preemptively shut down on the orders of the Mayor Bill de Blasio. This was the first subway shutdown due to a snow storm in the New York's history.

"The mayor might have blown it this time but he was probably just playing it safe," said Manny Martinez, 55, from Brooklyn.

On Tuesday, a National Weather Service forecaster in New Jersey apologized on Twitter for the missed forecast. "You made a lot of tough decisions expecting us to get it right, and we didn't. Once again, I'm sorry," Gary Szatkowski tweeted.

dj/kms(AFP, Reuters, AP)