The last full weekend of winter was a snowy one across the Northeast as a major storm blasted the region with heavy snow, strong winds and a record-challenging chill. This was the latest bump along the weather rollercoaster in the Northeast with the region experiencing springlike warmth on Monday, March 7, followed by a midweek snowstorm, and then the return to mild air on Thursday and Friday.
Heavy snowfall and high winds caused near-blizzard conditions across a swath of the Northeast on Saturday, with blizzard warnings active for Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains for the first time since the Blizzard of 2016. At the same time the blizzard warnings were active, parts of the state’s southeast, including Virginia Beach, were under a tornado watch.
In Washington, D.C., a light snowfall dusted the city’s famous cherry blossoms, which are forecast to reach their peak bloom between March 23-25, according to the National Park Service. The Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport measured 0.9 of an inch of snow, while suburbs northwest of the nation’s capital measured between 2 and 6 inches of fresh snow.
Washington, D.C., was the snowiest of all the major cities along the Interstate 95 corridor in the Northeast with 0.4 of an inch falling in Baltimore and Philadelphia, 0.2 of an inch falling in Boston and New York City‘s Central Park reporting just a trace of snow.
Snowfall totals were much higher across the interior Northeast where plows, shovels and snow blowers were needed to clear roads, sidewalks and driveways.
Morgan, Vermont, located near the Canada-U.S. border, was the snowiest spot across the region with 20 inches falling from Friday through Saturday. A few other spots across the region measured over a foot of snow, including Eden, Vermont, located northeast of Burlington, Rockwood, Maine, located near the center of the state, and Pittsburg, New Hampshire, located in the northeast corner of the state.
A gas station canopy is blown over in Wilkesboro, North Carolina after high winds early Saturday March 12, 2022. (Facebook/Eric Duncan)
A significant pileup occurred during the height of the snowstorm on Saturday afternoon southwest of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. A massive 73-car pileup was reported on eastbound 581 amid heavy snow and gusty winds. The crash occurred around 2 p.m. EST, injuring 10 people though none of the injuries were life-threatening, according to the Pennsylvania State Police. Buses were directed to pick up people who had been involved in the crash and take them to the New Cumberland Borough Fire Department as a reunification location as well as to warm up. The road was closed for around four hours while crews cleared the wreckage.
There had been whiteout conditions prior to the crash, drivers and witnesses told ABC27.
A gas station canopy is blown over in Wilkesboro, North Carolina after high winds early Saturday March 12, 2022. (Facebook/Eric Duncan)
In Scranton, Pennsylvania, officials canceled the city’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, which is one of the nation’s largest, and rescheduled it for next Saturday. Snow totals of 4 to 8 inches have been reported in and around the city with 11 inches falling in the nearby town of Moscow, Pennsylvania.
To the north, organizers of the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Syracuse, New York, were determined to hold the annual event snow or shine, the first time the event has been held since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“A little snow is not going to stop us,” Donna Hamilton told AccuWeather’s Kim Leoffler on Saturday. “We’re over here every year. In 2017 when it was 20 degrees below zero we were out here. Everything froze, but we were here.”
