Unseasonable snowfall hits NYC and New Jersey causing commuting delays and cancelling flights

We may be well into spring but the weather remained frozen in winter across the northeast on Monday.

Snow fell New York in the early hours causing chaos for commuter traffic and dozens of cancellations across its three major airports today as up to three inches were dumped on the city in the morning.

The unseasonable snow storm also struck the northeast, bringing commuter misery to residents in Washington, Philadelphia, and much of New Jersey. New England is expecting up to five inches of snow in some non-urban areas.  

The official Twitter page for the New York Yankees informed fans on Sunday that the stadium was expected to open at its scheduled time for the game on Monday

Heavy snowfall will continue through to midday although the wet, slushy fall means that much of the snow is expected to melt in the cities by this afternoon as temperatures rise to the early 40s. 

A second storm is expected to sweep from the northern Rockies into the Midwest and Great Lakes into Wednesday. Parts of Wisconsin and Michigan could see up to 18 inches of snow by the end of the day Wednesday.

National Weather Service meteorologist David Stark blamed multiple cold fronts from Canada for the late snowfalls. 

‘It’s not unusual to see snow in early April,’ Stark told the New York Daily News. ‘You’re not going to see it every April, but it’s not unprecedented.’ 

Today’s snowstorm comes as another storm battered the Midwest over the weekend, dumping a foot of snow in northern Minnesota, Nebraska and Ohio.

Back on the East Coast, dozens of flights have been cancelled out of New York’s La Guardia and JFK airports, with heavy delays at New Jersey’s Newark. La Guardia reported a two inch snowfall within just one hours this morning – the heaviest April snowfall there in 15 years.

Snow also fell at the Yankees Stadium in the Bronx where baseball fans are keeping a close eye to see if it could affect the New York Yankee’s home opener. The team warned baseball fans to check for weather delays ahead of the home opener at 1pm.  

The last time NYC saw April snow showers was in 2006 although it was less than an inch. The last time New York City saw heavy snowfalls was more than a hundred years ago, on April 3, 1915, when the city was blanketed in ten inches.

Winter weather advisories have been issued across the Philadelphia and New York metro areas, while heavy snow is falling along the I-95 corridor from Washington, D.C. to Boston. The wintery weather will come as a shock to some East Coast residents who were basking in highs of the late 70s at the end of last week. 

Winter weather advisories are also posted from eastern Wyoming to central Illinois.