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NEW YORK, March 14 (Xinhua) -- A strong late winter storm lashed the Northeast United States with snow on Tuesday, grounding more than 6,000 flights and knocking out power to over 180,000 customers.
New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland and Pennsylvania have declared states of emergency.
Seven inches of snow fell in New York City while the city's northwest suburbs have seen over 1 foot. At least 20 inches of snow was observed in parts of eastern Pennsylvania.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has instructed non-essential state employees to stay home. In Massachusetts, where the forecast called for 12 to 18 inches of snow, Governor Charlie Baker encouraged motorists to stay off the roads and to take public transit only if absolutely necessary, saying the fast snowfall rates would make driving hazardous.
Schools in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and elsewhere closed.
The airports with the most cancellations are: Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey; LaGuardia Airport in New York City; JFK International Airport in New York City; Logan International Airport in Boston; Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in Maryland.
At least 817 flights have been canceled for Wednesday, according to FlightAware.com.
Hundreds of passengers were stranded at Kennedy Airport due to flight cancellations in New York City. The above-ground portions of the New York subway system were shut down.
Massive power outages occurred in Massachusetts. More than 60,000 electric customers lost power during the storm in Massachusetts, the state's emergency management agency said.
In New York, 6,300 customers had no electricity, Governor Cuomo's office said. In Connecticut, 1,800 customers lost power, Governor Dan Malloy said.
