NEW YORK — Millions along the East Coast felt the impacts of a rapidly strengthening storm system on Wednesday, with wind gusts reported in excess of 70 mph and heavy rainfall that caused power outages and extensive travel delays along the I-95 corridor.
The system, which had the markings of an atmospheric river event, started developing over the Ohio Valley before rapidly strengthening over the Northeast.
Wind gusts topped hurricane-force along the higher elevations in Massachusetts, with gusts near 50 mph in New York City.
For much of the region, the precipitation was welcome news, with drought conditions ranging from moderate to extreme.
Providence, Rhode Island reported a record daily rainfall amount of 2.4″ as of Wednesday afternoon.
Photos and videos from Boston showed parts of Interstate 93 and 90 that were underwater, but authorities quickly worked to clear drainage and reopen the roadways.
Behind the frontal boundary, another round of arctic air was diving into the eastern half of the country, which made nighttime temperatures dangerously cold.
Power outages near 90,000 in Maine
As of Thursday morning, nearly 90,000 power outages were reported in Maine.
Communities across the Southeast first reported power issues related to the storm system, but outages have steadily advanced up the eastern seaboard.
Downed trees and power lines caused nearly 20,000 outages in North Carolina, and clusters of outages were reported in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Utility companies in the impacted region have not publicly given indications that the outages will be lengthy, but any outage of service is at the least an inconvenience with cold weather on the way for the impacted areas.
“The high winds expected with this storm have the potential to bring down trees and limbs onto electric lines and equipment, causing outages, and we’re planning accordingly,” Steve Sullivan, president of Eversource Connecticut, said in a statement.
Travel made a mess by storm system
Airports from the nation’s capital to southern New England reported average delays of 1-3 hours, which led to extensive problems for travelers.
FlightAware.com reported more than 4,00 flights were delayed on Wednesday, with nearly 800 cancelations across the country.
Boston Logan International Airport and Washington D.C.’s Reagan International Airport reported the most extensive problems.
Amtrak also faced disruptions, with slowdowns reported in Massachusetts due to the inconvenient weather.
Impacts linger for Great Lakes, New England
Millions of people across the region have been posted with Flood Watches as the combination of rain and snowmelt could become problematic for communities in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
A state of emergency has been declared in several New York counties as Great Lakes communities from Michigan to the Empire State get blasted by another significant lake-effect snowstorm of the season.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said that since communities are forecast to receive additional feet of snow from this latest round of winter weather, a state of emergency was declared for several counties, including Jefferson and Erie counties.
Millions of residents along the Great Lakes were issued winter weather alerts, as a flow off the Great Lakes was expected to cause heavy snowfall.
The combination of gusty winds and blowing snow is expected to lead to near-blizzard conditions, especially on Thursday when winds peak at 25-45 mph.
Interstates such as 90 and 81 in New York are the primary routes expected to receive significant snowfall, which will impact travel.