Over 1,600 flights cancelled, New York to face biggest snowfall in years as post-Christmas storm takes over US

young house of york is refreshful for 1 of the biggest snowfalls in years, with force disrupting air traffic during peak holiday travel season. More than 1,600 flights across the US were cancelled as of Friday afternoon, Bloomberg reported, citing data from FlightAware website.

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Emergency has been declared in New Jersey and New York in view of the inclement weather forecast, ABC News reported.

The travel disruptions come at one of the busiest travel times of the year. A record number of Americans were projected to venture at least 50 miles from home between December 20 and January 1 period, the American Automobile Association had predicted, indicating 2% increase from last year.

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Around 109.5 million Americans were expected to drive for the holidays, according to AAA, while about 8 million were expected to fly. However, the inclement weather, bolstered by La Nina, has dampened the travel plans in the holiday season.

JetBlue Airways Corp faced most number of cancellations on Friday, followed by Delta Air Lines Inc, Bloomberg reported, adding that JetBlue had about 350 flights cancelled between Friday and Saturday.

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While operations at New York City’s three major airports – LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark — were hit hard by the winter storm after 9 inches (23 centimeters) of snow forecast for the areas, flight cancellations and delays were also reported from Detroit, Philadelphia and Boston airports, per Bloomberg report. Heavy rains, mudslides and flooding prompted road closures in California, while the Great Lakes region faces accumulating ice.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul urged people to monitor local forecasts and avoid unnecessary travel in view of the winter storm.

“If you have to travel, plan ahead, take it slow, and leave plenty of time to get to where you need to go safely,” she said in a statement on X.

In Pennsylvania, residents have been asked to prepare for power outages, while flooding, storm damage and debris reportedly led to dozens of road closures in parts California.

National Weather Service said New York City and surrounding areas are expected to receive snowfall of 6 to 9 inches of snow and sounded a winter storm alert between 4 pm. Friday to 1 pm Saturday (local time).

The weather forecast has predicted heavy snow in parts of New York, eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, western Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

The extreme weather comes amid the return of La Niña, a weather pattern marked by cooling of Pacific waters that can trigger disasters.

“La Niña winters are notorious for their volatility, and we are certainly getting a healthy serving of that this holiday season,” Matt Rogers, president of the Commodity Weather Group, was quoted as saying by Bloomberg. “The weather models have been struggling to keep up with all the moving parts and variations in the forecast.”

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