On Friday, January 22, winter storm Jonas hit almost a dozen East Coast states. Jonas, which cleared up Monday morning, brought large amounts of snow, flooding, and heavy winds to areas of Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York City, Long Island, West Virginia, New Jersey, North Carolina, Delaware, West Virginia, Virginia, and Kentucky. According to the Huffington Post, 11 states declared a state of emergency.
The first night of the storm, according to CNN, resulted in more than 500 vehicles trapped on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. In addition to Pennsylvania, both West Virginia and Kentucky also had motorists stranded on major highways for many hours, some into early Saturday morning.
In addition to traffic pileups, airports and Amtrak cancelled and postponed all incoming and outgoing services to the East Coast. New York City experienced cancellations of a different kind. When Jonas caused power outages in several widespread locations, the city was forced to cancel Broadway shows for all of Saturday. Also without power Saturday were parts of New Jersey and North Carolina. The Associated Press reported more than 150,000 businesses and homes in North Carolina and over 90,000 people in New Jersey had no power for parts of the day on Saturday.
Jonas also brought severe flooding to parts of New Jersey. According to the Huffington Post, WIldwood, Cape May, and Ocean City experienced a record-breaking 9.4 feet of water as a result of the storm. The flooding is said to be worse than what New Jersey endured during Hurricane Sandy in the fall of 2012. While Delaware escaped severe flooding, they reported winds upward of 75 miles per hour (mph), speeds that are typically seen in tropical storms. Also reporting winds at that speed was Virginia’s Langley Air Force Base.
According to the Huffington Post, Jonas also set records in six different areas for being the single biggest snowstorm. In Allentown, Pennsylvania, 31.9 inches fell; Baltimore-Washington International Airport received 29.2 inches; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania got 30.2 inches; LaGuardia Airport in New York dealt with 27.9 inches; and at JFK Airport 30.5 inches fell. The snow also caused U.S. federal government offices to shut down, and schools to close across the East Coast.
The storm claimed many fatalities. The first reported, according to CNN, was an 82 year old man from the Washington D.C. area who died while shoveling snow. While snow shoveling seemed to be one of the main causes of death, hypothermia, vehicle collisions, and even carbon monoxide poisoning were all reported causes of death during the snowstorm. The New York Times reported three instances of carbon monoxide poisoning due to the storm, a woman and child in New Jersey, a man in Pennsylvania, and an elderly couple in South Carolina. The Associated Press reported that, as of Sunday night, the total death toll had risen at least to 29.
While snowstorm Jonas is over, cities continued to recover from the damage caused by the storm early into the week. In Washington D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser continued to advise people to stay off the roads Monday as they continued to be slick and dangerous. While the Long Island Rail Road opened 12 of its branches for the Monday morning commuter, 20% of its branches will stay closed to repair damages caused by Jonas. Also on Monday, airports attempted to dig out of the snow and offered limited flights. Additionally, government offices in Maryland, U.S. federal government offices in Washington, and schools across the East Coast also remained closed on Monday as efforts to clear roads and snow continued.