Gridlock, Giddy Children Greet First Serious Snow

The first significant snowstorm of the season swirled up the Atlantic Coast on Friday, disrupting travel, downing power lines and delighting children who frolicked in the flakes.

Gridlock gripped many streets in New York City at the height of the evening rush hour. As cars skidded and buses crawled along slick roads, many people took to the subways. Some local trains became so overcrowded they only stopped at express stations as transit officials grew concerned about taking on more passengers.

“The subways are a complete mess,” said Gerd Althofer, an architect who rode uptown from the Wall Street area, and who complained he had to walk home through the snow after the subway went past his regular stop.

“Cars were slipping and sliding, but the ride was pretty,” said Joan Anglin, a nurse who was a passenger in a car that traveled from Midtown to the Upper East Side of Manhattan. “It was very white. People didn’t start walking and getting it muddy yet.”

Her commute, which normally takes 15 minutes, required more than an hour as vehicles slowed by the snow clogged intersections even when the traffic light was green.

Some schools along the storm’s path closed and others sent students home early.

The storm was blamed for at least three traffic deaths, two in Virginia and one in Pennsylvania.

Delays were reported at most airports along the East Coast, with hundreds of flights canceled, primarily in the New York area and in Philadelphia.

In Maryland, where more than eight inches of snow blocked driveways and streets, road crews fought to keep traffic moving on major arteries. Minor traffic accidents were common on roadways in Philadelphia.

In New Jersey, where forecasters predicted up to 14 inches of snow, dozens of schools dismissed students early as people hurried to stores for shovels and for chemicals to melt ice. The speed limit was reduced from 65 mph to 35 mph for the full length of the New Jersey Turnpike because of the poor conditions.

The National Weather Service predicted up to a foot of snow in parts of Connecticut where portions of two major highways were closed because of multiple accidents and spinouts.

“This is the first major snowstorm we have had this year,” said David Imy, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla.

“We’re looking at a classic coastal storm, a nor’easter,” said Barbara Watson, a meteorologist in New York. “The further north you go, the more accumulation you’ll get.”

Forecasters expected up to 8 inches of snow in New York City, about 1 foot in areas north of the city, 14 inches in eastern Pennsylvania and snowfall measured in feet in parts of Maine.

For all the inconvenience and angst the storm caused, it was a picture postcard moment in Manhattan. Tourists gathered to view and photograph the giant Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center with its white coating.

Uptown, Alison Kurtz had joy in her eyes when she described how she played in the storm with her 2-year-old son, Max.

“It was windy, but it was a lot of fun being in the snow,” she said. “We were catching snowflakes on our tongues.”