Strong winds follow the Nor’easter, throwing 17 inches of snow in places; See New York, New Jersey totals

The strongest North East of the season laid siege to three states in wave after wave of snow and/or rain (depending on your location) in an approximately 36-hour siege that only began to conclude early Wednesday morning after dropping nearly a foot and a half of snow in parts of New York — and some slush or less — in others.

Wednesday starts out windy and struggles to bring temperatures below 40 degrees, although it will be sunny. This happened after 40-50 mph wind gusts hit coastal areas in New Jersey, Connecticut and Long Island overnight. The coast of Jersey, completely devoid of snow since the latest storm, saw some of its strongest wind gusts on Tuesday, with winds in excess of 50 mph.

Any lingering snow overnight turned into sporadic flakes after Tuesday’s steady, consistent snowfall, but temperatures have dropped, meaning there could be icy roads on Wednesday, especially in areas that received more snow.

How much snow did we get?

Parts of the Hudson Valley and northern New Jersey had more than a foot of snow—and it was a heavy, energy-crippling snowfall that kept more than 34,000 tri-state customers in the dark and disrupted the travel plans of millions in the Northeast.

Here’s a look at some of the biggest totals from across three states, with New York’s Mount Carmel seeing the most as of Tuesday night – 17 inches!

New York was again left out of the snow party. Central Park fixed the trail, and there may have been some slush in other parts of the five boroughs. A little further inland, the lower Hudson Valley, Westchester, and Fairfield counties received 2 to 6 inches of snow. Places that saw more rain had fewer totals at first.

Here’s a look at some common snowfalls closer to New York:

While total snowfall did not set records even in the most affected areas, it was so heavy that a foot and a half was more like 3 feet. Gov. Kathy Hochul, whose hometown of Buffalo was devastated by the deadliest blizzard in decades late last year, declared a state of emergency in New York ahead of the storm. She also activated the National Guard to provide assistance as needed. Governor Phil Murphy also declared a state of emergency in several New Jersey counties.

Hohul’s emergency order remains in effect for affected counties as additional snowfall and especially wind will create dangerous driving conditions until Wednesday morning. However, the New York State Police and the State Department of Transportation have lifted all previous restrictions on tandem and empty tractor-trailers introduced on Monday.

What’s next? Check out the 10-day forecast

Temperatures will rise again before the end of the week, with highs expected in the 50s Thursday through Saturday, and the forecast for New York City’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade on Friday will be cloudy but dry. The chance of rain returns late on Friday evening and starts on Saturday morning. And spring starts next week. Subscribe to our newsletters here.

Monitor any approaching precipitation with our interactive radar below.