Wintery mix of snow, sleet cancels flights and closes some suburban schools
A wintery mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain was already causing chaos in the Big Apple early Thursday — with many suburban schools shuttered for snow days even as those in the city remained open.
Forecasters had predicted snow would start to fall around midnight before turning into sleet and freezing rain during the morning rush hour, warning of a potentially messy morning commute — and with New York-area flights getting delayed and canceled.
While New York City pupils miss out on a snow day, several districts in commuter areas — including some in Westchester, Rockland County, Long Island and New Jersey — had delayed starts or closed completely.
The wintery mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain canceled class completely for students as far north as Wappingers Central School District, Wallkill Central School District and Poughkeepsie City School District.
Students at southern Westchester schools like White Plains Public Schools, Mount Vernon City School District and Rye City School District as well as schools on Long Island like Islip School District and Hauppauge Public Schools, all had two-hour delays.
Meanwhile, across New Jersey districts like Franklin Lakes School District and West Orange Public Schools were closed, while others including Teaneck Public School District and Tenafly Public Schools had delayed starts.
As the wintery mix showered down over New York City, several local airports were experiencing delays — and even some flight cancelations as of Thursday morning.
Out of all flights departing from LaGuardia, one was delayed and 46 were canceled Thursday morning, according to FlightAware flight tracking data. Meanwhile, two flights heading to LaGuardia were delayed and 37 were canceled.
JFK similarly saw delays, with 13 flights leaving the airport getting delayed and 20 canceled. Seventeen flights heading toward JFK were delayed and 15 were canceled as of early Thursday.
Newark seemingly had fewer issues, as 12 flights departing from the airport were delayed and another 12 were canceled. Only five flights were coming into the airport that were delayed and seven were cancelled completely, according to the flight tracking website.
Winter weather advisories have all been expanded to include northeast New Jersey, Lower Hudson Valley and southern Connecticut until 1 p.m. Thursday — with up to two inches of snow and up to one-tenth of an inch of ice anticipated, the National Weather Service said on Wednesday.
The New York City metro area will likely only see a light coating of ice and little to no accumulation, according to the NWS.
Local officials are urging residents to use public transportation and limit their travels in the morning.
