East Coast Snowstorm Takes Aim at New York Region

New Yorkers are used to a lot of overheated discussion about impending snow.

Storms get silly names, meteorological phenomena are dissected, and the airwaves are saturated with stories of people running out to buy shovels and salt.

But the winter storm that swept up the East Coast on Tuesday, just as people were making their way back from a three-day weekend, seemed to catch many people by surprise, both for its timing and intensity.

The storm, which threatened to dump more than a foot of snow on New York City, already grounded thousands of flights in the region, and the evening commute promised to be treacherous for millions of workers. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority urged customers using Metro-North Railroad and Long Island Rail Road to leave work early, warning that snow drifts as tall as two feet could cause significant delays.

In Washington, the government was shut down. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, who canceled his inaugural ball on Ellis Island because of the storm, declared a state of emergency.

The National Weather Service issued its first winter storm alerts late Sunday and early Monday, but the path of the storm made it somewhat harder to forecast more than 24 to 36 hours in advance, said Lauren Nash, a meteorologist with the service.

Many coastal storms, she said, originate off the coast of the Carolinas and trek northeast. This storm, however, originated farther north and therefore swept up the coast with less warning.

Many schoolchildren were overjoyed to get word that their day would end early, even as their parents hurried to make alternative arrangements.

In New York City, all after-school activities were canceled, but officials said schools would be open on Wednesday.

Ms. Nash said that as of 1 p.m., 1.5 inches of snow had fallen in Central Park, with up to 14 inches of total snowfall forecast for the city. The storm was expected to gather in intensity as the evening approached and then dissipate after midnight.

Mayor Bill de Blasio urged residents to avoid driving, in part to keep roadways clear for city workers.

Mr. de Blasio announced stepped-up efforts to reach out the city's most vulnerable, including increased efforts for the homeless. And he urged neighbors to look out for one another. 'Just be careful about any kind of exposure in this kind of weather,' he said.

When asked about scattered reports that the city had not been aggressive in prepping the streets for the impending storm, Joseph Bruno, the director of the Office of Emergency Management, said it had not been 'caught short.'

He said that his office had been discussing the possibility for a storm for two days and that the Transportation Department had already taken steps, like clearing catch basins, even before snow fell.

As soon as the flakes began to fall, there were 450 trucks dispatched to spread salt on the streets, officials said. However, salt is less effective at colder temperatures, officials said.

At 1 p.m., according to the service, it was 18 degrees in New York City and felt like 4 degrees. The frigid temperatures were also expected to last for several days.

Some travelers, suddenly stranded in the city, hoped to get a hotel room, though they were increasingly difficult to find.

'Usually we get lots of cancellations,' said Evelyn Peralta, who takes reservations at the boutique hotel POD 51 in Midtown. 'But this time, even with the cancellations, it doesn't meet the new incoming reservations.'

Raguia Mostafa, a receptionist, said Washington Square Hotel had been so swamped that he had to do one of the hardest things in his business: turning away the hopeful walk-ins.

'I've felt bad walking people out,' he said.