Juno a dud in New York City

National Weather Service admits prediction was off

Winter Storm Juno in New York City (credit: Uri Mermelstein and Ryan Serhant on Instagram)
Winter Storm Juno in New York City (credit: Uri Mermelstein and Ryan Serhant on Instagram)

In preparing for Winter Storm Juno, it was clear that government officials took to heart lessons from Superstorm Sandy. Ahead of Juno, the city shut down public transportation and instituted travel bans late last night. Meanwhile, landlords prepared for at least a foot of snow around their buildings — with even higher drifts. But this go-round, the expected superstorm fizzled in New York City.

As of early this morning, 7.8 inches of snow had fallen in Central Park, according to the National Weather Service. “The storm has moved further east and will be departing faster than our forecasts of the past two days,” the service said on its Facebook page. “Rapidly deepening winter storms are very challenging to predict, specifically their track and how far west the heaviest bands will move.”

More than 2 feet of snow had been predicted in some parts of the region.

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Travel bans took effect last night across New York City, New Jersey, and Connecticut, with nearly every road from Fort Lee, N.J., to Andover, Mass., off limits to all but emergency workers, the New York Times reported. Subway and bus services were suspended from 11 p.m. last night until this morning, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey ceased Hudson River crossings. Thousands of flights were grounded.

Mayor Bill de Blasio had warned, “This will most likely be one of the largest blizzards in the history of New York City.” All drivers were ordered to be off of New York City streets by 11 p.m., and the city deployed 1,800 plows to clear 6,000 miles of roads. [NYT] — Tess Hofmann