(CNN) — A large snowstorm came barreling through the Northeast on Monday, threatening to drop 16 inches in some areas and frustrate commuters.
By Monday morning, Newfield, New York, was reporting 10 inches of snow, while Ridgebury, Pennsylvania, had 8 inches. More accumulation was expected, especially in higher elevations.
The blustery blast follows a mild winter that saw little snow and the warmest March on record.
“The last time we had a big snowstorm across the East Coast was back in October,” when fall foliage was still on the trees, said CNN Meteorologist Rob Marciano.
“This has been a crazy, crazy winter” in the region, he said.
Snowstorms of this magnitude are very rare for this late in April. Forecasters expect record snowfall for this time of year in some areas.
“We have a forestry division on standby that they’re going to be ready to respond to any tree problems and issues that we have,” Rob Kaczorowski of Pittsburgh Public Works told CNN affiliate KDKA-TV. Regarding snow removal, he said, this “will be a wet, slushy snow and we’ll be in a plow mode actually pushing the slush off the street.”
The highest recorded snowfall for Pittsburgh on this date was half an inch in 1956. Up to 5 inches of snow are forecast for Monday, the weather service said.
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