Last night's snowstorm, dubbed Hercules, continued this morning, affecting at least 22 states and over 100 million people, CNN reported. Most of the powder was distributed to the Northeast, with areas around Boston getting the biggest share (1-2 feet), according to most reports. The New York/New Jersey area was also hit hard; some areas have already surpassed a foot of snow with more to come. In New York, several major highways were closed last night, including the Long Island Expressway, in anticipation of the storm, weather.com reported.
Still, Hercules will be more known for its freezing temperatures and fast winds than its snowfall. Affected areas are struggling to break twenty degrees. In the Long Island/New York City area, temperatures are in the teens with a wind chill below zero. Upstate New York, always a little more extreme than its southern neighbors, is fighting wind chills 20 and 30 degrees below zero, according to weather.com.
"It would have been nice to have a calm first day, but we have snow on our mind, and we are focused like a laser on protecting this city and getting everyone ready," newly appointed New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told weather.com on Thursday.
New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont were even colder, as their geography typically dictates. Raw temperatures were in the single digits and below zero in some areas. Their wind chill equivalents are reaching as low as 35 degrees below.
"Minimize outside activities," Massachusetts Governor Deval L. Patrick told Boston.com. "This is pretty, in some respects, it's nice to look at. But these temperatures are very, very dangerous."
Even North Carolina has a storm warning in effect, according to weather.com.
