Over 2,700 Flights Cancelled as Powerful Nor’easter Slams Into East Coast

Airlines canceled more than 2,700 flights on Friday as a powerful nor’easter slammed into mid-Atlantic and Northeast states, bringing heavy rains, high winds, and wet snow to the region. Trains in the New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C., area were suspended on account of Winter Storm Riley, which caused severe flooding in Beantown. Wind gusts reached over 70 mph at Washington’s Dulles International Airport, while upstate New York recorded two feet of snow by 1 p.m. Friday. Over 200,000 residents are currently without power in Virginia due to the storm, and other parts of the East Coast are also in danger of losing power. The nor’easter underwent “bombogenesis,” or a “rapid drop in atmospheric pressure,” making the slow-moving storm worse for those in its path. The National Weather Service has issued high wind, flood, and winter storm warnings for the region, and conditions are expected to last through Saturday.