Major nor'easter slams East Coast with heavy rain, strong winds
A major nor'easter pounded the East Coast on Friday, packing heavy rain, intermittent snow and strong winds as residents from the mid-Atlantic to Maine braced for coastal flooding. CBS News weather producer David Parkinson said a swath of 40 mph gusts was stretching from the Carolinas to Maine.
More than 2,100 flights were canceled by airlines, most spread across airports in the Northeast. An American Airlines spokesman said the company has cancelled 18 percent of its flights in the Northeast, with Boston's Logan Airport and Reagan Washington National Airport the hardest hit. Amtrak is reporting track damage on one of its Washington D.C. lines.
At least four people were killed in accidents related to the storm.
The Eastern Seaboard was getting buffeted by wind gusts exceeding 50 mph, with possible hurricane-strength winds of 80 to 90 mph on Cape Cod. Also, heavy snow fell in Ohio and upstate New York as the storm spun eastward. Boston south to Rhode Island was forecast to get 2 to 5 inches of snow from the late-winter storm.
The full moon is bringing the highest tides of the month -- intensifying coastal flooding concerns. "Add in a storm surge of four feet in the Boston area and you could easily rival all-time records for coastal flooding," Parkinson said. The Massachusetts coast is particularly vulnerable, but the Jersey Shore, Long Island, Connecticut and even Delaware will all see coastal flooding, Parkinson said.
Total rain from the storm could top three inches in places in about 24 hours -- enough to cause both flash flooding and general flooding.
And the snow that falls will be the wet gloppy, heavy variety. That and strong winds equal a very good chance of power outages.
Follow along below for the latest winter storm updates. All times Eastern.
6-year-old boy dies in Virginia after tree falls on mobile home
4:31 p.m.: Authorities say a 6-year-old boy died Friday just hours after a tree fell onto his home in Chesterfield, Virginia.
Charles Knowles, Chesterfield County's acting fire chief, said crews responded to the mobile home on Cliffside Drive where the boy was trapped between his bed and the tree.
Crews stabilized the tree to make sure it wouldn't cause anymore damage before they removed the victim.
Hours later the boy died from his injuries at a nearby hospital, Knowles said. It was the second known weather-related death on Friday.
77-year-old woman killed by falling tree branch
4:10 p.m.: Authorities say a 77-year-old woman died Friday after she was struck by a falling large tree branch outside her home in Baltimore County, Maryland. The woman was pronounced deceased on the scene by emergency responders, the Baltimore County Police and Fire Department said on Twitter.
The woman's husband said she went outside to check the mail when the tree branch fell on her, The Baltimore Sun reports.
Nearly 3,000 flights canceled in U.S.
3:55 p.m.: Airlines cancelled 2,947 flights in the U.S. on Friday, according to Flightaware.com. New York City's LaGuardia Airport was the most impacted with 693 flights cancelled -- 58 percent of flights at the airport. Sixty-two were delayed for more than 15 minutes.
John F. Kennedy International Airport has also been significantly impacted, with 58 percent of flights cancelled, Flightaware said in a statement. Ground stops were implemented Friday afternoon at both airports due to high wind gusts exceeding 50 mph.
Many airlines canceled flights Thursday night and Friday morning in anticipation of the forecasted winds, Flightaware explained, adding that the cancellations will help them recover their schedules faster. Flightaware said the situation is expected to improve by Saturday morning.
Over 700,000 without power across Northeast
3:37 p.m.: More than 700,000 electric customers across the Northeast are without power as a late-winter nor'easter pummels the region with high winds and driving rain.
The poweroutage.us website, which tracks utilities across the nation, reported early Friday afternoon that New York was the hardest hit state with more than 208,000 homes and businesses without electricity.
About 180,000 Pennsylvania customers and 140,000 Virginia customers were without power. The New England area was not hit as hard, with Massachusetts experiencing nearly 27,000 outages.
Southern New England braces for more rainfall, snow
2:58 p.m.: CBS Boston reports on what lies ahead for Southern New England.
As of Friday afternoon, most areas already had 1-2 inches of rain. Bands of heavy rain was expected to continue to rotate in from the ocean throughout the afternoon, before eventually changing to wet snow. Final rainfall totals will range between 2 and 4 inches, with a few higher amounts likely.
Widespread urban and small stream flooding is certain with some main stem, larger, rivers rising to near their banks. The entire region is teetering on the brink of changing from rain to snow. The Berkshires have been snowing heavily all day and will end up with 12-20 inches of snow accumulation.
In Worcester Hills, rain will likely change to wet snow early to mid-afternoon, with several inches -- perhaps 6 or more -- accumulating by Friday night.
In Rhode Island, cold air will rotate southward as the storm pulls away Friday evening. There will still be a heavy band of precipitation over southeastern Massachusetts as this occurs. Rain is expected to change into snow after 7 p.m. Friday with the possibility of several inches of accumulation before tapering off by midnight.
The rest of the area, including Boston and Middlesex and Essex counties will likely see a change to snow Friday afternoon, but there will likely not be enough precipitation in the area for significant snow accumulation.
Trees and telephone poles will continue to fall all afternoon and evening. Expect severe damage to vulnerable homes along the coastline and power outages to continue to grow exponentially hour by hour.
Flooding, downed trees in New Jersey
2:41 p.m.: The powerful coastal storm caused some scattered flooding and road closures during Friday morning's high tide in New Jersey, but most roads remained passable. Two local roads in Absecon, near Atlantic City, were closed due to flooding, and there was flooding on Route 40 into and out of the gambling resort.
Route 35 in Brick and Belmar also were experiencing some flooding, with intermittent closures of one of the highway's two lanes, and roads in Neptune and Highlands had water on the roadway.
There were scattered reports of downed trees blocking one lane of some roads in the northern part of the state. Some flights have already been canceled at Newark Liberty International Airport.
Significant snow accumulation is expected at higher elevations in northwest New Jersey and the Poconos.
The storm could take a chunk out of Jersey shore beaches that are still being repaired following damage from previous storms. There's no guarantee that all the sand that washes away over the next few days will be replaced.
Amtrak suspends service along northeast corridor
2:35 p.m.: The fierce nor'easter battering the Northeast is causing havoc with rail travel. Amtrak announced Friday that all services along the Northeast Corridor "are temporarily suspended due to multiple weather related issues."
Service between New York City and Boston was suspended earlier due to flooding and multiple downed trees.
Amtrak also announced that one track on the Washington-Maryland corridor was out of service for repairs due to weather damage. That forced trains to reduce speeds for safety.
Trains already en route will continue to Washington, New York City and Boston and hold. In New Jersey, a downed tree that hit overhead wires has suspended some New Jersey Transit service.
NJT says the tree toppled in the area of Morris Plains on Friday, causing the suspension of service on the Morris and Essex Line in both directions between Dover and Convent Station.
It wasn't immediately known if the service would resume in time for the evening commute.
Heavy rain aggravates Pittsburgh's landslide problem
1:50 p.m.: Heavy rains are complicating problems that Pittsburgh has been having with landslides in recent days. One home was destroyed and the back wall of another was crushed in a landslide Friday in Kilbuck Township, about 12 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.
Tom Tomaro has lived in the 3,000-square-foot, three-bedroom house his entire life. The landscape contractor said he noticed signs that the land was shifting several days ago, and started to move out his belongings then. The landslide has so far plowed through his fence, yard and deck and crushed the 70-year-old home's back wall.
Tomaro told CBS Pittsburgh that his family "got everything out of the house" that they possibly could and "moved it out of harm's way."
For now, he and his wife are staying with his mother-in-law. Officials said all the rain is causing the clay soil underneath to move quickly.
150k without power in New York
1:11 p.m.: The storm left more than 150,000 customers without power and closed schools across upstate New York, CBS New York reports.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a travel advisory for all areas north of New York City, requesting limited travel due to dangerous driving conditions.
The National Weather Service said Buffalo received 8.4 inches of snow by 7 a.m., a record for that date, and areas south of the city were under 20 inches or more. The Rochester area was closing in on a foot of snow.
Accumulation were lower in eastern parts of the state, but the heavy mix of snow and rain made traveling hazardous, especially in the high-elevation areas like the Catskill Mountains.
Pilot flying through storm: "Pretty much everyone on the plane threw up"
12:48 p.m.: High winds and driving rain are causing thousands of flight cancellations at East Coast airports. But what about the planes that did manage to take off? One pilot landing at Dulles International Airport said it was not a pretty scene.
"Very bumpy on descent," the pilot reported, according to a transcript on aviationweather.gov. "Pretty much everyone on the plane threw up. Pilots were on the verge of throwing up."
Thousands without power in Massachusetts
12:27 p.m.: Several thousand power outages have been reported in Massachusetts the storm hit southern New England, CBS Boston reports. More than 22,000 outages were reported at 11:30 a.m. Friday, with majority taking place in Upton, Windsor and Watertown, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA).
Just after 6 a.m., the Millbury Fire Department responded to a call for wires arcing on a tree.
Storm a "life and death" situation along Mass. shore
9:13 a.m.: The brunt of the storm will strike Massachusetts, CBS News correspondent DeMarco Morgan reports. Massachusetts could see 75 mph wind gusts and devastating coastal flooding later Friday.
The National Weather Service calls the storm a "life and death" situation for people along the shore.
Flooding could rival all-time records. Storm surges up to four feet are possible.
"If you live in an area that's been told to evacuate, we strongly encourage you to do so," Gov. Charlie Baker said.
Baker stressed the dangerous storm could be stronger than the "bomb cyclone" that slammed New England and caused record flooding in early January. He also signed an order to activate 200 members of the National Guard to help prepare.
"I can't stress this enough," Baker said. "It's a heck of a storm, and people need to take it seriously."
Heavy snowfall buries much of western Pa., N.Y.
8:36 a.m.: Overnight, heavy snowfall buried much of western Pennsylvania and New York, CBS News correspondent DeMarco Morgan reports. The storm had already dumped more than a foot of snow by Friday morning.
Some cars could be seen in banks off the side of the highway.
High winds have already taken down power lines in Michigan, knocking out electricity to tens of thousands. Trees also toppled into homes as far south as Maryland.
Flight cancellations starting to mount
5:49 a.m.: American Airlines scrapped some 700 flights scheduled to head to and from the Northeast Friday and Delta did the same with about 300.
Those two carriers and others including Southwest and JetBlue were allowing travelers to change their Friday and Saturday flights ahead of time to avoid delays and cancellations at key airports across the region.
