Boston Slammed with 15 Inches of Snow; Blizzard Blasts New York, and Massachusetts and Coast; Sub-Zero Temperatures
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, I'm John Berman and Wolf Blitzer is off today. And we're going to start with heavy snow, brutal winds and bone-chilling temperatures. A triple weather threat that's brought much of the northeast to its knees on one of the busiest holiday travel weeks of the year. It has been a monster nor'easter that's buried some towns under two feet of snow. Fierce wind gusts are creating huge snow drifts and threaten to trigger flooding along the coast. And then, there is dangerously cold temperatures, well below zero with the wind chill in many places. Even without the wind chill, it's really, really cold. We're covering this major story from all angles today. Our correspondents are in Boston, Cape Cod, New York, also out in New York's Long Island. One of the worst hit areas, of course, is Boston. Hit especially hard by the wind and the snow and the cold. Our Margaret Conley braving those mean streets there. Margaret, how bad is it this afternoon?</s>MARGARET CONLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, some areas of Massachusetts saw up to two feet of snow. We talked to the department of transportation this morning. They had 3,394 snow plows out. Their maximum capacity is 4,000 and comparing that to just yesterday when they only had 1,000. So, they've been dealing with a lot of snow come in over the last couple days. As you can see, the snow has somewhat tapered off this afternoon, and it's expected to taper off later into today as well. But we are going to see winds of up to 35 miles per hour and also chills. There is a winter chill advisory for now until 9:00 a.m. And there could be wind chills as low as below 35 degrees. Of course, the big concern here is visibility for travelers. Since there is wind and there's light snow that's causing some problems for flights, flights were canceled from Logan last night until this afternoon. We are seeing up in the air there, because Logan's not too far away, planes land. But I do know I was supposed to fly out tonight and my flight, John, has been canceled.</s>BERMAN: Yes, you're not going anywhere, especially with that wind and that cold. Of course, it's not even as bad in Boston as it is out on Cape Cod southeast of Boston. The conditions there even worse. Our Laurie Segall is there. And, Laurie, the winds and snowfall really, really tough where you are. But that might not be the biggest concern. It's the coastal flooding that people have been worried about. Have those fears been realized?</s>LAURIE SEGALL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Listen, I just got off the phone with the Massachusetts emergency office and I said, right now is high tide. This is the time that folks are worried it's going to cause coastal flooding because we have to remember that this town -- we're here in Chatham, Massachusetts. This town is so near the water. And anytime something like this happens, you could have coastal flooding. Well, the good news, John, is right now it's high tide and they say it's moderate right now. They haven't seen too much coastal flooding. They say they've seen a little bit up in Plymouth which is up west in South Shore. But right now, they're saying it's minimum. I will tell you this because I've been standing here throughout -- from different hours and it's a lot better now than it is this morning. We're standing on Main Street. If you look behind me, all the stores are closed but finally people are beginning to come out. We're seeing more folks driving, walking around, taking some pictures. Earlier today it was 30-mile- per-hour winds. It was snow plows left and right. But now, the streets are beginning to clear up a little bit and they say that the worst is probably over -- John.</s>BERMAN: Yes, it's good news on the coastal flooding. They do not need that especially with the winds and the cold. And, Laurie, I've been talking to you all morning, your satellite truck pretty much froze this morning, didn't it?</s>SEGALL: You know, we're breaking up a little bit because of the wind, but I did hear the word satellite truck. So, I have a feeling you're going to talk about -- you're talking about our satellite truck that wasn't quite working this morning. What essentially happened was it was bad weather. It was -- these weather conditions were very bad. And we really weren't able to go live from our satellite truck. I think we probably have some images of that that you can look at. We were actually able to go by using -- our photojournalists came up with the idea to use a MyFi password card and a laptop. So, we were able to actually go live. But you just got the idea that it was really bad and it was very, very chilly. And the wind -- because we're so close to the water, the wind and the snow, it causes a whole new type of effect -- John.</s>BERMAN: Laurie was just covered in ice and snow this morning. It's been a long, long morning and afternoon out on Cape Cod. Laurie Segall, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. I want to go now to our Brian Stelter who's out on Long Island here in New York where blizzard warnings were just lifted a few minutes ago. Now, Brian actually has been covering the media for years, but it's secretly been his dream to cover the weather. He's getting a chance to do it today. Brian, how bad was it for you at the peak of the storm?</s>BRIAN STELTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, you know, it wasn't that bad. We're out here. We're paid to be out here and see what it's like for everybody else. No complaints from me. You know, John, I think you know this, we talked about this. I was the nerdy seven or eight year old who would go out in the backyard with a stick, measure the snow and then call the local weather channel and tell them how much snow was on the ground. You know, so I've always had a thing for weather. I guess it's my other love besides media. And it's been interesting to come out and see what this is like. The digging out here continues. We're in the heart of Long Island. We've</s>BERMAN: The worse of it does seem to be over at where you are. And they closed the Long Island expressway and a lot of the other major roads in Long Island so those work crews could get the work done that they need to get done. And that does seem to be going well. Brian Stelter, I'm so happy for you that you did get to experience this and I wish you many more weather events in the near future. I want to come back here now to New York City. Ashleigh Banfield is in the snow covered streets here. And, Ashleigh, this really is the first major storm that the city has seen under its new mayor, Bill de Blasio, on the job for all of, what, two and a half days now. How does he seem to be handling the response so far?</s>ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Like the rests of us. First thing he did when he woke up, John, was shovel his walk. And I'm really not kidding. We actually even got pictures of him. He was out before 8:00 this morning, shoveling away, clearing away and then he got right down to business and actually gave a news conference about this city's reaction and response to the storm because do you know something? There are 5,000 plow routes in New York City. Here's how he said it's going so far.</s>BILL DE BLASIO, MAYOR, NEW YORK: 100 percent of primary roads have been plowed. 92 percent of secondary roads, 93 percent of tertiary roads. So, this is an extraordinary level of performance under tough conditions.</s>BANFIELD: Tough conditions to say the least. That sound bite was given a little bit earlier so you can imagine that there's been some progress made since then. If you hear the stats, John, it's really quite amazing. Look, I know New York is big but 1,700 plows? Like I said, there were those 5,000 workers who were out and about on the streets making sure that they were salted, sanded and plowed, 7,000 tons of salt at the ready to spray down on those streets. But none of that could battle the school system. They had to close it down. So, 1.1 million kids will be out likely having some fun in the snow somewhere in New York City. And I recommend Central Park right behind me because that got six inches of snow overnight. On the upper west side not far away from that, about 7.8 inches of snow. So, for all of those 1,700 public schools, they have the day off. The sun has come out. And John, I'm looking up at the CNN sign that beams all over the west side. It's 18 degrees Fahrenheit. That doesn't take into account that wind chill. At 2:00 this morning, which I know was when you woke up and came into work, it was zero everywhere in the New York area with wind chill. At least zero. Nobody got above zero with wind chill in the entire New York area. I can tell you, since I've been out here, we've warmed up a balmy eight degrees, I'm quite comfortable out here with my crew now.</s>BERMAN: I like to see that smile, Ashleigh. For the most part, when you're out there smiling like that, it means it's because it's frozen there in the cold temperatures.</s>BANFIELD: Yes.</s>BERMAN: I appreciate you being there. We saw some beautiful pictures behind you of people skating in Central Park. It's a nice day to be out though a little bit cold now, at this point. Alexandra Steele is tracking the storm's path. It's been everywhere from the Midwest to the northeast. Where is it going next? What's the latest status, Alexandra?</s>ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Done, how about that? Are you happy to hear that, John? All right, here's the look. The storm is over. Still, though, there's a few residual snow showers right now on the Cape which is coming up with some of the biggest numbers. But the storm itself has moved out. The area of low pressure moving out. Of course, behind it, still the winds. But with each hour, those winds will subside and you'll certainly notice that. All right, some lucky winners here. Boston in the end picking up 14.6. The models really just nailing this forecast. Seven inches in Albany, 6.2 in Worcester. Philadelphia, Central Park at six 6 as well. A few bigger totals more substantial, two feet in Boxford, Mass; Topsford, north of Boston, at 19. So, you get the picture. So, that's what it looks like. That's what we saw. But here's the look at what it looks like outside your window. Let's show you some pictures and some are quite scary, of course. We'll take you to Virginia where we had an overpass -- cars in the overpass. Look at this. Now, this is Tyson's Corner, Virginia. They picked up about three inches just outside Washington, D.C. right over the river. All so scary, no question about it. There was a little playful side and we certainly got pictures of that as well. Lincoln Park Zoo in Illinois, 12 inches. And also, let's take you now to Manalapan, New Jersey. Dogs out there playing. I think dog's name is Batman. Eleven inches of snow. A little deep but trying to make it through. But, John, I've got other news for you. We've got even colder air, believe it or not, coming in. How about historically cold, Minneapolis, Chicago could see some of the coldest air in a decade. Look at some of these temperatures. Watch what happens. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Tuesday, Monday, a high temperature. Temperatures, these aren't even wind chills. And in Chicago, a similar scenario. And, John, all of that is moving east. And I'll bring you what our temperatures will be in the east coast coming up and it's very cold as well.</s>BERMAN: Yes, I can't wait for that, Alexandra. If it looks anything like those numbers behind you right now. Oh, that does not look good.</s>STEELE: Yes.</s>BERMAN: Thank you very much. Here's the big question for everyone. Could you see yourself standing around for hours in those arctic cold temperatures just to watch a football game, even your favorite football team? In a minute, the mayor of Green Bay will tell us why his city's fans are not afraid of what could be a record cold game day. Really cold, folks.