Tri-State Gets First Major Snowstorm of Season: Some Yeshivos Closed, Lakewood Yungeleit Get Stuck at Motels

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snowBy Matzav.com Staff

The Tri-State and much of the Northeast is in the midst of its first major snowstorm of the season, a system that’s blanketing the area with well over a foot of snow in many areas. Matzav.com has confirmed that a number of yeshivos are closed. In several cases in Brooklyn, the early yeshiva minyanim were cancelled last night, and classes weren’t officially called off until this morning.

In this storm, New Jersey took the brunt of the storm first, with snow falling early Shabbos morning. By Motzoei Shabbos, dangerous conditions on the highways made driving chaotic. White-out conditions on the Garden State Parkway made travel particularly difficult, as low visibility paired with slick roads caused several accidents and delays.

Matzav.com spoke with several yungeleit who traveled home last night from Brooklyn to Lakewood. Those who made it all the way home endured a harrowing 4-plus-hour ordeal of frightening driving. Quite a number simply stopped at motels along Route 9 for the night.

We spoke with one family who arrived at a motel, only to find out that there was just one room left.

“There was one room left – with five families vying for it!” said the husband to Matzav.com. “We saw one of the families actually setting up shop in the motel lobby, preparing to spend the night there, feeling that they couldn’t get back on the road.”

It was a frightening experience for many.

An endless number of cars struggled to escape the thick snow accumulating on roads. Many got stuck and required assistance.

Despite tireless efforts to get roads plowed and safe for driving, many roads and ramps had to be shut down for safety reasons.

We spoke with one yungerman who was involved in a spinout on the Garden State Parkway, as his car ended up facing north – right on the shoulder of the southbound lanes.

“My kids and wife were petrified,” the yungerman told Matzav.com. “We would have never traveled if we had known of the conditions. Boruch Hashem, we got back on the highway and made it home. But we did so at 10 miles per hour – literally. This is the worst storm I remember in probably 8 to 10 years.”

But the worst was yet to come.

“If I thought the highway was bad,” he added, “I wasn’t ready for the Lakewood roads. They were practically undrivable. I got a tip from a chaver not to take Miller Road and some other streets, but getting home was no picnic.” 

The storm caused some small power outages throughout the day in Lakewood.

A Winter Storm Warning has been issued throughout the tri-state for the five boroughs, parts of New Jersey, Rockland, Westchester and parts of Connecticut until 11 a.m. today.

New York City Deals With Storm

Throughout New York City, garbage and recyclables that have been waiting for curbside pickups will have to wait a little longer. After the storm turned out to move through the area slower than expected, garbage trucks were fitted with plows and put on standby to deal with snow.

“In hindsight, we could have cleaned the streets and we could’ve picked up garbage,” NYC Sanitation Department Commissioner John Doherty said. “But our priority, when it comes to snow in New York, is snow.”

In the city, 2,500 sanitation employees are at work with 2,000 pieces of equipment on the roads, plowing and salting, which they did throughout the night. They’ll be working 12-hour shifts until the storm cleanup is complete.

Extended Forecast for the Tri-State:

Today, Sunday
Cloudy. Snow likely, mainly in the morning. Total snow accumulation of 9 to 15 inches possible, more in New Jersey Brisk with highs in the lower 30s. Northwest winds 15 to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph. Chance of snow 60 percent.

Monday
Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 30s. Northwest winds around 15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph.

Tuesday
Mostly sunny and brisk. Highs in the mid 30s.

Wednesday
Mostly sunny and brisk. Highs in the mid 30s.

Thursday
Partly sunny. Highs in the upper 30s.

Friday
Cloudy with a chance of snow and rain. Highs in the upper 30s. Chance of precipitation 40 percent.

{Matzav.com News Team; Dovid Bernstein and Noam Amdurski of Matzav.com contributed to this report}


6 COMMENTS

  1. Stop with the story of the wife and kids that were terrified. Who are these fools that put themselves in sakuna and left for lakewood “with little kids” in the car in an ongoing blizzard. Would you call that “normal”. Is it right l’halocha.

  2. why would someone not know that there was a snowstorm coming? it should not have been a surprise to anyone. listen to the radio, look outside, for goodness sakes!

  3. left Lakewood last night at 8:30pm and got into brooklyn at 12:30 am – The GSP was crawling and The vzano was closed for 45 min! rough stuff McGruff!!!!

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