BOSTON -- High winds and whiteout conditions swept across New England on Tuesday as a strong winter storm moved up the East Coast, leaving the island of Nantucket without power.
The storm veered away from New York City, leaving less than a foot of snow in Central Park. Connecticut also received less than expected, but the storm was bearing down on Boston, where forecasters continued to expect 2-3 feet of snow.
The snow in New England began Monday evening, continued all day Tuesday and was not expected to ease until late evening. And the bitter cold could hang on. The low in Boston today is expected to be 10 degrees, with a wind chill of 5 degrees below zero, and forecasters said it will not get above freezing for the next week or so.
The Philadelphia-to-Boston corridor of more than 35 million people had braced for a paralyzing blast Monday evening and into Tuesday after forecasters warned of a storm of potentially historic proportions.
The weather lived up to its billing in New England and on New York's Long Island, which also got clobbered.
But in the New York City area, the snowfall wasn't as bad, falling short of a foot. By Tuesday morning, buses and subways were starting to run again in the city, and driving bans there and in New Jersey had been lifted.
The glancing blow left forecasters apologizing and politicians defending their near-total shutdown on travel.
But in Boston, nearly 21 inches of snow coated Boston's Logan Airport by evening, while nearby Framingham had 2½ feet and Worcester 26 inches. Lunenburg reported 33 inches.
Providence, R.I., had well over a foot of snow. Sixteen inches had piled up in Portland, Maine, and 23 inches in Waterford, Conn. Montauk, on the eastern end of Long Island, got about 2 feet.
The town of Scituate, about 30 miles south of Boston on the Atlantic coast, experienced heavy flooding, with a car washing away and floating downtown. Officials said they began receiving requests for evacuations at 3:45 a.m. Tuesday as high tide neared. The town declared its own state of emergency at 4:55 a.m. and was bracing for the next high tide at 4 p.m.
"The water was up to the top of the stop signs," said Kim Dami, a secretary for the town's sewer division, citing reports from her colleagues.
Workers tried to keep roads clear Tuesday in other parts of town, Dami said. "A lot of plowing, a lot of clearing, a lot of salt and sanding," she said.
By Tuesday evening, at least 30,000 homes and businesses were without power in the Boston-Cape Cod area.
State officials said all of Nantucket was without power and that cellphone service was down. The island was essentially isolated because ferry service was canceled and no flights could get in or out.
But overall, there were fewer service interruptions than had been predicted.
States of emergency were in effect across New England.
"The amount of snow and the high winds, along with blowing and drifting snow, makes this storm dangerous for many Mainers," Gov. Paul LePage of Maine said in making the emergency declaration Tuesday morning.
Travel bans were imposed in Maine or New Hampshire, though speeds on the Maine Turnpike were lowered to 45 mph. Travel bans were in effect in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and most public schools in the region were closed.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said essential workers who were driving in Massachusetts were getting out of their cars on Interstate 93 to clean their windshields. "Not a good idea," he said, urging those who needed to clear their windshields to pull off the highways.
Peter Gaynor, the head of the Rhode Island Department of Emergency Management, told CNN that the travel ban in his state had allowed the snowplows to keep up with clearing the roads without having to deal with other vehicles.
Raging winds were the worst aspect of the storm, with gusts raking across Nantucket at up to 78 mph. Flooding was reported along coastal areas.
The Boston subway system and commuter rail lines were shut down, as was Amtrak's Northeast Corridor service. Airports were closed in Boston and Portland, Maine. Officials had prepared shelters in Massachusetts for more than 8,500 people, but as of early morning Tuesday, only 142 had checked in.
Gov. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire told New England Cable News that she had shut down state government, which she said was an "unusual event" in hardy New Hampshire, because snow was coming down at 4 inches an hour and visibility was dangerously low.
The governor did not order a travel ban, she said, because she did not want law enforcement officials distracted by having to enforce it. By and large, she said, residents were cooperating and staying at home.
Snow was forecast through Tuesday night in many areas and not expected to taper off until early today.
Information for this article was contributed by Katharine Q. Seelye, Jess Bidgood, Hattie Bernstein and Murray Carpenter of The New York Times; and by Bob Salsberg, Denise Lavoie and staff members of The Associated Press.
A Section on 01/28/2015