Tired of snow, Northeast adds sleet, freezing rain

[January 18, 2011]  NEW YORK (AP) -- A mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain iced over roads, driveways and sidewalks from Philadelphia to upstate New York on Tuesday, making for a slippery morning commute.

The storm was expected to trudge its way up the East Coast, giving New England more of the same later Tuesday.

Patricia Ricciardi, 49, used a tissue to wipe sludge off the cuffs of her slacks in a south Philadelphia subway station as she headed downtown to work at her city job.

"I don't want to go to work looking like I came from a garage instead," she said. "It's disgusting."

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm advisory until 1 p.m. in New York City. The area got 1 to 2 inches of snow and sleet by early morning. It was to be followed by an inch of ice before turning to all rain by late morning.

Slightly more accumulations were forecast for parts of northeastern New Jersey, Rockland and Westchester counties and the lower Hudson Valley.

Eastern Long Island was expected to get less than an inch of snow and sleet.

In Pennsylvania, the storm prompted hundreds of school delays and some closures from Philadelphia west to Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. Commuters heading out early found their cars and driveways covered in a coating of ice. Schools were closed in southern Vermont and parts of New Hampshire.

Travelers faced delays at New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

In upstate New York, most schools from the Albany area south to Orange County were closed or delayed. The eastern half of the state was expected to get up to 8 inches of snow, along with freezing rain and sleet.

Metro-North Railroad, which serves commuters from Connecticut into New York City, reported up to 40-minute delays on a line between New Haven and Stamford due to damaged wires.

After a Christmas weekend blizzard dumped 20 inches of snow on New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg was criticized for the slow cleanup. Up to 12 inches of snow blanketed the area again last week, but the city was prepared and the streets were quickly plowed.

[Associated Press]

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