Upstate New York blasted by winter storm, rain as major airports face travel delays

As Thanksgiving travelers hit the road, a heavy early-season snowstorm across the Northeast caused travel delays and disruptions.

More than a foot of snow fell in parts of Upstate New York and northeastern Pennsylvania, according to the FOX Forecast Center.

High Point, New Jersey reported 20 inches of snow, while 19 inches fell in Cortez, Pennsylvania, and 17.1 inches was on the ground in Franklin, New York.

Traffic along Interstate 84 near Scranton, Pennsylvania came to a standstill Friday morning as heavy snow blanketed the roads and reduced visibility.

Winter weather halted flights at the Greater Binghamton Airport in Johnson City, New York. Delays and cancellations were also reported at other major airport hubs in New York, Boston and Washington.

Weather observatories in both Wilkes Barre and Binghamton reported some of their largest snowfall totals on record in November, causing widespread power outages.

More than 125,000 power outages were reported in New York and Pennsylvania due to falling trees.

Local utilities promised to have the majority of outages restored by the end of the weekend.

Winter weather warnings remain in effect for areas of West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, Tennessee and North Carolina, while some locations along the Appalachians were even under blizzard warnings.

Snow levels were expected to remain high enough that only the highest terrain will receive significant snow. Cities like Boston and Portland, Maine, will continue to see rain.

The Federal Aviation Administration reported flight delays of between 1 and 2 hours in many cities in the Northeast, including Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport in Boston, New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport and nearby Newark International Airport.

Delays were expected to improve on Saturday; however, gusty winds and residual precipitation are still likely to result in some travel delays.

The rainfall is expected to help ease some of the record drought conditions and reduce the threat of wildfires that have plagued the region.

More than 7 inches of snow have been reported in the area surrounding the deadly Jennings Creek fire smoldering along the New Jersey-New York border, the FOX Forecast Center said.

Behind this storm system, the coldest air of the season will flow south out of Canada in the days after Thanksgiving and into early December.

Much of the country will experience below-average temperatures as travelers head home, the FOX Forecast Center said.