The conditions were expected to worsen throughout the evening and then, after midnight, intensify rapidly, with winds topping 50 miles per hour.”
New York City was spared from the worst of a snowstorm that hit the Northeast early Tuesday, with the dire warnings that it could be one of the worst blizzards in the city’s history failing to materialize.
Heavy snow fell east of the city, with about 15 inches at Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip, according to the National Weather Service. At Central Park, the total snowfall for the storm was about 5.5 inches.
Around 5:30 a.m., the National Weather Service said the blizzard warning for New York City had been canceled. Blizzard conditions will continue on Tuesday across much of Connecticut and Long Island, the advisory said.
The weather service said that the storm had moved further east and that “much less snow” would fall near the city than previously predicted.
“We’re going to see snow falling in the morning hours,” Jim Hayes, a meteorologist for the weather service, said early Tuesday. “The heavy snow will fall from central Long Island and Connecticut eastward.”
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“People have to make smart decisions from this point on,” he said. “It is not business as usual.”
While the city announced that parks would be closed to the public at 6 p.m., crews planned to work throughout the storm, clearing roads and paths and removing downed limbs.
In all, the city has deployed some 1,800 plows to clear more than 6,000 miles of roadways.
Reporting was contributed by Jess Bidgood, Matt Flegenheimer, Lisa W. Foderaro, Dan Glaun, Michael M. Grynbaum, Kristin Hussey, Amisha Padnani, Nate Schweber and Katharine Q. Seelye.
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A version of this article appears in print on January 27, 2015, on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Snowstorm Barrels Into Northeast, Paralyzing Travel. Order Reprints| Today’s Paper|Subscribe
