Snowy Northeast To Get Brief, Warm Respite After Weekend Storm

A brief respite from cold temperatures is here for the snowy Northeast, but that doesn't mean an end to its weather woes.

Warming temperatures accompanying a winter storm turned precipitation in many areas from snow to sleet, making sidewalks and streets in New York and Philadelphia slushy and treacherous on Sunday.

In Boston, temperatures were to climb to around 40 degrees. The warmup is a welcome change for a city that's seen 7 feet of snow.

But, as Kim Buttrick, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Taunton said, the higher temperatures won't last.

“We have a little teaser with this warmup,” Buttrick said, “but temperatures are going to go back to being below normal on Monday and Tuesday.”

The storm brought heavy snow to inland areas. Higher elevations in western Virginia, West Virginia and western Maryland got 10 inches or more. About 8 inches of snow fell in the Baltimore area, while Philadelphia got about 5 inches and New York's Central Park saw about 4.

The storm also brought headaches elsewhere: Rain and above-freezing temperatures in Tennessee prompted state emergency officials to warn of possible flash flooding from melting snow on Saturday.

The Federal Aviation Administration briefly issued a ground stop on Saturday to keep flights from taking off for Philadelphia International Airport because of reduced visibility and high winds, airport spokeswoman Mary Flannery said.

She said about 20 percent of the flights into and out of the airport were canceled and many others were delayed. The three airports in the New York metropolitan area, Washington Dulles International Airport and Memphis International Airport in Tennessee also experienced significant delays because of the weather, according to the FAA.

The eastern United States did not have the market cornered on misery, however: Heavy snow up to three inches an hour fell across parts of Colorado's Front Range on Saturday. The storm could bring two feet or more to some areas by the beginning of next week.