EDIT: Ok it’s official. This is now NYC #1 record of highest snowfall in one blizzard at 26.9 inches. Previous record was 29.4 inches during the blizzard of December 1947 (From Fox News on TV). I went out and took pictures, click the icon on the left for pics.

EDIT 2: A Yahoo Article talks about the official #’s I stated above. I’ll also add these to my cache if you press more below.

Man… NYC totally got dumped on last night. Over 2 feet of snow on the ground and it’s STILL falling as I post this. What in the world? We had such a mild winter that I guess we’re making up for the lack of snow all season in one fell swoop. I can look out my window and can’t see where the sidewalk ends and the street begins. It’s just a white cloud of snow. Kinda looks like a scene from the movie, “The Day After Tomorrow” looking down at the street level. I’ll try to get some pics, but here’s a nice article from Yahoo. Press MORE for my cache of the story.

Near-Record Snowstorm Buries Northeast
By KAREN MATTHEWS
11 minutes ago

A powerful storm buried sections of the Northeast under a near-record 2 feet of wind-blown snow Sunday, marooning thousands of travelers whose flights were grounded and making even a walk to the corner store treacherous.

Wind gusting as high as 60 mph blew the snow sideways and raised a risk of coastal flooding in New England. And in a rare display, lightning lit up the falling snow before dawn in the New York and Philadelphia areas, producing muffled winter thunder.

As the snowfall tapered off during the afternoon, the National Weather Service reported that 24.8 inches had fallen by 1 p.m. in Central Park, the second-highest tally since record-keeping started in 1869. The record was 26.4 inches in December 1947 and there was no immediate indication if it would be passed.

“We might not see anything like this again in our lifetime,” Jason Rosenfarb said as he walked with his 5-year-old daughter Haley in Central Park. Just then Haley jumped head first into the snow and said: “Help me out. There’s too much snow.”

The storm came on the heels of an unusually mild January that had people shedding jackets and ski resorts lamenting lost business.

“It’s sort of crazy because it was so warm a couple of weeks ago and now we have knee-deep snow,” said Skye Drynan, walking her dogs Bella and Forest in lower Manhattan.

Elsewhere, 21 inches of snow fell at Columbia, Md., between Baltimore and Washington, and at East Brunswick, N.J., Hartford, Conn., and West Caln Township west of Philadelphia, the National Weather Service said. Philadelphia’s average for an entire winter is about 21 inches.

“It’s going to be a menace trying to clean it up,” said Mayor Scott T. Rumana in Wayne, N.J. New York officials said snow removal costs the city about $1 million per inch.

However, the storm’s arrival during the weekend meant more people were staying at home instead of trying to drive to work.

Churches canceled services and the Philadelphia Phantoms minor league hockey team postponed Sunday’s game because the team couldn’t get home from Chicago.

The possibility of coastal flooding was a major concern for Massachusetts as wind hit 60 mph, said Peter Judge, spokesman for the state’s Emergency Management Agency. Meteorologists predicted 2 1/2-foot storm surges from Cape Ann to Cape Cod with seas off the coast running up to 25 feet.

The storm closed all three of the New York metropolitan area’s major airports, and airlines canceled more than 500 inbound and departing flights — 200 each at LaGuardia and Newark airports and 120 at Kennedy.

Delta Air Lines canceled arrivals and departures at Washington, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, Providence, R.I., and Hartford, Conn.

The airport closures and grounded planes stranded travelers elsewhere across the country. About 7,500 people were stuck just at Florida’s Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, spokesman Steve Belleme said.

“We’ve been playing cards for two hours. We expect to play a lot more cards,” Cliff Jefferson said about nine hours into his stay at the Miami airport.

Service in and out of New York’s Pennsylvania Station on the Long Island Rail Road was canceled, and Metro North rail service to the northern suburbs was curtailed. New Jersey Transit suspended all bus service statewide. Amtrak reported a few cancelations and delays in the Northeast Corridor but said most trains remained in service.

More than 85,000 homes and businesses were blacked out in Maryland, according to Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. spokeswoman Linda Foy. More than 60,000 customers were reported in the dark in northern Virginia, and thousands more lost power in parts of Delaware, New Jersey and on New York’s Long Island. Temperatures were mostly in the 20s.

Still, many people took the storm in stride, in spite of drifts that made sidewalks torturous if not impassable. Lynda Carpentero didn’t let the snow keep her away from yoga class at a neighborhood gym in Brooklyn.

“We were afraid we would fall on our heads before we stood on them,” Carpenter said.

Intrepid customers even insisted on going out for everyday essentials.

“I love it. It’s like Christmas,” said John Eaton, who went to Chubby’s Deli in suburban Eastchester for his Sunday newspapers and coffee, before returning home to hunker down for the day.

Record-Setting Snow Buries Northeast
By KAREN MATTHEWS, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 21 minutes ago

A record-breaking storm buried sections of the Northeast under more than 2 feet of snow on Sunday, marooning thousands of air travelers and making even a walk to the corner store treacherous.

The National Weather Service said 26.9 inches of snow had fallen in Central Park, the most for a single storm since record-keeping started in 1869. The old record was 26.4 inches in December 1947.

Wind gusting as high as 60 mph blew the snow sideways and raised a risk of coastal flooding in New England. And in a rare display, lightning lit up the falling snow before dawn in the New York and Philadelphia areas, producing muffled winter thunder.

“We might not see anything like this again in our lifetime,” Jason Rosenfarb said as he walked with his 5-year-old daughter Haley in Central Park. Just then Haley jumped head first into the snow and said: “Help me out. There’s too much snow.”

The storm came on the heels of an unusually mild January that had people shedding jackets and ski resorts lamenting lost business.

“It’s sort of crazy because it was so warm a couple of weeks ago and now we have knee-deep snow,” said Skye Drynan, walking her dogs Bella and Forest in lower Manhattan.

Elsewhere, 21 inches of snow fell at Columbia, Md., between Baltimore and Washington, as well as at East Brunswick, N.J., Hartford, Conn., and West Caln Township west of Philadelphia, the National Weather Service said. Philadelphia’s average for an entire winter is about 21 inches.

“It’s going to be a menace trying to clean it up,” said Mayor Scott T. Rumana in Wayne, N.J. New York officials said snow removal costs the city about $1 million per inch.

However, the storm’s arrival during the weekend meant more people were staying at home instead of trying to drive to work.

Churches canceled services, and the Philadelphia Phantoms minor league hockey team postponed Sunday’s game because the team couldn’t get home from Chicago.

The possibility of coastal flooding was a major concern for Massachusetts as wind hit 60 mph, said Peter Judge, spokesman for the state’s Emergency Management Agency. Meteorologists predicted 2 1/2-foot storm surges from Cape Ann to Cape Cod with seas off the coast running up to 25 feet.

An early Valentine’s Day getaway to Massachusetts turned into snowbound jail for Dave Allison and Beth Todzia of southern Connecticut.

They stood inside a Dunkin’ Donuts in Boston, watching snow rip past the window and “trying to figure out how to get home,” Allison said.

The storm closed all three of the New York metropolitan area’s major airports, and airlines canceled more than 500 inbound and departing flights — 200 each at LaGuardia and Newark airports and 120 at Kennedy.

Delta Air Lines canceled arrivals and departures at Washington, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, Providence, R.I., and Hartford, Conn.

The airport closures and grounded planes stranded travelers elsewhere across the country. About 7,500 people were stuck just at Florida’s Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, spokesman Steve Belleme said.

“We’ve been playing cards for two hours. We expect to play a lot more cards,” Cliff Jefferson said about nine hours into his stay at the Miami airport.

Service in and out of New York’s Pennsylvania Station on the Long Island Rail Road was canceled, and Metro North rail service to the northern suburbs was curtailed. New Jersey Transit suspended all bus service statewide. Amtrak reported a few cancelations and delays in the Northeast Corridor but said most trains remained in service.

More than 85,000 homes and businesses were blacked out in Maryland, according to Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. spokeswoman Linda Foy. More than 60,000 customers were reported in the dark in northern Virginia, and thousands more lost power in parts of Delaware, New Jersey and on New York’s Long Island. Temperatures were mostly in the 20s.

Still, many people took the storm in stride, in spite of drifts that made sidewalks tortuous, if not impassable. Lynda Carpentero didn’t let the snow keep her away from yoga class at a neighborhood gym in Brooklyn.

“We were afraid we would fall on our heads before we stood on them,” Carpenter said.

Intrepid customers even insisted on going out for everyday essentials.

“I love it. It’s like Christmas,” said John Eaton, who went to Chubby’s Deli in suburban Eastchester for his Sunday newspapers and coffee, before returning home to hunker down for the day.