New York ends 'snowless' streak; West in deep freeze

NEW YORK/PORTLAND, Oregon — Millions of people in the US awoke on Tuesday to snow, freezing rain and frigid temperatures as an Arctic blast gripped much of the United States, ending a nearly two-year "snow drought" in New York and putting much of the West into a deep freeze.

"It's been 701 days since Central Park last recorded an inch of snow on a calendar day," the National Weather Service announced on X, formerly Twitter.

Since midnight, 2.5 centimeters of snow had fallen at an official measuring point in Central Park, the weather service said, adding that a total of 3.6 cm of accumulation was logged since the storm began on Monday.