Throughout the Tri-state area, people wore coats indoors as they endured yet another night without heat. Some of those who had weathered Sandy told NBC New York on Wednesday they were petrified.
"It's like a sequel to a horror movie," said James Alexander, a resident of the hard-hit Rockaway Peninsula. "Here we are, nine days later - freezing, no electricity, no nothing, waiting for another storm."
Alexander's home was spared when Sandy hit, but homes around him burned to the ground, and the boardwalk near his home was washed out to sea.
"They said it would be a rough winter," he noted to NBC New York.
One local resident refuses to be driven out by the latest storm, a combo of snow and rain that is threatening areas already ravaged by Hurricane Sandy. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.
About 1,200 flights were canceled across the Northeast, while residents of a few areas hit hardest by Superstorm Sandy last week were urged to evacuate in case of new flooding. Long Island Rail Road service was also suspended before 7 p.m.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg directed police to use their patrol car loudspeakers to warn the 20,000 to 30,000 residents in vulnerable areas to evacuate. . Officers found that most had left their homes to stay with family, NBC New York reported.
The snow from the latest Nor'easter is expected to continue through midnight before finally winding down in the early hours of Thursday morning.
The nor'easter, dubbed "Athena" by The Weather Channel, could produce strong gusts that could also turn up piled debris from Sandy into projectiles.
"With winds picking up to 30-, 40-, 50-mile-per-hour gusts," he added, "our fear is that if people are out and about they could be hit by flying debris. We would urge people to stay in their houses, stay home, and let the storm pass."
Central Park recorded 2.8 inches of snowfall, beating the 1878 record of 0.1 inches. Bridgeport, Conn., saw 3.5 inches, breaking the former record of 2.0 inches set in 1953. In Newark, N.J., 2.0 inches fell; trace amounts had been recorded in 1981.
As the day cooled into night, The Weather Channel forecast three inches of snow in Philadelphia with wind gusts over 30 mph, a combination of wet snow and wind in New Jersey, and snowfall totals of six to 12 inches in southeastern New York and New England.
Fearing winds could down more trees, the city also closed all parks, playgrounds and beaches at noon Wednesday, and ordered all construction sites to be secured. Airlines cancel flights ahead of nor'easter
Sandy killed more than 100 people, mainly in New York City and New Jersey, and left more than 8 million homes and businesses without power.