we start the hour with a weather alert. hundreds of thousands are without power and those who have to travel or commute face treacherous conditions. let s look at that. this latest storm dumping a nasty mix of snow, sleet, freezing rain from the great lakes into the northeast. winter storm warnings are from the missouri valley to maine, covering 77 million americans. very good day to you. i m richard lui. this storm is causing such a mess. two planes getting stuck on a taxiway in detroit, new york s governor cuomo and new york has shut down a major highway, interstate 84 between the pennsylvania and connecticut borders. plow drivers say people need to stay off the roads. in the main part of the storm, some people are smart enough to get home, but some go off the road into the snow bank, et cetera. we re not out of the woods yet. we have a lot of stuff coming.
part of interstate 84 is supposed to be shut down with the long state freeway through albany. the orders from the governor and the idea to keep people as safe as the snow falls. take a look down here. we are told right now across long island we have about 4 to 5 inches and incredibly light powdery show and speaks to how cold it is here. new york getting the wet, sloppy, heavier snow. a lot more to come today on long island. take a look at this parking lot out here. this was covered in snow overnight. some of the plows are making a first or second pass through and working through the night to stay ahead of this because we know the heaviest snowfall is coming over the next couple of hours and know some of the lowest temperatures come after that. we are in the middle of it on long island right now. the governor hopes to open up the roads by 5:00 in the morning and that was the announcement yesterday so the roads would be open in time for the morning
of boston, but there could be eight to ten inches of snow in boston where we re hearing that the flurries have already started to land. massachusetts emergency management agency is preparing for a big storm. they have warned the utilities and the airports, the department of transportation is already preparing there for a big clean-up tomorrow morning. now, on the roads here, we re on interstate 84. we have seen some plows going by already. we ve seen the sand trucks out and the salt trucks out. they re going to try to minimize the mess before this storm here really takes hold. again, these are tough conditions. if you are, you know, getting used to the snow for the first time. we ve seen two cars off on the side of the road. we re going slowly. this is a 65-mile-per-hour road. we re going 40 right now. this will be a longer trip to boston, but we certainly aren t trying to race there. we are just hoping to make it before the bulk of the snow starts to come in in boston between 6:00 and
crashes near springfield. and in buffalo, thanks to four days of lake-effect snow people are dealing there with 3 to 4 feet on the ground and even more is expected. cnn s alexandra field is driving from new york to boston to check on conditions and she joins us now live now near hartford, connecticut, and alexandra, how is it looking? reporter: well, rosa, it definitely gets worse a you go farther north. i know that we left new york city around 1:30 and you certainly have some snow there. they re expecting 3 to 5 inches, but we re heading for boston where the forecast calls for 8 to 14 inches of snow, so this is a slow-going trip up interstate 84. a lot of the cars have been slowing down periodically as we get through patches of road where the snow has begun to stick. we re also seeing some highway signs that advise people, you know, to take caution, that the roads are slippery, again, this is the first time that a lot of people are driving through the snow in the northeast here
that spans more than 1,000 miles, with snow falling from ohio all the way to boston. we have team coverage of the storm beginning with cnn s alexandra field checking on the road conditions in the northeast, and she joins us live. i can see that it s dark around you already. you started earlier today. what s it looking like now? reporter: rosa, we are in willington, connecticut, right now. we re on interstate 84. we are getting close to the connecticut/massachusetts border, and i can tell you since we left new york city this afternoon, the roads have been covered with snow, but this storm is bringing not just snow, also ice, so we are seeing some road signs out here warning drivers that conditions will be slippery and that people need to slow down and we do know that the worst of this storm is still to come. reporter: winter stale may be officially one week away but by the looks of what s coming down this weekend, you might think otherwise. i was home and it started coming down, s