Like the snow removal crews stationed around the area, New York stations were well-prepared for the blizzard that never was on Wednesday morning. As Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared a “weather emergency” Tuesday evening, the market’s ABC, CBS, and NBC affiliates planned expanded morning newscasts with all three stations beginning at 4:00 a.m. Wednesday morning, a half hour earlier than normal.
WNBC led off with a weather report from meteorologist Chris Cimino (left) as anchors Michael Gargiulo and Darlene Rodriguez shepherded coverage that included live reports from Tracie Strahan and Brian Thompson. When Cargulo asked him if he had brought along a yard stick to measure the snow fall, Thompson nicely summed up the morning’s coverage, saying that he had brought a foot-long ruler instead.
WABC began its expanded newscast with a quick update of the weather and commuting conditions. Anchors Ken Rosato and Lori Stokes spoke with reporters stationed around the area, including NJ Burkett, Stacey Sager (right), Josh Einiger, Lisa Colagrossi, and Anthony Johnson. Even though snow continued to blanket their surroundings, all of the reporters said that the city’s snow removal efforts were moving along efficiently.
At the beginning of WCBS‘s newscast, Jay Dow (left) reported on the snow removal from a unique vantage point: he was in a car, driving and following a sanitation department truck as it plowed and salted streets in Brooklyn. After receiving an in-depth weather report from Lonnie Quinn as well as John Elliot, anchor Rob Morrison pointed out that the station had “all four meteorologists working today.”
CW-affiliate WPIX also offered extensive coverage of the storm during its morning newscast, which regularly begins at 4:00 a.m. James Ford (right) reported live on Long Island where clean-up crews were successfully clearing the roads. Anchors Chris Burrous and Tamsen Fadal spoke with a representative from the Metro Transit Authority about conditions on subway lines. The newscast began with a dramatic graphic open that included images from the Christmas weekend blizzard that rocked the area. The narrator ended with “This can’t happen again.” “Thankfully, so far [its’] not happening again,” Burrous said at the outset of the newscast.