Winter Storm Kenan, which meteorologists are describing as a “bomb cyclone,” is dominating the Northeast from as far south as Delaware into New Jersey, up the Eastern seaboard to the top of Maine.
The box office was already horrible, with studios holding back new wide releases this weekend, and now there will be further impact on ticket sales, as notable chains as AMC, Regal and National Amusements close their doors until the snow passes. The weekend box office was already set to clock under $35M for all titles, the lowest since late September 2020, with Spider-Man: No Way Home continuing its No. 1 streak with $10.4M.
Today, which is typically the highpoint of a box office weekend, AMC and Regal will close just under 50 locations each. Notable AMC East Coast venues closing doors include Boston Common, Danbury, CT; New Brunswick, NJ; Stonybrook and Levittown. However, NYC big hubs the Empire, Lincoln Square, and 84th Street are operating. Regal currently is keeping Regal E-Walk and Union Square open among its NYC sites, with Central Park recording just over five inches of snow earlier this morning as of 7:27 AM EST. Islip Airport in Long Island and the Jersey Shore saw at least 15 inches of dust apiece.
A “bomb cyclone” is defined as a low-pressure system with fronts and a central pressure that plunges at least 24 millibars in 24 hours or less, per the Weather Channel. Close to 4K US flights were canceled already today, according to FlightAware, with snowfall rates racking up throughout New England.
As of early Saturday, 19 inches of snow was measured at Bayville, NJ, per the Weather Channel. Boston (expected to see two feet of snow), Philadelphia (6 to 12 inches), Long Island, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Atlantic City are also being hit hard. Winds on the coast of Massachusetts were measured at over 80 mph. Category 1 hurricane winds are measured between 74-95 mph. Over 113K Massachusetts households are without power as of this morning, according to PowerOutage.us.
Weather Channel meteorologist Mike Seidel:
#Blizzard conditions here in Plymouth as heavy snow and gusts so far of 55 MPH have led to near white-out conditions. And it’s going to continue until later this afternoon. Live coverage continues on @weatherchannel #snowstorm #Kenan #BombCyclone #blizzard2022 pic.twitter.com/AsIs5C9sbu
— Mike Seidel (@mikeseidel) January 29, 2022