'No joke': April Fools' Day snow blankets parts of Northeast, Midwest amid cold snap

Snow falls on New York during April Fools Day cold snap

New Yorkers in northeastern parts of the state awoke to fresh snow on April 1, as a cold snap plunged temperatures and threatened several inches of accumulation. Credit - BBMadDog via Storyful

CLEVELAND - The first day of April — commonly referred to as April Fools’ Day — was no joke for many people waking up to freezing temperatures and even snow in some parts of the U.S.

Residents in upstate New York saw fresh snow Thursday morning amid a cold snap in the area. The National Weather Service said record-breaking temperatures were forecast across the Midwest, South and up to the Northeast over the next few days.

Video captured by a Twitter user in the town of Owego in New York’s Tioga County, located outside of Binghamton, shows snow covering trees and front lawns on Thursday morning.

"Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring tingle tingling too.... Point me to the (beach)," the person captioned the video with the hashtags #isitsummeryet #nojoke.

The most snowfall was expected to occur in the area early on Thursday, with another chance of flurries Friday morning, the local NWS said. Several freeze watches were also in place for many counties in the state.

Residents in northern New Hampshire also saw light flurries Thursday. A video was shared by Mary Jolles, who captured the snow from her deck in Colebrook, New Hampshire.

"It’s only a dusting but enough to make everything white," Jolles wrote on Twitter.

More than 700 miles away in Cleveland, Ohio, heavy snow moved in and brought "very low visibility" for morning commuters. The NWS said the flurries were "an intense Lake Effect snow," which moved through the Cleveland metropolitan area down to Akron.

The weather service shared video of snowfall near its office in Brooklyn Heights, Ohio.

Residents of northeast Ohio wake up to April Fools Day snow

Snow was seen falling in Ellsworth, Ohio, on April 1, with the National Weather Service NWS warning of near-zero visibility in parts of the state. Credit - tonycfa via Storyful

Major League Baseball’s opening day also coincided with the snow. The Detroit Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera hit the first home run of the new 2021 season — a drive through the flurries in the team’s cold opener against Cleveland. The temperature at game time was 32 degrees.

This story was reported from Cincinnati.

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