A winter storm that could bury parts of the US mid-Atlantic region under 90cm of snow slammed into Washington on Friday, threatening the nation’s capital with record accumulations as it barreled up the east coast.
The blizzard started to blanket the Washington area during the early afternoon. Six people had died in car crashes as a wintry mix spread across Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky.
The storm was predicted to dump between 60cm and 90cm of snow on Baltimore and the capital, and bring winds of between 48kph and 80kph before it was expected to wind down yesterday afternoon, according to the US National Weather Service.
Photo: AP
Philadelphia and New York were expected to get between 30cm and 46cm of snow before the storm abated.
In Falls Church, Virginia, about 13km west of Washington, a thick curtain of snow had already piled up on deserted streets on Friday evening, creating a peaceful tableau that disguised dangerous driving conditions.
“I want to be very clear with everybody. This is a major storm,” Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said as the city braced for what could turn out to be one of the worst storms in its history. “This has life-and-death implications and all the residents of the District of Columbia should treat it that way.”
The Weather Channel said that more than 85 million people in at least 20 states were covered by a winter weather warning, watch or advisory and residents up and down the east coast scrambled to stock up on supplies.
Airlines canceled more than 7,100 flights in the US for Friday and yesterday, according to flight tracking Web site FlightAware.com. An additional 7,000 flights were delayed on Friday alone, reverberating to airports across the nation.
Washington’s snowfall could eclipse the “Snowmageddon” storm of 2010 that dropped 45.2cm, AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said. If forecasts prove accurate, the storm could rival the 1922 Knickerbocker storm, which dumped a record 71cm on the city.
“I think it is going to be a nightmare, the rates of snow we are talking about,” said Marisa Kritikson, 27, a George Washington University nursing student, who bought a snow shovel to dig out from her basement apartment.
Southeastern Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia, was expecting between 25cm and 46cm.
The approaching storm led New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to return home from New Hampshire, where he was campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination. Christie declared a state of emergency as well.
“The smartest thing for you all to do is stay home, stay where you are,” Christie told an evening news conference.
New Jersey Transit said all bus, rail and light-rail services would be shut down at 2am yesterday. Services would be restored as “conditions permit,” the agency said.
Residents along New Jersey’s coast prepared for potential flooding during high tides. In Ocean City, emergency management officials warned of forecasts calling for the highest flood levels since Superstorm Sandy brought heavy damage in 2012.
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