Schools closed, planes were grounded and even US President Barack Obama’s travel plans were complicated in an all-too-familiar routine along the US east coast as another snowstorm swept over a region already beaten down by a winter not even half over.
The wet and sloppy storm engulfed the northeast, where snowbanks in some places were already so high that drivers could not see around corners. In Washington, hundreds of thousands of homes lost electricity as heavy snow toppled power lines.
Classes were called off and commutes were snarled from Tennessee to New England as cars and buses slipped and slid on highways. The New York area’s three major airports, among the nation’s busiest, saw more than 1,000 flights canceled. Pedestrians struggled across icy patches that were on their way to becoming deep drifts.
Photo: Reuters
Since Dec. 14, snow has fallen eight times on the New York region — or an average of about once every five days. That includes the blizzard that dropped 50cm on the city and paralyzed travel after Christmas.
The snow and icy roads created hazardous conditions for Obama as he returned to the White House on Wednesday after a post-State of the Union trip to Wisconsin. The wintry weather grounded Marine One, the helicopter that typically transports Obama to and from the military base where Air Force One lands. Instead, Obama was met at the plane by his motorcade, which spent an hour weaving through rush hour traffic already slowed by the storm. It normally takes the president’s motorcade about 20 minutes to travel between the base and the White House.
Up to 35cm of snow was forecast for New York, which had already seen 91cm of snow this season compared with a full-winter average of 53cm. New Jersey also was looking at up to 30cm of snow and high winds were expected before the storm was expected to move out early yesterday.
In Pennsylvania, residents hunkered down as a one-two punch of a winter storm brought snow, sleet, freezing rain and then more snow, which forecasters said could total 30cm in some areas.
Philadelphia declared a snow emergency as of Wednesday evening, ordering cars removed from emergency routes.
Rain drenched the nation’s capital for most of the day and changed to sleet, before it started snowing in earnest in the middle of the afternoon. Washington was expected to get up to 25cm of snow.
Officials urged residents in Washington and Maryland to stay off the roads as snow, thunder and lightning pounded the region. In Washington, Metro transit officials pulled buses off the roads as conditions deteriorated. Firefighters warned the heavy snow was bringing down power lines and causing outages.
About 200,000 customers lost power, about half as many as in July, when a powerful line of thunderstorms moved through the area.
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