FROM VIRGINIA to Maine, the northeastern US was crippled yesterday by the sudden, massive arrival of between six and 19 inches of snow in what was dubbed “thundersnow” or “Snowmageddon, 2011 edition”.
Meteorologists predicted a further six to 10 inches of snow could fall late yesterday.
Close to 2,000 flights were cancelled as the region’s airports shut down, reopening yesterday morning with substantial delays for passengers.
Bus and rail travel were also disrupted.
Most schools remained shut yesterday and close to 400,000 households were without electricity in the Washington area.
New York’s mayor Michael Bloomberg told people to “stay at home and off the roads” and asked them to “keep an eye on your neighbours or older New Yorkers”.
The storm broke New York’s record for snowfall in January, Mr Bloomberg told a press conference. In Central Park, 19 inches fell from Wednesday to Thursday, bringing the total for the month to 36 inches. The previous record was 27.4 inches in 1925. Boston has received 50 inches of snow this month, compared to an average of 19 inches.
Winter misery was intense in the nation’s capital, where circumstances conspired to make conditions particularly treacherous. Traffic jams started when federal workers were sent home two hours early on Wednesday. Roads had been salted during the day, but the rain that preceded the wet, heavy snow washed the salt away.
The slushy snow froze, causing cars to spin out of control. Four-wheel drive vehicles that might have been able to continue were blocked by others. Traffic signals stopped working after trees fell on power lines. Roads in Washington DC and neighbouring Virginia and Maryland became a tangled knot where motorists were trapped late into the night.
The snow was no respecter of persons. President Barack Obama was delayed on returning from a one-day trip to Wisconsin. He would normally take the Marine One helicopter from Andrews Air Force Base, but conditions were too dangerous for the helicopter; so the presidential motorcade set out for the White House, a trip that normally takes 20 minutes. Instead, Mr Obama had to weave for an hour through what the Washington Postcalled "absolute gridlock".
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of vehicles were abandoned by motorists in the capital region. Commuters who stayed in their parked cars on the George Washington Parkway spent hours calling and sending messages on mobiles. An immobilised bus blocked three lines of traffic on Connecticut Avenue for more than two hours.
One of the worst traffic jams stretched from the White House at 16th and Pennsylvania to the Maryland state line. A Washington Posteditor took five hours and 20 minutes to travel six miles on that route.
Mr Bloomberg said New York had learned from the Christmas blizzard that dumped 20 inches of snow on the city.
Almost no municipal buses were stranded, because the city shut down bus service before midnight on Wednesday. At Christmas, 600 had been immobilised. New York has deployed 365 salt spreaders with a stock of 109,000 tonnes of road salt, 1,700 snow ploughs and 1,500 shovel-wielding day labourers.