US: To many New Yorkers, a major snow storm can only be called a blizzard when cross-country skiers appear in Times Square. Yesterday was one of those days, writes Conor O'Clery.
I went skiing along Broadway, just to experience the once-in-a-decade thrill of gliding through the deserted canyons of Manhattan. There were several other cross-country skiers pushing themselves through streets normally choked with limousines and yellow cabs.
It was indeed a blizzard in meteorological terms, that is a period of several hours when wind-driven snow cuts visibility to less than a quarter of a mile. We skied past cars half-buried under drifts, the ski-poles sinking through the powder snow and scraping the Tarmac.
At one intersection I passed a Chinese woman plodding along in snow shoes. Apart from the wind, which seemed to come from every direction, whipping snow devils up around the giant neon signs and theatre lights, there was silence. That lasted until the sanitation trucks appeared, roaring along in threes with snow-plough blades attached, and pushing the pristine snow into high ramparts along the pavements.
But there was still plenty of piste in Manhattan as the snow kept falling. Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned that it might be two days before all the streets were ploughed, and he appealed for patience, and some humour.
By late yesterday the fine, dry snow was still coming down, and 19 inches had fallen in Central Park, making it the most severe snow event since 1996, when 20 inches fell on the city.
The "Presidents' Day Blizzard" shut down Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York as it churned up the Atlantic coast. Airports at Washington, Philadelphia and New York were closed except for one runway at Washington Dulles International Airport. Newark and JFK airports stayed open but almost all domestic schedules and many international flights were cancelled. Travel was almost impossible along the eastern seaboard, and there were reports of busloads of gamblers stranded in the casinos of Atlantic City.
Maryland, New Jersey, the District of Columbia, West Virginia, Kentucky and Delaware, New Jersey, New York City and Connecticut all declared states of emergency. In Garrett County, Maryland, the snowfall topped 47 inches. The storm left 16.1 inches of snow at Ronald Reagan National Airport as of noon EST yesterday, 24.2 inches at Dulles International Airport, and 26.6 inches at Baltimore Washington International Airport, the highest total ever. New Jersey and Delaware mobilised National Guard troops to help stranded motorists and clear roads.
Forecasters said the slow-moving blizzard was formed from two separate storms, one from the south that merged with another big storm moving up the eastern seaboard. Both storms were trapped by a massive dome of cold air from the north, causing accumulations to rise.
On Sunday, President Bush spent 2½ hours travelling in a 14-car motorcade through the snow from Camp David, Maryland, to the White House. The trip typically takes about 30 minutes by helicopter. Police closed major highways as wind blew the snow into drifts.