Massive snowstorm poised to wallop US East Coast
WASHINGTON, January 22, 2016
A massive storm barreled toward Washington DC, on Friday, poised to drop near-record snowfall on the US capital before walloping New York and other East Coast cities with blizzard conditions.
The National Weather Service described the storm as "potentially crippling" for a swath of the Northeast, with snowfall exceeding two feet in the Baltimore and Washington metro areas.
A blizzard watch was issued for New York City and parts of its Long Island and New Jersey suburbs starting early Saturday. Snow accumulation could reach 12 inches in the region, forecasters said. Southeastern Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia, was expecting 10 to 16 inches of snow.
To the south, significant icing was likely for portions of Kentucky and North Carolina, the National Weather Service said. Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam ordered all state offices closed on Friday due to severe weather
Millions of residents in the storm's path scrambled to prepare for the weekend weather event, picking stores clean of bottled water, food and other supplies.
Federal employees in the Washington area were told their offices would close at noon on Friday to allow them to get home safely before the snow begins piling up in the afternoon. Public schools were canceled.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which includes the second-busiest US subway system, took the rare step of suspending operations from late on Friday through Sunday.
The Virginia National Guard said it planned to bring in up to 300 troops to assist in response operations.
CANCELED FLIGHTS
Airlines have also canceled Friday and Saturday flights, with more than 2,377 cancellations for Friday, most of them at airports in North Carolina and Washington, according to FlightAware.com. Philadelphia's airport said it would cancel all flights scheduled for Saturday.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio urged motorists to stay off roads starting on Friday amid icy and whiteout conditions.
The storm also forced many to amend weekend activities, with Washington residents planning mass sledding events and a large snowball fight on Sunday. New York canceled its Winter Jam in Central Park, a winter sports festival set for Saturday, in anticipation of the storm's arrival.
AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said the storm taking aim at Washington could rank among the biggest snowfalls on record, eclipsing the "Snowmageddon" storm of 2010 that dropped 17.8 inches.
The largest snowstorm recorded in Washington was the 1922 Knickerbocker storm, which buried the city under 28 inches.
The storm was due to miss northern New England and in Bangor, Maine, which sees four feet of snow in a typical winter, police took to social media to advise residents of the mid-Atlantic region on how to prepare for a blizzard.
"Don't panic. It's just frozen rain," the police department said on its Facebook page. "DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT buy all the bread on the shelves. As a lifelong Mainer, I recommend cereal. No better reason has ever been invented to eat Golden Crisp, Honeycomb or Captain Crunch." - Reuters
