Northeast US hammered by record blizzard

A father and son go sledding on the Washington Mall after heavy overnight snowfall. Picture / Reuters

BOSTON - The biggest snowstorm of the season belted north-eastern United States today, sinking New York City into its deepest snow on record, cutting power to thousands of homes, closing airports but bringing joy to ski resorts.

"Make no mistake about it, this is a very dangerous, big storm," New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg told a news conference.

At least 68.3 cm of snow fell in New York's Central Park, topping a powerful blizzard on December 26, 1947, that killed 77 people, according to the National Weather Service and city archives.

There were few fatalities by early today as people heeded storm warnings and stayed inside. Authorities said one man died when his truck slid off a Virginia highway and another was killed in a fire in Baltimore when snow hampered rescue teams.

Whiteout conditions delayed flights and trains and shut airports in New York and New Jersey, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Amtrak rail service said, as the storm churned up the north-east coast from Virginia to Maine.

Flakes of snow fell as far south as Tennessee.

"The snow is beautiful," said Gary Aichholz, manager of Magic Mountain, a ski resort in Londonderry, Vermont, which like other ski mountains across New England had suffered from unseasonably warm weather and scarce snowfall in January.

"I think this will get people back in the spirit of winter and skiing," he said.

Some 40,000 homes were without power in Washington and parts of Maryland and another 85,000 lost power in the Baltimore area, according to utility groups. Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and Rhode Island reported few outages.

Winds gusted at speeds of 89 kph in the Massachusetts' resort region of Cape Cod, whipping up 6-metre seas, the National Weather Service said.

"It is quite a storm," said Brian Ciemnecki, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's New York bureau, whose records date back to 1869. "In some areas we're seeing snow fall at a rate of 25 cm in two hours."

New York City's snow-deprived residents descended on the city's parks by the thousands, making good use of sleds, snowboards, improvised saucers and even snowshoes.

Some New Yorkers like 21-year-old Emily Wasserman of Brooklyn traversed the city in cross-country skis, while 7-year-old Julian Israel skidded around on a sled he got for Christmas but hadn't been able to use until Sunday.

"That sled is really great," he gushed.

Major roads and highways were mostly open and passable but still covered with snow. "The driving conditions are very difficult out there. There are a lot of spin-outs, minor crashes," said Tom Ryan of the Massachusetts State Police.

Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri declared a state of emergency to free roads for emergency vehicles as residents shovelled out cars and cleared paths from their homes.

"We had such a warm January, above normal," said T.J. Saotome, a 40-year-old from Bristol, Rhode Island, "but you know what? I've lived in New England long enough to know there would be a payback."

Several airports closed including New York's John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia, which shut for the first time in five years.

- REUTERS