The snow fell so heavily in Philadelphia on Sunday that yard markers at Lincoln Financial Field where the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Detroit Lions in a pro football game were completely obscured. It was almost as bad in Pittsburgh, where the snow intensified after opening kickoff between the Steelers and Miami Dolphins.
Philadelphia fan Dave Hamilton, of Ivyland, layered up for the game, wearing an Eagles shirt topped with an Eagles sweatshirt and Eagles winter coat.
"Twenty-seven years I've been a season-ticket holder, I've never seen snow at the game like this," he said. "It just kept coming down. But we are all having fun out there."
Philadelphia International Airport had a temporary ground stop Sunday afternoon with snow totals around 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 centimeters). Spokeswoman Stacey Jackson said a number of passengers were expected to remain in the airport overnight since area hotels had been full for several days. She said staff would hand out pillows and blankets to travelers to make them "feel at home even though they are not."
Air passengers in the Washington-area experienced increasing delays as the season's first real snowstorm set in. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said many flights had been delayed at Dulles International and Ronald Reagan Washington National airports.
Virginia, parts of West Virginia and the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area braced for blackouts under steady freezing rain, wet snow and sleet. Parts of northwest and southwest Virginia and southern West Virginia were getting snow, while sleet and freezing rain prevailed west and north of Richmond.
In Maryland, a chain-reaction accident on Interstate 81 in Washington County involving more than 20 vehicles delayed snow removal efforts for hours. The highway was closed for more than three hours after a tractor-trailer ran into the median to avoid cars that had spun out. It was hit by another tractor-trailer that overturned and spilled its load. Several other tractor-trailers ran off the road and jackknifed as their drivers tried to avoid the crash.
North Texas started to thaw out slightly Sunday after two days of a near standstill with icy roads and low temperatures. About 400 departures from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport were canceled Sunday. It will likely be a couple of days before the ice that's coated the region melts completely. The airport is still trying to clear out thousands of travelers who have been sleeping at the terminal or in nearby hotels since the storm hit Thursday night.
The snowstorm raised fears about a potentially dangerous Monday morning commute, with snow-laden cars and perilous, icy roads.
But the heavy snow wasn't limited to the East Coast. A snowstorm that hit along the Utah-Arizona border left hundreds of travelers stranded on Interstate 15 overnight into Sunday. The Arizona Highway Patrol said passengers in about 300 vehicles became stranded after up to 10 inches (25 centimeters of snow and slick road conditions prompted the closure of part of the highway. There were no immediate reports of serious injuries.
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Rubinkam reported from Pennsylvania. Associated Press writers Steve Szkotak in Richmond, Va., Ben Nuckols in Washington, D.C., Jamie Stengle in Dallas, and Samantha Henry in Newark, N.J., contributed to this report.