PHILADELPHIA
(AP) — A plodding storm that dumped heavy snow on the unsuspecting Mid-Atlantic
region threatened to make roads dicey in the northeast corridor for Monday's
commute while travel disruptions continued to ripple across the country days
after the same system first began wreaking havoc in the skies.
The
seemingly never-ending storm that coated parts of Texas in ice struck with
unexpected force on the East Coast, blanketing some spots in a foot of snow and
grinding highways to a halt.
Travel
problems could linger into Monday afternoon, with freezing rain and icy
conditions sticking around as wintry weather stretched from Missouri to Maine.
The storm
canceled more than 2,500 flights Sunday and delayed thousands more, according
to estimates from the website Flightaware.com. More than 1,000 of Monday's
flights were already canceled, the greatest share from Dallas/Fort Worth
International Airport, which was still reeling from the effects of the ice
storm that brought North Texas to a standstill.
The
forecast for Monday remained up in the air for the northeast, depending on how
quickly the system moves and temperatures rise, according to the National
Weather Service. Meanwhile, a winter storm warning was in effect until 10 a.m.
for Washington, D.C., and Baltimore where up to a quarter inch of ice was
expected because of freezing rain that could cause power outages.
The
expectation was for another weather system moving out of Virginia to follow the
same path as Sunday's storm overnight. It was expected to dump icy drizzle and
eventually freezing rain through the New York City area and into Boston,
National Weather Service meteorologist Greg Heavener said.
Indeed,
slippery conditions were reported overnight in the New York City area: a crash
involving about 20 vehicles closed southbound lanes of Interstate 95 in
Greenwich, Conn., for a couple of hours. No serious injuries were immediately
reported.
Forecasters
said air travel would likely remain a hassle, too.
"I
think the further north you look, departures and arrivals could be affected
because of icy issues," Heavener said.
What was
forecast in the Philadelphia area to be a tame storm system with about an inch
of snow gradually changing over to rain mushroomed into a full-blown snow
storm. Bands of heavy snow made for a wide range of accumulation: a foot was
reported in Newark, Del. Philadelphia International Airport received 8.6
inches, more than it had all of last year. Other areas received far less: a
little over an inch was reported in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, which usually
is hit harder than downtown Philadelphia.
Sunday's
snow fell so heavily in Philadelphia that yard markers at Lincoln Financial
Field - where the Eagles beat the Detroit Lions - were completely obscured. It
was almost as bad in Pittsburgh, where the snow intensified after the opening
kickoff.
Philadelphia
fan Dave Hamilton, of Ivyland, layered up for the game in Eagles gear.
"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."
Heavy snow
in the Philadelphia area led to a number of accidents, including a fatal crash
on the Pennsylvania Turnpike that spawned fender-benders involving 50 cars,
stranding some motorists for up to seven hours. More than two dozen vehicles
were involved in another series of crashes on nearby Interstate 78.
Paul Jones,
24, a youth hockey coach from Warminster in the Philadelphia suburbs, was on
his way to a game in Lancaster when he got stuck - along with his fiancee, another
coach and three players - in a major backup on the turnpike.
The roadway
was "snow-covered, slick," Jones said in an interview from the car,
where he was a passenger and had been at a standstill for more than an hour.
"People
are in and out" of their vehicles, he said. "Kids are having a
snowball fight on the side of the road, making snow angels, people are walking
their dogs.
Philadelphia
International Airport 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 at both 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 got 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.
But the
nasty weather wasn't limited to the East Coast. Nebraska and Iowa saw snow;
multiple weather-related crashes were reported in Wisconsin, including two that
were fatal; thousands of customers lost power in Mississippi because of sleet
and freezing rain.
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 of snow and slick
road conditions prompted the closure of part of the highway. There were no
immediate reports of serious injuries.
The specter
of bad driving conditions for Monday's commute had some motorists concerned not
just about getting to work, but getting out at all. New Jersey's new U.S.
senator, Cory Booker, tweeted a promise to one Mount Holly resident to help him
shovel out his car if he still needed the help in the morning.
___
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.
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