Washington: Heavy snowfall blanketed the East Coast on Saturday, forcing airline cancellations in Washington and Baltimore and hampering holiday shoppers on the last weekend before Christmas.
Up to 22 inches of snow was expected to fall by Saturday night in the Baltimore-Washington area and a blizzard warning was issued by the National Weather Service, with wind gusts of 40 mph forecast.
The snowstorm, expected to dump more snow on the region than any storm since at least February 2003, could take a big bite out of retail sales on one of the busiest shopping weekend of the year.
The driving snowstorm did not stop US senators from convening and Democrats clinched the pivotal 60th vote of holdout Senator Ben Nelson that could allow passage of the major healthcare overhaul bill by Christmas.
Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty declared a snow emergency in the District of Columbia. The city government asked residents to stay at home as the U.S. capital braced for the biggest snowstorm years.
Fenty said he was glad the storm happened on a weekend.
"Mayors never want to have 20 inches of snow. But if you`re going to get 20 inches, you have it on a weekend where people don`t have to get anywhere, they don`t have to get their kids anywhere," he said on NBC 4.
Airports in the Washington area were open as of 10 a.m. EST but most flights had been canceled, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said.
Baltimore-Washington International Airport was open but the majority of the flights on Saturday morning had been canceled. Airport spokesman Jonathan Dean said many of the airlines had begun canceling flights on Friday night.
Though area airports were keeping at least one runway plowed, flight arrivals and departures were reliant upon the weather. Visibility has to be good enough with no precipitation for pilots to take off or land.
The Philadelphia International Airport was experiencing six-hour delays.
Trains appeared to be working through the snow. Amtrak spokesperson Vernae Graham said there were no significant delays as of mid-morning but warned that delays may occur as the storm intensifies up the east coast.
In Virginia, Governor Tim Kaine declared a state of emergency.
The national weather service said travel conditions throughout the region would be "extremely treacherous."
The storm was expected to pass through the mid-Atlantic region by Sunday morning and blanket points north including Philadelphia and New York City later in the weekend.
Forecasters were predicting 8-12 inches of snow for the New York metropolitan area, with higher amounts possible on the New Jersey coast and eastern Long Island.
No snow had fallen by mid-morning and New York area airports were reporting no significant delays. Retailers did brisk business on salt and snow shovels as early as Friday morning as residents braced for a major storm.
Bureau Report
