'Snowmageddon'

Nearly 2ft of snow fell on Washington today with President Barack Obama dubbing the whiteout ‘Snowmageddon’.

And as the blizzard hit the US capital forecasters warned tonight that some of it could be heading to the UK this week.

Flights were cancelled and roads blocked. But Mr Obama managed to venture out of the White House to make his comment at a Democratic Party meeting.

At least two people were killed and more than 200,000 homes were without power due to ‘thigh-high’ drifts – thought to be the heaviest snowfall in the city for 90 years.

BA cancelled one flight from London to Washington and another to Baltimore. Its flights from Philadelphia and Washington to Heathrow were stuck in the US on Friday night.

Tonight the Met Office warned of snow showers tomorrow, mainly in the east, possibly continuing until Friday.

The ferocious storm was sweeping across the mid-Atlantic coast with mountainous areas of Maryland and West Virginia set to be covered in three feet of snow.

Local media have dubbed the storm 'snowmageddon' and 'snowpocalypse'.

The weather has crippled all transport services with all flights in the Washington-Baltimore area's airports and at Philadelphia International Airport cancelled.

Driving in the region was treacherous and authorities advised motorists to stay off the roads. Delaware govenor Jack Markell declared a state of emergency and ordered all vehicles off the road by 10pm last night.

Scores of road accidents have been reported already. A father and son were killed in Virginia after they were hit by a lorry while they were trying to help passengers escape a car stuck in a snowdrift

Washington's Metro train service operated only underground on Saturday and all bus services were been cancelled.

Train operator Amtrak cancelled a number of services on Saturday between New York and Washington and also between Washington and some destinations to the south.

Thousands of homes lost power in the Washington area as the snow weighed down trees and power lines.

Long queues formed outside upermarkets yesterday as frenzied residents rushed to stock up on groceries and other supplies ahead of a traditional parties weekend for Sunday's Super Bowl football game.

One Washington resident described the scene at her local supermarket.

'I got there at 7am [on Friday] and there were really long queues, Jane Bate, 41, said. 'The place looked like it had been ransacked.'

Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia each declared snow emergencies, allowing them to activate the National Guard to help prepare for the wintry onslaught and cope with its aftermath.

The storm prompted U.S. government offices in the Washington area to close their doors four hours early on Friday.

Unseasonably cold temperatures were expected in the storm's wake next week.

The cold helped boost New York's natural gas market toward winter season highs on Friday, where prices reached about $11.50 per million British thermal units on average, up more than $4 from Thursday.

'Once we get through the weekend storm, much colder air will invade the Northeast and mid-Atlantic,' said Jim Rouiller, a senior energy meteorologist at private weather forecaster Planalytics.

'The outlook for the northeast third of the country next week is looking much colder than normal.'

The same weather system brought heavy rains to parts of the southeastern U.S.
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1248956/Snowmageddon-brings-chaos-U-S-East-Coast-Washington-DC-braces-worst-blizzard-90-years.html

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Last updated 09/02/2010

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