Powerful storm lashes eastern US with snow, arctic cold

Updated: 2014-03-04 09:22

(Agencies)

A truck blocks a traffic on an accident on route 66 in Arlington, Virginia March 3, 2014. A deadly winter storm hit the US East Coast on Monday with freezing rain, snow and near-record cold, cancelling about 2,700 flights, shutting down Washington and closing schools and local governments. [Photo/Agencies]

MERCURY STUCK IN SINGLE DIGITS

Steve Zubrick, a weather service meteorologist for the Washington area, said overnight lows were forecast at 9F (-13 C). That would be close to the March 1873 record of 4F (-16C), the last time Washington temperatures went below 10F (-12 C) in the month of March.

The governors of New Jersey, Delaware, Mississippi and Tennessee declared states of emergency, and schools and local governments throughout the area closed. Maryland and West Virginia shut state offices as the storm dumped a foot (30 cm) of snow on the Appalachian Mountains.

In Beckley, West Virginia, the snow forced schools to close, another headache for officials already struggling to make up 15 days of school lost because of weather.

But for student Johnathan Tippley, 15, the day off meant time to grab a snow shovel and make money.

"On a day like this you can make a killing. Plus, there's nothing else to do right now ... might as well make some cash," he said.

The snow meant cold, hard cash for store owners like Clay Butler, who runs Pleasants Hardware in Richmond, Virginia, which sold out a supply of ice melt that had barely been touched in the previous three years.

"It's definitely been good for business - we've sold a lot of shovels," Butler said.

About 2,900 US flights were canceled and nearly 5,000 were delayed on Monday because of the storm, according to airline tracking site FlightAware.com.

The worst-hit airport was Washington's Reagan National, where more than 80 percent of flights were called off.

Esteban Rodriguez, 26, said he was resigned about rescheduling his flight back home to Central America from Reagan National. He said he had grown accustomed to winter weather while studying sustainable energy in Iceland.

"Even I am used to it, and I'm from Guatemala," Rodriguez said as a dozen snowplows labored to clear runways and taxiways of snow.

On the West Coast, a weather front will move onshore over the Pacific Northwest and northern California through Tuesday, bringing much-needed rain and snow to the region, the National Weather Service said.

Snow also is expected over parts of the Rocky Mountains and the northern Great Plains, it said.