Winter wallop for Northeast US

Biting cold and piles of blowing snow made travel miserable for millions in the northeast United States on Tuesday, as a swirling storm with the potential for more than a foot of snow clobbered the East Coast, grounding thousands of flights, closing government offices in the nation's capital and giving students another day off from school.

The snow came down harder and faster than many people expected. Forecasters said some places could get 1 to 2 inches an hour, with wind gusts up to 50 mph.

The storm stretched 1,000 miles between Kentucky and Massachusetts but was expected to hit hardest along the heavily populated Interstate 95 corridor between Philadelphia and Boston, creating a perilous commute home for millions of motorists.

Al Jazeera’s John Terrett, reporting from Penn Station in midtown Manhattan, says that sidewalks and streets are empty of most pedestrians and cars, and Amtrak trains face delays, adding to the woes of people trying to travel tonight.

"I haven't seen any ploughs on the roads yet, but people are clearing the snow from sidewalks outside their businesses to help pedestrians,” Terrett reported. 

"Homeless people are congregating in the warm of Pennsylvania Station." 

Throughout the Northeast, state officials declared emergencies and warned residents not to travel during the fast-moving storm, which packed a potentially lethal combination of snow and wind, backed by temperatures up to 30 degrees Fahrenheit below normal.

Forecasters predict the cold weather will stick around for days. 

Unlike the epic freeze of two weeks ago, the storm was not caused by a kink in the polar vortex, the winds that circulate around the North Pole. This one was a conventional storm that developed off the coast and moved its way up the Eastern Seaboard, pulling in cold air from the arctic.

Tuesday's storm has been blamed for at least one death in Maryland after a car fishtailed into the path of a tractor-trailer on a snow-covered road about 50 miles northwest of Baltimore. The car's driver was thrown from the vehicle.

"Behind this system is a lot of strong winds, (with) very cold, bitter temperatures, so this snow is going to be around for a while," said Bruce Sullivan, senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service (NWS). 

NWS said parts of New York City also had about 6 inches. A blizzard warning was posted for parts of Massachusetts, including Cape Cod.

Sullivan warned that stranded travelers faced potential frostbite or worse. "That's the risk you take if you travel in this kind of weather," Sullivan said, according to Reuters. 

Forecasters said the storm could bring 10 to 14 inches of snow to Philadelphia and southern New England and up to a foot in New York City, to be followed by bitter cold as arctic air from Canada streams in. Washington was expecting 4 to 8 inches of snow.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said 10 inches of snow had fallen just outside Philadelphia in Drexel Hill by Tuesday evening. There was about 6 inches in Philadelphia.

Pennsylvania's Transportation Department said it had already blown through more than half of its $189 million winter weather budget.

"Lots of nuisance storms this season have meant that PennDOT crews have been plowing and treating roads more frequently this winter," spokeswoman Erin Waters-Trasatt said.

About 2,700 flights Tuesday were canceled, with airports from Washington to Boston affected. An additional 885 flights for Wednesday were called off as well. Amtrak planned to cut back train service in the afternoon.

The rush to get home early by many workers was evident in Philadelphia, where commuter trains were packed.

The storm put a damper on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's inauguration, forcing the cancellation of an evening party on Ellis Island. Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick postponed his annual State of the State address, while the Philadelphia Flyers postponed their Tuesday night hockey game.

Standing in Philadelphia's LOVE Park with snow swirling around her, visitor Jenn Byrne of Portland, Ore., said the nasty weather put a crimp in her plans to do a "giant walking tour" of the city. But she vowed to soldier on, taking cabs instead of trudging. She wasn't wearing snow boots.

"I'll keep going. Just the means of transportation will change a bit," Byrne said.

Others shrugged off the snow as well.

In Herndon, Va., where voters were casting ballots in a special election that was likely to determine control of the state Senate, Earlene Coleman said she felt obligated to make her selection: "It only made sense to come out and do my duty."

Construction worker Tony Cockrell, stopping for coffee at a Hagerstown, Md., gas station, said he planned to continue driving to work sites in western Maryland and northern Virginia to supervise the installation of insulation in building projects.

"If you don't work, you don't get paid," he said, adding that deep cold is good for business.

"We're trying to get stuff insulated so it doesn't freeze up."

Schools in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky stayed closed for an extra day after the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, or sent students home early.

Some parents kept their kids home all day, unwilling to put them on slippery roads for a few hours of school.

With federal workers given the day off, Tom Ripley, who works at a Washington hardware store, said his morning commute was cut in half because "there was almost no one on the road." He said the store was jammed Monday as customers stocked up on ice melt and shovels.

"Nobody prepares because we never get any snow, so the slightest chance of it, everybody freaks out," Ripley said.

The storm also brought snow to the Appalachian Mountains.

At a gas station in Princeton, West Virginia, residents said they were stocking up on propane, food and other staples in case they lost power and had to weather the storm.

"The snow by itself isn't a threat. It's when it freezes after and weighs down the power lines that I get worried," said Jim Mullins, who spent the day buying supplies.

Al Jazeera and wire services. Al Jazeera's John Terrett contributed reporting.