Tens of millions hunker down to ride

The storm was expected to deliver a slightly weaker wallop to the New York City and Long Island areas with blizzard conditions from Saturday morning through Sunday.

In the capital Washington more than a foot (30 centimeters) of snow was already on the ground, with another foot expected by midnight.

Besides snow and wind, the National Weather Service predicted up to half an inch of ice for the Carolinas and potentially serious coastal flooding for the mid-Atlantic region.

Mayor Muriel Bowser warned that there were “too many people on the streets, both driving and walking” in Washington. Philadelphia and NY were expected to get 12-18 inches of snow before the storm abated.

When exactly the storm will begin and predictions of the amount of snow that will fall have varied. The heaviest unofficial report was in a rural area of West Virginia, not far from Harper’s Ferry, with 40 inches.

The long-anticipated storm was living up to the billing that meteorologists had given it, except overnight it started to look even bigger.

More than two feet of snowfall has been recorded in New York City and Washington, D.C.as an intense blizzard shows no signs of letting up on the east coast.

The county’s chief building official, Jamie Wilks, said the theater was a total loss, according to the Daily Press of Newport News (http://bit.ly/1ZJvZjS). “It’s a big one”.

It was unclear exactly how many were stuck. The state’s emergency management agency said late Friday that the highway was “completely shut down” – a status that hadn’t changed by mid-morning Saturday. Some had been stranded since Friday afternoon, and emergency shelters had opened. The Pennsylvania National Guard was called in to help stranded motorists along I-78 in the western part of the state, local media reported. Thirteen inches had fallen there by 10 a.m. ET Saturday, and another 10 could fall by the time the last flakes come down Saturday night, Mayor Bowser said. All mass transit in the capital was to be shut down through Sunday.

The monster blizzard of ’96 coated the city with 20.2 inches of snow on January 7-8, 1996.

But it is what lies ahead that is occupying the thoughts of millions of people living on the U.S. east coast.

More than two feet of snowfall has inundated areas from Virginia to NY, along with average winds of 70 miles per hour.

Above-freezing temperatures brought a slushy mixture of snow and rain, and strong winds caused falling branches that killed a Brooklyn dad in Central Park.

And if that weren’t enough, the storm had bursts of thunder and lightning. Over 17,000 reported without power in SC.

At least nine people have died in the USA and 10 states have declared emergencies as Storm Jonas edges across the country and air travel continues to be impacted.

Rogers says traffic accidents caused by snow led to a backup on the heavily-traveled interstate. Virginia State Police responded to 793 disabled vehicles as of late Friday night.

Flight tracking service FlightAware said airlines canceled about 7,600 flights Friday and Saturday.

One of the unlucky travelers stranded by the storm was Jennifer Bremer of Raleigh, North Carolina.

“I have my computer, my phone and a really good book, but no clothing”, Bremer said as she eyed flight boards at O’Hare International Airport on Friday.

“Forecasters got it right this time”, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told a news conference.

In all, there were at least 19 deaths in several states related to the storm.

The massive snowstorm that kept most of the Mid-Atlantic at home also snowed in a Virginia midwife, leaving an emergency dispatcher to walk her husband through the birthing of a baby boy.

“This is our opportunity to pay it forward and help others just as they’ve helped us”, said Alan Richardson, president and COO of Emera Maine. She apologised for not having the city ready for a snowfall of about 2 inches (5 cm) that turned Wednesday’s evening rush hour into a commuting ordeal.

“I just see cars”, Jackson said, who was with about 50 students going from Washington back home to Kansas City, Missouri.