Snow piles up in U.S. East, chokes travel

A snow plow clears the runways as a plane is de-iced, Monday, Feb. 3, 2014 at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, NJ.  Air traffic is disrupted in Ohio, the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast as another winter storm bears down on the eastern U.S., only a day after temperatures soared into the 50s.   (AP Photo/Matt York)
A snow plow clears the runways as a plane is de-iced, Monday, Feb. 3, 2014 at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, NJ. Air traffic is disrupted in Ohio, the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast as another winter storm bears down on the eastern U.S., only a day after temperatures soared into the 50s. (AP Photo/Matt York)

PHILADELPHIA - A winter storm dumped several inches of wet, heavy snow on parts of the eastern United States on Monday, snarling air and road travel for commuters and Super Bowl fans, cutting power, and closing schools and government offices.

Fat flakes began falling during the morning commute Monday and continued throughout the afternoon in Philadelphia, creating slushy sidewalks and streets. The Philadelphia and New York areas were expecting about 8 inches, erasing all memory of Sunday’s 50-degree temperatures.

Light snow that began falling in New York before 5 a.m. reached 6 inches in Central Park by midafternoon, the National Weather Service reported. About 5.5 inches was on the ground at New York’s John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports, and New Jersey’s Newark Liberty had 6.1 inches.

The weather service reported about 8 inches of snow near Frostburg, Md., and parts of southern Ohio and West Virginia got about 10 inches. Totals in the Philadelphia area ranged from 3 to 9 inches.

Winter-storm warnings and advisories stretched from Utah to Vermont. In New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie declared a state of emergency because of the hazardous travel conditions. Nonessential government employees were dismissed early. Government offices, courts and schools closed in parts of Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Scattered power failures were reported throughout the region. Speed limits were reduced on many major highways.

“The roads have a good deal of snow on them, and they’re going to be slick with the forecast for ice,” Joe Pollina, a meteorologist with the weather service in Upton, N.Y., said Monday as the storm passed through the region. “Take it slow. Give yourself plenty of time to get where you need to get.”

At least two deaths and one serious injury were blamed on the storm. In western Kentucky, where the snow began falling Sunday, a 24-year-old man died that night when his car skidded into a snowplow. On Monday, a 73-year-old New York City man was fatally struck by a backhoe that was moving snow.

A 10-year-old girl was in serious condition after she was impaled by a metal rod while sledding north of Baltimore.

By late afternoon, the flight-tracking website Flight-Aware reported more than 4,300 delayed flights and 1,900 canceled flights nationwide in cities including Philadelphia, Newark, N.J., and New York. Inbound flights to Newark, LaGuardia and Kennedy airports were delayed one to three hours because of the snow and ice, the Federal Aviation Administration said on its website.

For Russ Louderback of Fishers, Ind., and his 11-year old son Mason, the Super Bowl was a triple whammy of bad luck in less than 24 hours: Their beloved Denver Broncos lost, they got stuck in an hours-long traffic jam leaving the stadium, and their 3 p.m. flight home Monday was canceled.

“It was so congested we couldn’t get out of New Jersey, even though we left early because our team lost,” said Louderback, 57, a hotel executive. He said he hoped to be on a plane sometime Monday evening.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer was among the stranded travelers after her return flight to Phoenix was canceled Monday, a spokesman said. Brewer attended the Super Bowl as part of the ceremonial hand-off of hosting duties; next year’s game is in Glendale, Ariz.

Francois Emond of Alma,Quebec, arrived at Newark Airport at 6 a.m. Monday to find his flight home had been canceled. Wearing a Seahawks championship hat and an ear-to-ear smile, he said he didn’t care about the cancellation or the weather in light of Seattle’s victory. He planned to spend an extra night at his hotel in New York.

“The night will be very short,” Emond said. “When you win a Super Bowl for the first time, the night is very, very short.”

In Connecticut, 71-year old architect Frank Emery described messy conditions outside as he stopped at a coffee shop in New Haven.

“A lot of people must have called in sick after the Super Bowl,” he said. “It’s not cleaned up as well as usual.”

“In conditions like this, it’s challenging,” said Jon Boyd, general manager for Carlyle Group LP’s Landmark Aviation facility at Westchester County Airport in White Plains, N.Y.

Airport traffic was slowed frequently Monday as workers cleared runways, he said. The snow also made it difficult to reach planes parked on a closed runway and forced pilots to clean off aircraft before departing.

“We have lots of refreshments and food, which is fortunate because we have lobbies full of people,” Boyd said.

In Philadelphia, the airport experienced delays as long as four hours at one point Monday morning because of snow and ice. But the flight home for Seahawks fan George Shiley, 50, of Snohomish, Wash., remained on schedule at midday.

Shiley, a Seattle season ticket holder, had won a lottery for Super Bowl tickets. He and a friend stayed in Philadelphia, about 85 miles southwest of the stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

“It’s been a great trip. I joked that it’s always sunny in Philadelphia - and it was, until today,” said Shiley, referring to the FX sitcom.

Another storm is likely to hit the region beginning tonight, bringing a combination of rain, freezing rain and snow, said Gary Szatkowski, a weather service meteorologist in Mount Holly, N.J.

The weather service said the new storm might bring as much as 4 inches of snow and sleet to New York City tonight and Wednesday. The Boston area might see 6 inches of snow during that storm.

There’s also a possibility for a storm this weekend, Szatkowski said.

Perhaps residents shouldn’t be surprised, considering groundhog Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter on Sunday.

“I like to say Punxsutawney Phil agrees with me,” Szatkowski said. “Winter’s not over, that’s for sure.” Information for this article was contributed by Kathy Matheson, Verena Dobnik, Samantha Henry, Karen Testa, Bob Christie and John Christoffersen of The Associated Press and by Brian K. Sullivan, Lynn Doan, Christine Harvey, Natasha Doff and Alan Levin of Bloomberg News.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 02/04/2014

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