A winter storm has made travel torturous in north-east America, dropping a thick layer of snow that stranded thousands of airline, train and bus passengers and made motorists think twice about hitting post-Christmas sales.
More than a foot of snow was expected in some areas, including New York and Boston, where an aquarium had to protect – of all things – penguin ice sculptures from the elements.
A dumping of up to 20ins had been forecast for Philadelphia, but earlier meteorologists said the city would end up getting no more than a foot.
More than 1,400 flights had been cancelled from the New York City area’s three major airports alone, and more cancellations are expected.
Airlines cancelled flights throughout the north east and at airports in Washington DC, Baltimore, Chicago and the Carolinas. They expected more cancellations today, but were trying to rebook passengers and hoped to resume normal operations on Tuesday.
US Airways had already cancelled 110 Monday flights by Sunday afternoon to try to keep passengers and crews from getting stranded at airports.
New York’s Kennedy Airport was calm, apparently because many would-be travellers elected not to trudge to the terminal in hopes of getting rebooked.
Amtrak meanwhile, cancelled train service from New York to Maine, after doing the same earlier for several trains in Virginia. Bus companies cancelled routes up and down the East Coast, affecting thousands of travellers.
The north east received the brunt of the storm. Forecasters issued a blizzard warning for New York City for yesterday and today, with a forecast of 11-16ins of snow and strong winds reducing visibility to near zero at times.
A blizzard warning was also in effect for Rhode Island and most of eastern Massachusetts, where 12-16ins of snow was expected by the time flurries tapered off today, said William Babcock, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton, Massachusetts.
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