NEW YORK, (Reuters) – A thick blanket of snow covered U.S. Northeast today, as the fifth major storm of the winter set snowfall records, delayed the opening of financial markets and clogged Washington highways with abandoned cars.
Snow fell from Virginia to Maine on Wednesday night and into today morning, putting additional strain on cities and states already faced with overwhelming budget deficits. Almost 630,000 homes and businesses in the region lost power, but utilities said they hoped to restore electricity to most in the next two days.
The latest storm in an unusually snowy winter even trapped President Barack Obama who was among thousands of motorists on snow-blocked roadways at the height of the storm yesterday. Washington drivers reported 45-minute commutes turned into 10-hour nightmares when major thoroughfares became gridlocked with hundreds of abandoned cars.
“It looked like a bumper-car graveyard out there. There were so many abandoned cars, at so many different angles and so many different places on the road,” a listener told Washington’s WTOP radio.
New York has now recorded its snowiest January on record after 19 inches (48 cm) fell on the city overnight, twice the amount forecast and just short of the 20 inches (51 cm) that paralyzed the city on Dec. 26-27 and created a political crisis for Mayor Michael Bloomberg because of a botched cleanup.
New York City has exhausted its snow budget of $38 million, forcing the city draw money from its general fund, a spokesman said. Smaller cities stand to feel the pinch even more.
U.S. government offices opened two hours later than normal in Washington, where the U.S. Commerce Department altered its release of durable goods data, canceling the “lockup” in which it gives reporters the data for 30 minutes under embargo and instead posting the information on its website live.
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