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Record-setting snow buries US Northeast
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-13 08:39
A record-breaking storm buried sections of the US Northeast under more than 2
feet of snow on Sunday, marooning thousands of air travelers and making even a
walk to the corner store treacherous.
The National Weather Service said 26.9 inches of snow had fallen in Central
Park, the most for a single storm since record-keeping started in 1869. The old
record was 26.4 inches in December 1947.
Wind gusting as high as 60 mph blew the snow sideways and raised a risk of
coastal flooding in New England. And in a rare display, lightning lit up the
falling snow before dawn in the New York and Philadelphia areas, producing
muffled winter thunder.
Patrick Heimbach, left, of Germany, tries to
keep his balance while skiing on Beacon Hill with his friends, from
background left, Tonia Hsieh, of San Francisco; Fanny Monteiru, of France;
and Ben Arlett, of London; Sunday, Feb. 12, 2006, in
Boston.[AP] | "We might not see anything like this
again in our lifetime," Jason Rosenfarb said as he walked with his 5-year-old
daughter Haley in Central Park. Just then Haley jumped head first into the snow
and said: "Help me out. There's too much snow."
The storm came on the heels of an unusually mild January that had people
shedding jackets and ski resorts lamenting lost business.
"It's sort of crazy because it was so warm a couple of weeks ago and now we
have knee-deep snow," said Skye Drynan, walking her dogs Bella and Forest in
lower Manhattan.
Maximillian Lindenberg, 19 months, is pulled
along in his sled by his father Andreas on the Washington Mall February
12, 2006, after heavy overnight snowfall. The biggest snowstorm of the
season belted the northeastern United States on Sunday with whiteout
conditions and flashes of lightning, forcing airports to close, snarling
traffic and bringing joy to ski resorts. As much as 22.8 inches (57.9 cm)
of snow fell in New York's central park, the second heaviest snowfall on
record, topped only by a blizzard in 1947, said the National Weather
Service. [Reuters] | Elsewhere, 21 inches of snow
fell at Columbia, Md., between Baltimore and Washington, as well as at East
Brunswick, N.J., Hartford, Conn., and West Caln Township west of Philadelphia,
the National Weather Service said. Philadelphia's average for an entire winter
is about 21 inches.
"It's going to be a menace trying to clean it up," said Mayor Scott T. Rumana
in Wayne, N.J. New York officials said snow removal costs the city about $1
million per inch.
However, the storm's arrival during the weekend meant more people were
staying at home instead of trying to drive to work.
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