USA: WINTER STORM HITS PARTS OF U.S., DISRUPTS TRAVEL.
Date: Feb 4, 1995
By John Whitesides
WASHINGTON, Feb 4 (Reuter) - A fierce winter storm roared into the northeastern United States on Saturday, dumping up to 16 inches (40 cm) of snow and wreaking havoc on travel as airports closed and roads were glazed with sheets of ice.
"This is clearly the biggest storm of the season in a lot of places," said meteorologist Jim Candor of Accu-Weather Inc. of State College, Pennsylvania.
The storm, which followed a relatively mild start to winter in the U.S. East, also ushered in high winds and freezing temperatures and thousands of air passengers were stranded either at home or in airport terminals.
Travel snafus were lessened because the storm hit on a weekend, but flights were delayed or cancelled up and down the East Coast and authorities reported a string of minor accidents on ice-slickened roads.
"They're just fender benders and guys sliding into the barriers," a Massachusetts state trooper said.
New York's La Guardia and John F. Kennedy airports were ordered closed early Saturday, but reopened after six to eight hours respectively providing limited services. By early afternoon one of JFK's four runways and one of La Guardia's two runways were operational.
New Jersey's Newark airport remained open throughout the night but had limited arrival and departure services. Air traffic was snarled at Philadelphia International Airport.
Boston's Logan Airport was closed early on Saturday afternoon but was expected to open later in the day. Baltimore-Washington International was operating only one of its four runways, an airport spokeswoman said.
Forecasters had given plenty of advance warning about the storm, prompting frenzied shoppers to jam area supermarkets Friday to stock up on food. Authorities in many cities contracted for additional snowplows to battle the storm.
New York City officially had nine inches (23 cm) of snow, which by mid-day had turned to rain.
City officials placed 3,000 sanitation workers on alert to continuously operate 1,850 snowplows and spreaders in an attempt to keep primary roads passable to traffic.
They appealed to people to stay home and keep warm. Those who had to go out were urged to use mass transit.
Snow depths reached over one foot (30 cm) north and west of Philadelphia, with drifts at least twice as deep. An area between Philadelphia and New York was hardest hit, with Princeton, New Jersey hit by 16 inches (40 cm), Candor said.
In Washington D.C., heavy overnight snows dumped up to eight inches (20 cm) in northern suburbs.
Heavy snow accumulation was also reported in metropolitan Boston by noon, and forecasters said the problem would worsen before the storm ended by late afternoon.
(c) Reuters Limited 1995. All rights reserved.
