Blizzard blasts eastern US, Washington snowed under

In the bull's eye of the deadly weather, Washington -- a city more used to political storms than deep snow drifts -- set a December snowfall record of 16 inches (40 centimeters) as of 0300 GMT Sunday, shattering a 1932 record.

And with more snow forecast to fall on Washington by dawn Sunday, the enormous snowstorm stretching some 500 miles (800 kilometers) across a dozen states is set to become one of the biggest to sock the capital since record keeping began in 1885.

President Barack Obama, attending a heated UN summit in Copenhagen where world leaders struggled over a plan to battle global warming, raced home to avoid the worst of the storm that hammered the East Coast with more than two feet (61 cm) of snow in some places -- two days before winter's official arrival.

After snowplows cleared the runway at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington for the presidential jet, Obama stepped off Air Force One and into a heavy snowfall before dawn Saturday. In a rare move, he was whisked to the White House by motorcade rather than his Marine One helicopter due to the treacherous weather.

By Saturday afternoon, the capital region's three main airports -- Reagan National, Washington Dulles International, and Baltimore Washington International -- cancelled all incoming and outgoing flights, stranding thousands of passengers.

Crews were busy clearing runways in a bid to reopen the airflieds by 6:00 am (1300 GMT) Sunday.

It was bleak news for millions hoping to hit the roads and skies ahead of Christmas on one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg tried to put an uplifting spin on vicious Mother Nature. "Cold weather is here," Bloomberg was quoted by local media as saying. "Hopefully, we'll have a little bit of a white Christmas."

The storm turned much of the East Coast, home to tens of millions of Americans, into a winter wonderland, but the conditions were as perilous as they were scenic, authorities warned.

Three people died on roads in Virginia Saturday, according to the state's department of emergency management (VDEM), with spokesman Bob Spieldenner saying some 3,000 accidents shut down Virginia interstates for several hours.

"This is a very serious storm," said Maryland Emergency Management chief Richard Muth.

"The next 12-to-15 hours are going to be very hazardous," he added, warning people not to drive unless in an emergency.

The monster weather system was moving steadily northward, blanketing cities like Baltimore with roughly 20 inches (51 cm), Philadelphia (16 inches), and New York, where the National Weather Service (NWS) forecast near-blizzard conditions and as much as 16 inches of accumulation by Sunday.

Boston, further north, was facing a similar fate, with blizzard warnings in effect for parts of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Governors of Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and Delaware declared states of emergency.

Some parts of Virginia had already received more than two feet of snow. Parts of Maryland had recorded 22 inches (56 cm).

VDEM said the storm has knocked out power to 70,000 customers statewide.

Weather conditions in the capital area -- hit by blowing snow coupled with cold and windy conditions -- made travel "extremely treacherous," NWS warned.

"Do not travel. If you must travel, have a winter survival kit with you. If you get stranded, stay with your vehicle."

Authorities reported many drivers and passengers had been stranded in their vehicles, some for more than 12 hours.

Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty declared a snow emergency, as most mass transit shut down.

"If this were a workday, significant activities in the city would have been paralyzed," Fenty said. adding he was confident the mostly empty city streets would be cleaned up by Monday..

The winter wallop was likely take a bite out of retail sales on "Super Saturday," a major shopping day before Christmas.

But Fenty expressed hope that shoppers forced to delay their holiday spending would get it done early next week.

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