[h=3]deep freeze
Charles Dharapak / AP
2 hours
Lincoln Vanishes Behind Falling Snow
National Park Service employee Eric Tolliver shovels snow and ice at the Lincoln Memorial as snow falls in Washington on Monday. The
National Weather Service issued a Winter Storm Warning for the greater Washington Metropolitan region, prompting area schools and the federal government to close due to the wintry weather.
First published March 3rd 2014, 10:03 pm
Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP 2 hours
Deep Freeze
March Madness: More Snow for East Coast By Elisha Fieldstadt
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The winter storm that downed power lines and snagged travel in the Midwest over the weekend made its way east Monday, slamming the nation's capital but sparing New York City.
New Jersey, Tennessee, Delaware, Virginia and Mississippi were all under winter weather-spawned states of emergency on Monday, a little more than two weeks shy of the first day of spring.
Federal offices were closed in Washington, D.C., and public schools were closed in Washington and in Philadelphia.
The storm brought nearly 4 inches of snow to the Washington area and 2 more inches were oncoming through Monday night, according to Weather.com. Road crews struggled to pre-treat D.C. roads as rain and sleet preceded the snowfall and several accidents were reported in the city, according to
NBC Washington.
"It's really dangerous. You shouldn't be out here, but you have to go to work," said NBC Washington reporter, Melissa Mollet, after an SUV driver came within feet of hitting her truck.
"We're tired of it. We're sick of it," said Martin Peace, a web developer from the Washington suburb of Arlington, Va.
Parts of southern Pennsylvania and New Jersey were slammed by 6 to 9 inches of snow, while northern parts of the states skirted the storm's effect. "The difference in conditions from South Jersey to the Pennsylvania suburbs is like we drove 1,000 miles," said NBC Philadelphia's Chief Meteorologist Glenn Schwartz of regions that are only 70 miles apart.
"I encourage all New Jerseyans to drive carefully and remain off the roads if possible so that our first responders and public safety officials can safely respond to any emergency situations," said New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in his State of Emergency declaration.
Roads in North NJ are wet, but conditions can change quickly w/ any slight drop in temperature. So, again please use caution & drive slow.
— Governor Christie (@GovChristie)
March 3, 2014
Crashes were already reported in Southern Pennsylvania early Monday, including a jackknifed tractor trailer that spilled fuel and closed down part of Highway I-95 for an hour and a half, according to
NBC Philadelphia.
The storm also caused havoc on the roads in the Midwest and the Rockies. A 13-year-old girl died in an overturned SUV Sunday when the driver lost control on a slick Missouri highway, according to the State’s Highway Patrol. A 14-year-old girl and two adults were also seriously injured in the crash, in which none of the victims were wearing seat belts, officials said.
Delta, Southwest and JetBlue Airlines issued weather advisories and said they would waive cancellation fees in more than a dozen airports, including three in New York, two in Pennsylvania and two in Washington D.C.
More than 2,500 flights into and out of the U.S. were canceled by 1 p.m. ET on Monday, according to FlightAware.com.
The storm that started last week off California “will finally blow offshore into the Atlantic at about 10 p.m. ET” Monday, said Weather Channel forecaster Kevin Roth
But “unseasonably cold temperatures more typical of January will prevail east of the Rocky Mountains for the next few days keeping winter around for a while longer,” according to the National Weather Service.
Spring is scheduled to arrive at 12:57 p.m. ET on March 20 — weather permitting.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
First published March 3rd 2014, 5:57 pm