Washington sets record since 1899 for snowfall

I / Washington February 11, 2010, 10:02 IST

As second blizzard hit America's East Coast today for the second time in a week, Washington and several cities in the region set a record since 1899 for snowfall; forcing people to stay home from school and jobs.

In regions across the East Coast massive snow dumped up to two feet of snow during the day, with Washington, Philadelphia, New York and Baltimore being the hardest hit.

In Baltimore and several other cities authorities imposed blanket ban on movement of vehicles except for emergency ones as driving was considered hazardous.

Majority of airports in the region including the three airports around Washington were closed with hundreds of flights cancelled.

The air traffic was expected to be badly affected for the next few days. As many as 5,600 flights were cancelled in the last two days, reports said.

Washington set a new record of 139 centimetres, breaking the old record -- set in 1898-99 -- by more than one centimetre, while Chicago set a record for the biggest daily snowfall in February.

The 13 inches of snow there topped the 11.5 that fell February 18, 1908. Baltimore's previous winter snowfall record of 158.8 centimetres was broken and in Philadelphia, 178.6 centimetres of snow has fallen so far this winter, breaking the previous record of 166.37.

In Pennsylvania one person reportedly died and 18 others were injures as 25 vehicles were involved in two separate accidents.

Another death was reported in Chicago where a pickup truck plowing snow hit and killed a 71-year-old woman. In New York and New Jersey some 25 to 40 centimeters of snow were reported during the day.

The United Nations headquarters in New York was closed for the day, so were schools and offices.