The US east coast has been slammed by the second major winter storm of the year, with up to 30cm of snow, strong winds and bitter cold forecast.
States across the northeast declared emergencies and warned residents not to travel during the fast-moving storm, which packed a potentially lethal combination of snow and wind.
The storm comes two weeks after a weather pattern known as the polar vortex brought heavy snow and record low temperatures to the eastern half of the US.
The system could dump as much as a foot of snow on southern New England and would hamper traffic movements along the I-95 highway corridor from Boston to Washington, said Bruce Sullivan, a senior meteorologist at the National Weather Service.
Behind this system is a lot of strong winds, (with) very cold, bitter temperatures, so this snow is going to be around for a while,” said Sullivan.
Hundreds of thousands of federal workers in Washington were ordered to stay home. City schools and offices also shut down, and the White House called off its Tuesday press briefing.
About 3,000 airline flights in the United States were canceled, according to FlightAware.com, a tracking service.
While the polar front grips the eastern United States, the western half will see above-average temperatures as a drought worsens, the National Weather Service said.
Sullivan, the meteorologist, said the cold snap would be followed by two more polar fronts through the weekend. One would hit the Great Lakes region, and the other the upper Great Plains, he said.
