New snowstorm cancels flights, slows Obama

Yet another major winter storm has walloped the US East Coast, paralyzing Washington, stranding travelers, leaving hundreds of thousands without power and forcing millions into a treacherous commute Thursday.

After building up early Wednesday with ice and freezing rain, the storm blindsided the US capital at the height of the evening rush hour, not even sparing President Barack Obama, who faced travel delays upon returning from a day trip to the US Midwest.

"Thundersnow" roared across the region, creating havoc on roads and at airports, and suspending commuter railway service in the New York region -- results of the latest winter fury in a season already marked by higher-than-average snowfalls.

Hundreds of flights were canceled, with more cancelations due Thursday as schools closed for a second straight day because of the storm that dumped more than a foot (30 centimeters) of snow across much of the Mid-Atlantic region.

The storm was the fifth major winter dump in as many weeks for parts of the East Coast.

New York, which has been repeatedly blasted this winter with one heavy snowstorm after another, recorded up to 19 inches (48 centimeters) of snow. It was still snowing in parts of New England early Thursday.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the closure of all non-emergency city government offices. The federal government was operating on a two-hour delayed opening.

Treacherous road conditions caused several cars to skid off the road or become stuck in the snow, slowing the presidential motorcade after weather forced him to travel to the White House by car from Andrews Air Force base instead of his traditional helicopter.

Heavy snow forced Washington\'s airports, Dulles International and Reagan National, to close their runways for several hours.

"Travelers should call ahead because it will take time for the airlines to recover their schedule Thursday," said Rob Yingling, spokesman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.

Yingling could not specify a number of canceled flights but each airport handles more than 800 flights per day.

Hundreds more flights were canceled at airports in New York, Philadelphia and Boston, according to local media reports, which estimated at least 600 in the New York-area airports alone.

The National Weather Service put the entire Washington-to-Boston corridor under a winter storm warning for "severe winter weather conditions," including wet, heavy snow that left more than 420,000 customers without power in the capital region.

Washington Mayor Vincent Gray promised late Wednesday to "do the best we can," but it was misery from the start, as Washingtonians faced a nightmare commute home Wednesday night.

Thousands got stuck in mind-numbing gridlock on the the region\'s roads -- some for a reported 13 hours.

Denise Borders spent that long "just sitting, for hours. Literally. Sitting, not moving," on the George Washington Parkway, with no food, no bathroom and no sleep, she told the Washington Post. Many more shared similar stories of traffic chaos.

In Washington\'s Maryland suburbs, side streets were left unplowed, snow-laden tree branches collapsed onto power lines, and commuters who ride buses home were left stranded at subway stations.