What We Know: Key takeaways from massive winter storm

Blizzard warnings or watches were in effect along the storm’s path, from Arkansas through Tennessee and Kentucky to the mid-Atlantic states and as far north as NY.

Philadelphia and NY are expected to get 30-46 cm of snow before the storm abates.

NY cancelled its Winter Jam in Central Park, a winter sports festival set for Saturday, in anticipation of the storm.

“It has the potential to be an extremely risky storm”, Louis Uccellini, director of the National Weather Service, said Thursday in a conference call with reporters.

A life-threatening blizzard which is expected to pound a record 30 inches of snow has hit most part of the US’ east coast including Capital Washington DC, leaving more than 120,000 homes without electricity and paralysing lives of millions of people in the region.

Among those affected was President Barack Obama, whose motorcade spent an hour and 12 minutes trying to get him from an airport back to the White House – a trip that typically takes about a half hour.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG said Friday it had canceled flights to New York, Philadelphia and Washington because of the storm, while Etihad Airways said it also expected cancellations and delays.

Flight tracking service FlightAware said airlines cancelled about 7,600 flights on Friday and Saturday, about 15% of the airlines’ schedules. In addition, schools were closed before the storm and shelves on grocery stores were stripped bare, as people prepared for the worst. Arkansas and Tennessee got eight inches, and states across the Deep South grappled with icy, snow-covered roads and power outages.

AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said the storm taking aim at Washington could rank among the biggest snowfalls on record, eclipsing the “Snowmageddon” storm of 2010 that dropped 17.8 inches (45.2). Those blizzard warnings and watches stretch through New York City into New England, stopping just short of Boston, but Washington could get one of its top three storms in history, Peterson said. New York City braced for a blizzard and declared an emergency.

“It should start to snow at, or just after, midnight” in the New York area, said Jeffrey Tongue, a weather service meteorologist in Upton, New York.

The government closed offices at noon Friday.

Snowfall as heavy as 2.5 to 7.6cm an hour could continue for 24 hours or more, Kocin said.

“We have a forecast that I don’t think we’ve had in 90 years”, said DC Mayor Muriel Bowser.

The US Capitol Police said sledding on Capitol Hill, which only recently became legal after an act of Congress, would be welcome for the first time in decades, as long as conditions are safe.

The governors of several states, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia, as well as the mayor of Washington, declared states of emergency. Republican Gov. Chris Christie cancelled presidential campaign events Friday and Saturday to return home from New Hampshire, which should be spared from the storm.

Snow plows drive down the street as the blizzard Jonas begins in Washington, DC.

Low-lying areas of NY and New Jersey – some still rebuilding after Superstorm Sandy in 2012 – might see flooding during high tides on Saturday and Sunday, officials said. Friday night into Saturday morning, we expect wind gusts of 35 miles an hour or more and visibility reduced to a quarter-mile or less because of blowing and drifting snow, FOX 29 Weather Authority’s Sue Serio explained. Other severe but non-snowy weather is likely from Texas to Florida as the storm system chugs across the Gulf Coast, gaining moisture.