Northeast, Mid-Atlantic states caught in late snow storm

NEW YORK (AFP) Mar 17, 2004
A late winter storm brought snow to the Northeast and the mid-Atlantic United States Tuesday, delaying flights in and out of New York and shuttering hundreds of schools just days before the official debut of Spring.

Beginning at daybreak, the low pressure system moved east from Ohio, blanketing parts of southern New England and the northern mid-Atlantic region in the white stuff, according to the National Weather Service.

Authorities said flights into and out of John F. Kennedy airport and La Guardia airports were delayed for several hours, and hundreds of schools across the state of Ohio were closed for the day.

The weather system dumped up to four inches (10 cm) of snow on parts of Ohio and the eastern seaboard and as much as eight inches (20 cm) in the mountains of New York and Massachusetts and as far south as Maryland.

The National Weather Service is calling for up to 12 inches (30 cm) on Wednesday, and some forecasters say the snow could carry on falling at intervals until Friday.

On Monday, an artic blast buried parts of Iowa on the Great Plains in 18 inches (45 cm) of snow, and at least one death was blamed on the freak weather.

Motorist Kenneth Lininger, 32, walked into the path of a semi-trailer as he walked around a snow plow that had stopped to help him get his vehicle back on the motorway south of Winterset, Iowa, according to police.

TERRA.WIRE