USA Hang OUT

WASHINGTON – Life in the capital to a halt Friday as a steady snow fell at the beginning of a storm that the forecast says, may be the largest city in modern history.

A record 2 1 / 2 feet or more was predicted to Washington, where snow fell heavily in the evening, and forecasts warned that Blizzard conditions were bound. Large amounts of snow were forecast elsewhere in the Mid-Atlantic, and the government has already blamed the storm for hundreds of accidents and deaths in the father-son Samaritans in Virginia.

A couple thousand people in West Virginia lost electricity because of the storm and several outcome was expected. A hospital fire in DC sent about three dozen patients scurrying from their rooms to safety in a basement. The fire started when a snow plow truck caught fire near the building but no casualties were reported.

The National Zoo closed early and the Smithsonian museums to close Saturday. U.S. Park Police spokesman Sgt. David Schlosser said the Lincoln Memorial and other monuments in Washington will be open as long as conditions permit.

Gilles Conti, scrambled in vain to find a way to come to Los Angeles from Dulles International Airport in suburban Washington, where all flights to and including Saturday afternoon was canceled.

Errol Bailey, a 55 year old tailor who works in northern Virginia, said he had filled up on food at his home in Largo, Md.

“I’ve had some cashews, a little orange juice, some bread, cheese and I’m about to get a bottle of wine here now,” said Bailey.

As heavy snow fell on an Indianapolis airport, arrived at Colts fans early hope they can still get tickets to Miami, where the Super Bowl would be held. Most direct flights were on time, but travelers passing Philadelphia and Washington had to make other arrangements.

Metro, the Washington-area rail system, “said passenger numbers were down on Friday morning, was a sign of people heeding official warnings to stay home.

In West Virginia, struck a tractor-trailer, killing a father and son who had stopped to help another driver who was stranded in the snow on Interstate 81, said Virginia State Police. William Edward Smith Jr., 25, of Moore, Petersburg, Tenn.., And 54-year-old William Edward Smith Sr. of Sylva, NC, died on the spot, officials said.

Blizzard warnings were also applies to much of Delaware and southern New Jersey from Friday evening to Saturday evening, with strong winds and blowing, snow.

Philadelphia could be around three feet of snow and up to 20 inches were expected in the Pittsburgh area.

The storm comes less than two months after a December 19 storm dumped more than 16 inches of snow on Washington. Snowfall in this series – let alone two in a season – is rare in the area. According to the National Weather Service, Washington has been more than a foot of snow only 13 times since 1870.

The heaviest on record was 28 inches in January 1922nd The greatest snowfall for the Washington-Baltimore area believed to have taken place in 1772, before official records were kept, when as much as 3 feet fell in the Washington-Baltimore area, an epic event, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson as mentioned in his diaries.

“I am very disappointed in how Americans treat snowfall,” says Strand. “Although it was (30 inches), should not cause such chaos.”

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