Second snowstorm hits US cities

A second major snowstorm in a week swept up the US East Coast today, dumping historic snowfalls that shut down US government offices and the United Nations in New York and paralysed airports.

Up to 16 inches fell in parts of western Maryland and Reagan National Airport in Washington had 9 inches by midday. That was on top of totals up to 3 feet in some places from the weekend storm. Baltimore, Maryland, reported record snowfall.

"It's hard to find anything in the history books of these types of storms back-to-back," said National Weather Service meteorologist Stephen Konarik.

The wind started blowing in gusts from 25 to 45 mph in and around snowbound Washington. Driving conditions got so bad that officials in Washington and some nearby suburbs pulled plows off the roads.

The federal government was closed for a third straight day. The longest weather-related government shutdown ever was in 1996, when employees did not have to go to work for a full week.

New York City, which managed to avoid last week's blizzard, was not so lucky today. Flakes were coming down fast during the day and the National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings and predicted 10 to 16 inches of snowfall. Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights at New York-area airports, and the city school system's 1.1 million students enjoyed a snow day - only the third in six years. The United Nations shut down for the day.

Snow was falling from northern Virginia to Connecticut by early Wednesday after crawling out of the Midwest, where the storm cancelled hundreds of flights and was blamed for three traffic deaths in Michigan. In Chicago, a pickup truck plowing snow backed into and killed a 71-year-old woman.

In Pennsylvania, the governor closed large stretches of three major highways because the second major storm in less than a week was making travel too risky.

The storms have kept some Washington-area workers and students home for the better part of a week. About 230,000 federal workers in the US capital have been off since Friday afternoon, when the first storm began. The US House of Representatives announced it was scrapping the rest of its workweek. Several hearings and meetings in Congress and federal agencies were postponed.

"It's embarrassing that the world's largest superpower closes from a few feet of snow," said Alex Krause, 23, of Los Angeles, who was stranded in Washington and visiting the National Mall. "The Kremlin must be laughing."

But the effects of the federal government's closure were negligible since about 85 per cent of federal employees work outside the Washington region.

Baltimore has already broken the previous record for snowiest winter, 62.5 inches in 1995-96, and Washington was poised to break the record of 54.4 inches set there in the winter of 1898-99.

Heavy snow collapsed part of the roof and a wall at a Smithsonian Institution storage building in Suitland, Maryland. Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas said they don't believe there was any damage to artefacts from the National Air and Space Museum, but officials were unable to go inside because the building is unstable.

Thousands remained without power from the last storm in parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland and other areas. Deep snow and gusty winds were expected to complicate efforts to restore power.

- AP