By Brian K. Sullivan Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) — Thousands of flights were canceled, schools closed and the U.S. Congress suspended work as a blizzard threatened to drop as much as 20 inches (51 centimeters) on Washington, Baltimore and New York. The storm, the second for the Washington-Baltimore area in less than a week, will be accompanied by cold and winds gusting from 35 to 55 mph (56 to 88 kph) in the Northeast, forecasters said. Ten to 20 inches may fall in Washington and Baltimore, while as much as 16 inches is forecast for New York. Light snow was falling in New York’s Central Park, according to update at 1:51 a.m. today on the U.S. National Weather Service Web site. More than a foot of snow will bring travel to a standstill along the I-95 corridor from Baltimore to New York City, where blizzard conditions will develop, according to AccuWeather.com senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson . The winds are likely to be intense enough to rival those of a tropical storm, said Jim Rouiller , a senior energy meteorologist at Planalytics Inc. “It’s looking more likely that blizzard or near-blizzard conditions will hit New York City,” he said. Winter storm warnings stretch from Illinois to Massachusetts, the National Weather Service said. The snow began falling at midday yesterday in Washington. Oil Rises Heating oil rose on speculation demand will increase as temperatures plunge in the Northeast, which consumes four-fifths of U.S. home heating fuel. Contracts for March delivery gained 5.18 cents, or 2.7 percent, to settle at $1.9373 a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Amtrak , the national passenger railroad, hasn’t run a full schedule since last week’s storm and more trains were canceled yesterday, spokesman Cliff Cole said. At least 2,000 flights have been canceled nationwide, according to U.S. airlines. US Airways Group Inc. halted 1,300 flights today across its system, including many at New York’s LaGuardia and Washington’s National airports, or 42 percent of its entire schedule, while Delta said it cut “several hundred” and AMR Corp. ’s American Airlines trimmed 120. The U.S. Senate won’t meet today because of the storm, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid announced on the floor yesterday. The House has canceled votes for the rest of the week. In the New York City area, where a winter storm warning was posted and public school students had the day off, blowing snow is forecast after midday, with wind gusts as high as 41 mph, the National Weather Service said. In New York City, 365 plow-equipped salt-spreaders were ready to begin operating at first snowfall, said Kathy Dawkins , a spokeswoman for the Sanitation Department . The plan calls for some 1,600 plows to start work when 2 inches pile up. Snow removal usually costs the city about $1 million per inch of accumulation, Dawkins said. To contact the reporter on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net .
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Washington Closes, New York Girds for Storm as Blizzard Looms in Northeast
