Snowstorm pummels north-eastern US

A MAJOR storm hit the mid-Atlantic and north-east US states with nearly 60 centimetres of windblown snow yesterday, nearing record levels as it blacked out thousands of customers and shut down air travel from Washington to Boston.

Wind gusting to 64kmph blew the snow sideways and threatened coastal flooding in New England. And in a rare display, lightning lit up the falling snow before dawn in the New York metro area.

By late morning, 58cm of snow had fallen in Central Park, the city's second-heaviest snowfall on record, surpassed only by the 67cm that fell in December 1947.

"This is a dangerous storm," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said as he urged people to stay at home.

The storm interrupted a relatively mild winter and came right after America's warmest January on record.

Elsewhere, 53cm of snow had fallen at Columbia, Maryland, between Baltimore and Washington, and thousands of customers in that state had no electricity.

Hartford, Connecticut, and Wayne, New Jersey, reported 48cm and Philadelphia's northern and western suburbs measured up to 45.7cm.

Radar showed snow falling from eastern Virginia to Maine as the nor'easter crawled up the coast.

The possibility of coastal flooding was a major concern for Massachusetts, said a spokesperson for the state's Emergency Management Agency. Meteorologists predicted storm surges from Cape Ann to Cape Cod, with seas off the coast running up to 7.6 metres.

More than 80,000 customers were without power in Maryland, according to Baltimore Gas & Electric.

Power also was out at thousands of homes and businesses in New Jersey, New York's Long Island and Connecticut.

Most airlines cancelled all flights at LaGuardia Airport and hundreds of flights were cancelled at Kennedy and Newark airports.

Delta said it also cancelled arrivals and departures at Washington, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, Providence and Hartford.