Blizzard, Snow Storm | featured news

A blizzard packing hurricane-force winds hammered the northeastern United States on Saturday, cutting power to 700,000 homes and businesses, shutting down travel and leaving at least nine people dead.

A blizzard slammed into the northeastern United States on Friday, snarling traffic, disrupting thousands of flights and prompting five governors to declare states of emergency in the face of a fearsome snowstorm.

U.S. airlines canceled thousands of flights on Tuesday ahead of a blizzard that has promised near-record snowfall in the U.S. Plains and the central Midwest.

The second of back-to-back blizzards that smothered the East Coast and eclipsed seasonal snowfall records with more than a month of winter remaining had tapered off by Thursday, although governments and schools remained closed to contend with the aftermath.

In Washington, D.C., the federal government planned to be closed for a fourth straight day, while city agencies and schools in the hardest-hit regions also scored snow days. The nation's capital joined Philadelphia and Baltimore in logging their snowiest winters in history.

The cleanup begins for the Mid-Atlantic states struck by a heavy snowstorm....