By — Sarah Sheffer Sarah Sheffer By — Lorna Baldwin Lorna Baldwin Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/snow-title-tk Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter What the winter weather wallop of the Northeast looks like Nation Feb 13, 2014 6:47 PM EDT Wintery weather shut down much of the eastern seaboard Thursday, as a huge storm system moved north, leaving a thick coat of snow and ice in it’s wake and after leaving a treacherous mess across the south. The brutal storm was blamed for the deaths of at least 20 people as it barreled down the coast. Ice from the storm caused at least 750,000 people to lose power across the south, after trees limbs crashed into lines under the weight. In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio defended his decision to keep schools open. “So many families have to go to work, members of these families have to go to work. They do not have a choice. And they need a safe option for their kids,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said, defending his decision to keep schools open despite eight inches of snow. “So as long as we know we can get our kids to school safely, and we can operate our schools effectively, we make that decision.” Sorry, we're closed today #snowday pic.twitter.com/q2xKJSx1Co — Embassy of Greece (@GreeceInUSA) February 13, 2014 Meanwhile, principals at a Durham, N.C. school told their students they were getting a snow day with an “Ice Ice Baby” rap: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhtqjdUi0nw] The Washington, D.C. area got hit by upwards of 11 inches of snow overnight, shutting down the federal government ahead of the wintery mix. Over 10,000 flights were cancelled on Thursday, stranding travelers in some of the nation’s busiest hubs. Washington’s Reagan Nation and Dulles International airports suspended flight operations Thursday morning, but reopened a single runway by early afternoon. Flight schedule disruptions there and throughout the region are expected to last into Friday. Found a snow cat while working in @News12CT! This cat has a tunnel underneath for the builder's real cat!! #snowday pic.twitter.com/qHLOjwznkn — Allison Bybee (@BroadcastBybee) February 13, 2014 Amtrak service was cancelled from New York and south of Washington D.C. as well, adding to commuter’s travel woes. In a nod to the Winter Olympics, the storm was nicknamed Snochi by some on social networking sites. Others, however, were not so thrilled. One official in the Philadelphia area summed up the feelings of many: “Snow has become a four-letter word.” Frosty got bored just sitting in front of the office, so we're letting him step in to guest tweet for the #snowday! pic.twitter.com/v33VO4cNkC — LivingSocial (@LivingSocial) February 13, 2014 More snow is expected to fall throughout Thursday evening. We asked people on Facebook to send us photos of what the snow looked like in their part of town. Here’s a snapshot of responses. Mannassas, Virginia. Photo by Grant W. Trent. Glasgow, West Virginia. Photo by Facebook user Shawn Coleman McQuinn. Guilford, Conn. Photo by Facebook user Linda Young. Short Hills, New Jersey. Photo by Facebook user Arp Trivedi. We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now By — Sarah Sheffer Sarah Sheffer @sarahsheffer By — Lorna Baldwin Lorna Baldwin Lorna Baldwin is an Emmy and Peabody award winning producer at the PBS NewsHour. In her two decades at the NewsHour, Baldwin has crisscrossed the US reporting on issues ranging from the water crisis in Flint, Michigan to tsunami preparedness in the Pacific Northwest to the politics of poverty on the campaign trail in North Carolina. Farther afield, Baldwin reported on the problem of sea turtle nest poaching in Costa Rica, the distinctive architecture of Rotterdam, the Netherlands and world renowned landscape artist, Piet Oudolf. @lornabaldwin
Wintery weather shut down much of the eastern seaboard Thursday, as a huge storm system moved north, leaving a thick coat of snow and ice in it’s wake and after leaving a treacherous mess across the south. The brutal storm was blamed for the deaths of at least 20 people as it barreled down the coast. Ice from the storm caused at least 750,000 people to lose power across the south, after trees limbs crashed into lines under the weight. In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio defended his decision to keep schools open. “So many families have to go to work, members of these families have to go to work. They do not have a choice. And they need a safe option for their kids,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said, defending his decision to keep schools open despite eight inches of snow. “So as long as we know we can get our kids to school safely, and we can operate our schools effectively, we make that decision.” Sorry, we're closed today #snowday pic.twitter.com/q2xKJSx1Co — Embassy of Greece (@GreeceInUSA) February 13, 2014 Meanwhile, principals at a Durham, N.C. school told their students they were getting a snow day with an “Ice Ice Baby” rap: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhtqjdUi0nw] The Washington, D.C. area got hit by upwards of 11 inches of snow overnight, shutting down the federal government ahead of the wintery mix. Over 10,000 flights were cancelled on Thursday, stranding travelers in some of the nation’s busiest hubs. Washington’s Reagan Nation and Dulles International airports suspended flight operations Thursday morning, but reopened a single runway by early afternoon. Flight schedule disruptions there and throughout the region are expected to last into Friday. Found a snow cat while working in @News12CT! This cat has a tunnel underneath for the builder's real cat!! #snowday pic.twitter.com/qHLOjwznkn — Allison Bybee (@BroadcastBybee) February 13, 2014 Amtrak service was cancelled from New York and south of Washington D.C. as well, adding to commuter’s travel woes. In a nod to the Winter Olympics, the storm was nicknamed Snochi by some on social networking sites. Others, however, were not so thrilled. One official in the Philadelphia area summed up the feelings of many: “Snow has become a four-letter word.” Frosty got bored just sitting in front of the office, so we're letting him step in to guest tweet for the #snowday! pic.twitter.com/v33VO4cNkC — LivingSocial (@LivingSocial) February 13, 2014 More snow is expected to fall throughout Thursday evening. We asked people on Facebook to send us photos of what the snow looked like in their part of town. Here’s a snapshot of responses. Mannassas, Virginia. Photo by Grant W. Trent. Glasgow, West Virginia. Photo by Facebook user Shawn Coleman McQuinn. Guilford, Conn. Photo by Facebook user Linda Young. Short Hills, New Jersey. Photo by Facebook user Arp Trivedi. We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now