PHILADELPHIA — A swirling storm clobbered the mid-Atlantic and the urban Northeast on Tuesday, grounding thousands of flights, closing government offices in Washington and making a mess of the evening commute.
The storm stretched 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) between Kentucky and Massachusetts but hit especially hard along the heavily populated corridor between Philadelphia and Boston, creating a perilous ride home for millions of motorists.
The snow came down harder and faster than many people expected. Forecasters said some places could get 1 to 2 inches (2 to 5 centimeters) an hour, with wind gusts up to 50 mph (80 kph). A blizzard warning was posted for parts of Massachusetts, including Cape Cod.
Late in the afternoon, highways in the New York City metropolitan area were jammed, and blowing snow tripled or even quadrupled drive times.
The storm was blamed for at least one death in Maryland after a car fishtailed into the path of a tractor-trailer on a snow-covered road about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of Baltimore. The car's driver was thrown from the vehicle.
Forecasters said the storm could bring up to 14 inches (35 centimeters) of snow to Philadelphia and southern New England and up to a foot (30 centimeters) in New York City, to be followed by bitter cold as arctic air from Canada streams in. Washington was expecting up 8 inches (20 centimeters).
This one was a conventional storm that developed off the coast and moved its way up the Eastern Seaboard, pulling in cold air from the arctic. Unlike the epic freeze of two weeks ago, it was not caused by a kink in the polar vortex, the winds that circulate around the North Pole.
About 3,000 flights Tuesday were canceled, with airports from Washington to Boston affected. More than 1,000 flights for Wednesday were called off as well.
The rush to get home early by many workers was evident in Philadelphia, where many commuter trains were packed.
The storm put a damper on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's inauguration, forcing the cancellation of an evening party on Ellis Island.