Mid-Atlantic begins to dig out from record setting snowstorm

Astounding snow totals normally reserved for the Rocky Mountains were recorded in the area around the nation’s capital as a two day storm pounded the area. As the storm moved out late Saturday, the digging out process begins on Super Bowl Sunday.

In the wake of the storm, numerous snowfall records were set. Dulles International Airport in Washington D.C. recorded an astounding 32.4 inches, easily eclipsing the previous snowstorm record for that facility of 23.2 inches set in 1996.

Similarly, Baltimore / Washington International recorded 24.8 inches which ranks the storm second on Baltimore’s list. That city’s top storm occurred in 1922 and dumped 26.3 inches of snow. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport recorded 17.8 inches putting the storm as the fourth biggest for Washington. Philadelphia measured 28.5 inches which is more in a single storm than the city has received in all but four seasons in the last 30 years.

• In pictures: Residents begin to dig out from record setting blizzard

The monster storm has spurred on a flurry of catchy nicknames. Whiteout at the White House. Snowpocalypse. Snowmageddon. Even President Barack Obama referred to the storm as ‘snowmageddon’ in remarks on Saturday. The storm even prevented the president from using his limousine and he was forced to use an SUV to attend an event.

An abandoned snow covered car sits in a turn lane on Little
Patuxent Parkway during of a winter storm in Columbia, Md.
Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)  More
pictures from the snowstorm in the slideshow below.

While not as catchy, ‘epic’ and ‘record setting’ would certainly serve well to describe the two-day snowstorm which buried the nation’s capital under a heavy blanket of white. From Baltimore to Philadelphia, the effects of the storm were widespread.

Hundreds of thousands were without power at the height of the storm as the heavy, wet snow downed power lines. Power outages remain in parts of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and New Jersey.

Travel into and out of the region was brought to a standstill as major airports struggled to keep runways open and airlines canceled most of their flight schedules on Saturday. Amtrak canceled train service from Washington south.

Roadways quickly became impassable as the snow continued to pound the region. States of emergency were declared for many of the states in the region as snow removal crews couldn’t keep up with the sheer volume of snow. Thousands of accidents were recorded including one that claimed the lives of two men in Virginia.

The snowstorm follows on a major storm that struck the area in December. That storm dumped more than a foot of snow on Washington D.C. and Baltimore. Coupled with yesterday’s storm, the city’s are likely to set records for their snowiest seasons ever.