Snowmageddon 2: Capital in the firing line as monster blizzard bears down on US

Millions of Americans were braced on Friday for a monstrous blizzard which has sparked flight cancellations and shut down Washington’s public transport system. The US capital and the surrounding area could see up to 2ft (60cm) of snow in a short time from Friday to Saturday. The federal government in Washington is closing at noon on Friday because of the storm, which is set to bring fierce winds and blinding squalls. Up to 15 states will be affected and even as far south as Kentucky the governor said he too was shutting down government offices on Friday.

You put all the ingredients together, you can get a storm like this and it’s happening in real time

National Weather Service director Louis Uccellini

The latest storm has been compared to Snowmageddon, the first of two storms that “wiped out” Washington in 2010 and dumped up to 30 inches of snow in places. “It does have the potential to be an extremely dangerous storm that can affect more than 50 million people,” the National Weather Service director Louis Uccellini said. Washington looks like the bull’s-eye of the blizzard and New York City is just inside the slow-moving storm’s sharp northern edge. Washington officials will shut down the city’s rail and bus system from Friday night until Monday morning. American Airlines said it was canceling hundreds of flights, including at Washington’s two airports on Saturday. All flights on that day will also be scrapped in Baltimore and Philadelphia.

I’ve lived in DC most of my life and I don’t know if I’ve lived through a forecast like this. It’s an extremely large storm

Washington mayor Muriel Bowser

Americas snow storm