Snow job: Rough storm, but below forecast

A blustery late-season storm plastered the US Northeast with sleet and snow Tuesday, paralyzing much of the Washington-to-Boston corridor after a stretch of unusually mild winter weather that had people thinking spring was already here.

The powerful nor'easter fell well short of the predicted snow totals in New York and Philadelphia but unloaded 1 to 2 feet in many places inland; grounded more than 6,000 flights; and knocked out power to nearly a quarter-million customers from Virginia northward.

Philadelphia and New York got anywhere from a few inches of snow to around half a foot before the storm switched over mostly to sleet; forecasters had predicted a foot or more.

In New Jersey, which saw rain or just a little snow in many areas, Governor Chris Christie called the storm an "underperformer". But officials warned of dangerous ice.

By the time it reached Massachusetts, the storm, nicknamed Stella, had turned into a blizzard, with near hurricane-force wind gusting over 70 mph along the coast, and waves crashing over the seawalls. Up to a foot of snow was expected in the Boston area.

It was easily the biggest storm in a merciful winter that had mostly spared the Northeast, and many weren't happy about it.

"It's horrible," said retired gumball-machine technician Don Zimmerman, of Lemoyne, Pennsylvania, using a snowblower to clear the sidewalk along his block. "I thought winter was out of here. ... It's a real kick in the rear."

While people mostly heeded dire warnings to stay home and off the roads, police said a 16-year-old girl was killed when she lost control of her car on a snowy road and hit a tree in Gilford, New Hampshire.

The storm closed schools in cities big and small, Amtrak suspended service, and the post office halted mail delivery.

Inland areas, meanwhile, got hit hard. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Worcester, Massachusetts, received a foot or more of snow. The Binghamton, New York, area got more than 2 feet, while Vernon, New Jersey, had at least 19 inches.

The storm came just days after the region saw temperatures climb into the 60s, and less than a week before the official start of spring.

"The winters seem to be upside down now. January and February are nice, and then March and April seem to be more wintry than they were in the past," said Bob Clifford, who ventured out on an early-morning grocery run for his family in Altamont, near Albany, New York.

His advice: "Just hide inside. Hibernate."

In the nation's capital, non-essential federal employees were given the option of reporting three hours late, taking the day off or working from home. The city got less than 2 inches of snow.

A few days ago, workers on Washington's National Mall were making plans to turn on the fountains.

"Obviously all that has to come to an abrupt stop until we get all the snow cleared," said Jeff Gowen, the acting facility manager for the National Mall and Memorial Parks. "The cherry blossoms, they're right on the cusp of going into bloom here. I had a feeling this was going to happen."

Government meteorologists realized by late Monday afternoon that there was a good chance the storm wasn't going to produce the giant big-city snow totals predicted.

But they didn't change their forecast for fear people would mistakenly think the storm was no longer dangerous, said Greg Carbin, chief of forecast operations at the Weather Prediction Center.

The flight cancellations included nearly 3,300 in the New York City area alone.