Winter Weather Halts Holiday Travel

Dec. 26, 2010— -- Freezing winter conditions are bringing a post-Christmas storm to the East Coast, causing chaos for holiday travelers.

As the snow was piling up from the Carolinas to New England, Amtrak shut down train service between New York and Boston, and and all flights at airports up and down the East Coast were canceled.

More than a foot of snow is forecast for New York City and New England, and nearly two dozen states east of the Mississippi are under severe weather warnings.

Airlines have grounded hundreds of flights traveling in and out of East Coast airports, including 1,400 cancellations at New York City-area airports, and they have said more cancellations were likely as the storm progressed.

Travel chaos already affected the south, where in Atlanta the first white Christmas since 1882 brought 1.2 inches. Dozens of car crashes were reported across the south, according The Associated Press.

Preparations began across the mid-Atlantic region with Washington transportation officials pretreated roads and readied 200 salt trucks, plows and other pieces of equipment. Baltimore and Washington are expected to get about six inches.

But it's the northeast that is being hit the hardest, with forecasters issuing a blizzard warning for New York City for Sunday and Monday. Eleven to 16 inches of snow is expected, along with strong winds that will reduce visibility to near zero.

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg held a press conference on Sunday afternoon, updating residents on the city's plan of action, and advising them to stay off the roads.

"If you have to go out today, please leave the cars at home," Bloomberg said, "take mass transit and be careful."

Philadelphia is under a Code Blue Alert for severe weather, according to the city's official website, while the city of Boston has declared a snow emergency and the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency has advised residents to stay off highways, calling driving conditions "near impossible."

Rhode Island and most of eastern Massachusetts, including Boston, have also been issued a blizzard warning, with 15 to 20 inches of snow expected. A blizzard warning is issued when snow is accompanied by sustained winds or gusts over 35 mph.