Winter Storm: East Coast Battles Another Record Breaking Snowstorm

Jan. 27, 2011— -- The East Coast is gradually digging out from the record-breaking snowstorm that battered the East Coast Wednesday night, causing power outages and leaving travelers and commuters stranded.

It was the sixth snowstorm to slam into the region in the last 30 days.

Overnight, thundersnow -- the rare phenomenon in which thunder and lightning strike even in the dead of winter -- shocked residents in Sellersville, Pa., and as far away as central New Jersey. Philadelphia was hit with 17 inches of snow, totals in the Washington D.C. area ranged from 3 to 7 inches and, according to the National Weather Service, parts of New Jersey had to dig out from 19 inches.

In New York City, officials declared a weather emergency and all public schools were closed for today.

The city received about 19 inches of snow in what is now the snowiest January in more than a century of record-keeping. The average winter in New York City brings 21 inches of snow; this year there have been more than 50.

In Washington, D.C., the snow prompted officials to close government buildings and schools in surrounding areas. It also left more than 400,000 people in and around the nation's capital without power.

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The Boston area was hit hard by the storm as well, receiving about a foot of snow.

Michael Eckhart of the National Weather Service said several other states felt this storm's wrath.

"The snow from this system extends from eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina all the way up to Maine, so it's hitting especially the major population along the I-95 corridor," he said.

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