Winter Storm Blasts East Coast

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19, 2009 — -- A wicked winter snowstorm has left five people dead and has made any sort of travel a nightmare, with roadways becoming increasingly impassable and air traffic across the East Coast halted until at least Sunday morning.

One Virginian was reported as having been killed in a traffic accident caused by "slick roads," according to The Associated Press, and another of the five deaths may have been caused by poor conditions on the road.

Another death is believed to have been caused by exposure to low temperatures, according to the AP, and two others in Ohio were killed in accidents on the snowy roads.

Already being hailed as the "Blizzard of '09," the snowstorm has broken a 77-year record for snowfall in the nation's capital in the month of December.

By late Saturday night, 16 inches of snow had fallen at Reagan National Airport outside Washington, the most ever recorded for a single December day. Philadelphia was also buried under 16 inches of snow.

More than 18 inches fell in Arlington, Va., in Ashburn, Va., 19 inches were recorded, while Centreville had 22 inches.

With all the snow in and around the Washington, D.C., area, the nation's capital, Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia declared states of emergency because of the blizzard and urged drivers to stay off the roads, many of which were virtually buried by the unrelenting snow as of 4 p.m.

The airports in the Northeast, which began cancelling flights ahead of the storm Friday evening, are continuing to do so today, leaving thousands of travelers stranded at their local airports.

"There have literally been hundreds of cancelations up and down the East Coast," FAA spokesman Les Dorr told ABC News.

Ronald Reagan National Airport has been shut down until at least 6 a.m. Sunday morning and no more flights will be leaving today, and Baltimore-Washington International Airport shut down earlier.