Airline travellers stand in a queue at Zaventem international airport near Brussels December 24, 2010. Unusually heavy snow caused air traffic chaos in Belgium today, with its main airport closing to travellers arriving for Christmas and severe delays disrupting departing flights.
Heavy snow stranded thousands of Christmas travellers in Europe today, with Belgium’s main airport closed for landing and icy roads in Sweden choked with traffic.
Cold weather during the busy Christmas period has disrupted travel and business across Europe this week, and the prolonged period of severe weather is expected to clip economic growth in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy.
A spokesman for the Brussels airport warned travellers to prepare to spend the night in Brussels, saying no flights would be allowed to land until 4pm (1500 GMT).
“It is extremely difficult to handle flights,” said Jan Van der Cruysse. “We had 25 centimetres of snow overnight and there are huge surfaces to be cleaned. There is nothing we can do about it.”
BAA chief Colin Matthews faced calls to relinquish his bonus amid continued chaos and delays
Heathrow's chief executive relinquished his bonus today amid claims bosses 'failed' to buy enough de-icer, ruining Christmas getaway plans for more than a million people.
The world's busiest airport has drawn widespread criticism after holidaymakers were left to sleep on cold terminal floors during the festive period as thousands of flights were cancelled or delayed.
Furious airlines have now hit out at Heathrow's owners BAA, insisting the company did not stock up on enough de-icing fluid to keep its two runways open.
Boss Colin Matthews later bowed to calls to relinquish his six-figure bonus.
Snow is cleared from the southern runway. The airport has turned down an offer of help from the Army
Snow ploughs clear the southern runway at Heathrow, as travel chaos continues at the London airport
Passengers sleep on the hard floor of Terminal 3 as flights are cancelled or delayed by bad weather
A British Airways aircraft lands as another taxis for take off at Heathrow Airport in west London December 21, 2010. Airline and international train services were limping back towards normal in parts of Europe today.
Airline and international train services were limping back towards normal in parts of Europe today, but the lingering effects of ice and snow that caused widespread chaos still weighed on schedules.
The disruptions to airlines and high-speed trains in continental Europe, and linking Britain to the continent, created travel chaos for tens of thousands of travellers in the busy Christmas period following heavy weekend snowfalls.
They also brought calls for legislation to force airports to deal more effectively with snow and other bad weather.
An Aegean Airlines Airbus A321 passenger jet comes in to land as a Cathay Pacific Boeing 747 taxis at Heathrow airport on December 20, 2010.
Britain said yesterday it was relaxing night flying restrictions at London’s Heathrow airport for the next four days to help it clear a backlog of flights hit by severe icy and snowy weather.
Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said operating hours at the airport would be extended until 1 a.m. and arrivals for repatriation flights would be allowed throughout the night.
The airport, operated by Spanish-owned BAA, told passengers not to turn up at its terminals one and three because of overcrowding yesterday.
“The immediate focus at Heathrow must be maximising the number of flights with the available infrastructure,” Hammond told parliament.
“In order to do this I have agreed with BAA this morning the relaxation of restrictions on night flights for the next four days,” Hammond added.
British Airways, the largest operator out of Heathrow, said the airport would only be using one of its two runways today — as yesterday — meaning the airport would be operating at significantly reduced capacity.
Airline passengers lie on the floor in Terminal 5 at Heathrow airport in west London yesterday, December 20, 2010
Angry Christmas travellers, stranded by snow and ice at London’s Heathrow, criticised airline and airport officials yesterday for failing to keep them informed and leaving them to sleep in terminal buildings.
Student Michael McGouldrich-Secilia, a 24-year-old from Pittsburgh, had been stuck at Heathrow since Saturday after snow forced the cancellation of his flight to Toronto in Canada.
“I was at terminal three for the last two nights. All I had was a mat and one of those silver insulator things (foil blankets),” he said.
“No one will give me any information,” he added, lying on a yellow plastic temporary bed covered by a blanket and clothes.
The airport was closed over the weekend after a snowstorm grounded flights. Only one of two runways was operating yesterday, adding to the frustration of travellers trying to get away for Christmas holidays.
The airport, operated by Spanish-owned BAA, told passengers not to turn up at terminals one and three because of overcrowding yesterday.
Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said he understood travellers’ frustration.
They say you should never sacrifice style for comfort, which may explain why Zara Phillips and her sister-in-law, Autumn Kelly, tottered into church with the rest of the Royal Family on Christmas Day.
The attractive pair successfully managed to negotiate the treacherously icy paths of Norfolk as they walked the quarter of a mile route from Sandringham House in fashionable six-inch stiletto heels.
The area has seen more than six inches of snow in recent days and the fields remained picturesquely white for Christmas Day. Princess Anne's daughter, a world champion three-day eventer who was without her long-term boyfriend, England rubgy player Mike Tindall (who, according to protocol, would not be invited along until they were married), needed a little help on the final furlong, however, and spontaneously linked arms with her cousin Prince William.
Others, including the Queen and the Duchess of Cornwall, were more sensibly shod in knee-high boots, with Camilla also sporting a real fur Philip Treacy Cossack-style hat and a blue wool Anna Valentine coat. The Countess of Wessex also stood out in a pair of black four-inch stilettos, although she opted to travel to church by car with the Queen, 83, while the rest of the family group, including the 88-year-old Duke of Edinburgh, made their way on foot.
The Duke of York's daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie also opted for black knee-length boots with low heels, although the younger of the sisters brightened up her outfit with a shocking pink trilby by milliner Philip Treacy.
Beatrice, 21, wore a Marc Jacobs coat and a hat she picked up from London department store Fenwicks.
Around 500 onlookers watched the royal party attend their traditional Christmas Day church service on the Queen's estate. Security was tighter than ever as they arrived with police searching all visitors. The searches took so long that around 300 people were told they were too late go in and the gates were closed.
Three-year-old Sophie Manton, from Downham Market, was in tears when she found she could not give her bunch of tulips to the Queen.
Her mother, Sarah Hawkes, 40, said: 'She is so disappointed. She very much wanted to see the Queen. She thought she might be wearing her crown.
'She has only seen the Queen on television before and wanted to get close to her.'
Other lucky children did line up to give the Queen flowers after the service and several of the royals exchanged Christmas greetings with onlookers as they walked back to Sandringham House.Prince William stopped to hug carer Debbie Barlett, 51, who lives near Sandringham and attends the Christmas Day service every year.
'He gave me a hug and a kiss and asked me where my snowman was,' she said.
'I've been coming here for the past 20 years. It's one chance you get to see the royals all together. It's lovely.'
Also among the party were Prince Charles, Prince Harry, Princess Anne and her husband, Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence, the Duke of York and the Earl and Countess of Wessex.
Royal girlfriends Kate Middleton and Chelsy Davy were not present, although there is much speculation that Prince William's long-term love may join the party for their traditional Boxing Day pheasant shoot. If she does, the moment is unlikely to be recorded, however, as the Queen's has threatened to take legal action against any photographers tempted to capture the occasion.
Earlier this year she sent out warnings to newspapers demanding they 'respect her family's privacy' by refraining from publishing photographs of them holidaying on the estate.
On Christmas Eve police threatened to arrest anyone taking pictures of Princes William and Harry playing in their annual football match against local villagers and a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman even refused to confirm the score of the game, claiming it was a 'private activity'.
Prince Harry is due to fly out to Mauritius tomorrow to join his on-off partner, Miss Davy. He will spend New Year on the tropical island with her family before returning to duty with the Army Air Corps at the beginning of January.
Debbie Barlett, 51, was delighted after Prince William stopped to give her a hug
Hands in pockets, Harry arrives at Sandringham with Zara and Autumn Phillips in their high heels
Queen Elizabeth receives flowers after attending a Christmas Day church service at St Mary Magdalene Church
In the pink: The Countess of Wessex and Princess Eugenie leave St Mary Magdalene Church
Popular: The Duchess of Cornwall speaks to wellwishers as she leaves the church. Scores of people missed seeing the royals because of legnthy security checks
The Princess Royal makes a face as she and the Earl of Wessex arrive at the church this morning
Autumn Phillips, Prince William, Prince Harry and Zara Phillips Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie arrive for the Christmas Day service
Prince William, arm-in-arm with his cousin Zara Phillips and Prince Harry
Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie smile as they arrive for the Christmas Day service at Sandringham Church
Princess Beatrice and Sophie Wessex arm-in-arm on the royal estate at Sandringham in Norfolk
Prince Charles and Zara Phillips share a joke
Festive: The Queen dressed all in red while Zara Phillips and Autumn Kelly added a touch of glamour to the day
Zara Phillips dared to step out in the snow towering six-inch stilletoes
Many holiday travelers are getting socked with a one-two punch, as a blizzard barreling across the Midwest Thursday follows a storm just days earlier that set snowfall records on the East Coast. Thursday's storm, expected to dump as much as 22 inches of snow, has already snarled air traffic and caused people to delay holiday road trips.
While the storm adds to holiday travel frustrations, it will mean a white Christmas for many. By Christmas Day, snow is expected to exceed one foot in parts of Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Dakotas.
That, however, not the present everyone wanted this year. In Minneapolis, at least 150 flights have been canceled, causing airline delays across the Midwest. Forecasters say the storm could hang around until Saturday, bringing high winds and blizzard conditions.
The National Weather Service says driving will be treacherous as winds could reach 40 miles per hour in some areas. The storm is expected to create blinding conditions on some roads.
"We're going to see blowing snow," Scott Blair, a National Weather Service meteorologist Kansas, told the Associated Press. "The big concern comes later when we see snowfall with the wind, causing reduced visibility."
The storm has been blamed in at least two deaths in Kansas, according to the Wichita Eagle. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that one motorist died in an accident caused by icy conditions in Minnesota.
South Dakota Gov. Michael Rounds says that if motorists haven't made it to their holiday destinations by now, they should probably stay put. The governor nixed his holiday plans this year, according to the AP, and will be celebrating in Pierre. He called the storm “a good old-fashioned South Dakota blizzard that we haven't seen in years."
A wide-reaching winter storm with heavy snow and strong winds blasted the central United States for a second day on Thursday, leading weather officials to issue blizzard warnings a day before Christmas.
The storm helped to support corn prices by further delaying the Midwest harvest, while providing protection to the dormant winter wheat crop in the U.S. Plains against any freeze.
Blizzard warnings have been issued in parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Minnesota, while Kansas, Iowa, and other centrally located states have been placed on winter storm warning lists by the National Weather Service.
"The big blizzard is lending support to corn (futures) -- but at the same time, it brings moisture into portions of the Plains, which in the long run is presumably positive for wheat production, and price negative," said Bill Nelson with Doane Advisory Services in St. Louis.
In the Dallas/Fort Worth area, 1 to 3 inches of snow was forecast on Thursday, said Tom Bradshaw, a meteorologist at the Southern Region Headquarters of the National Weather Service.
At midday, the area was seeing flurries and falling temperatures while heavy snow had already been dumped on parts of Oklahoma and parts of north Texas to the west of Dallas.
Texas Governor Rick Perry activated state vehicles, including some Texas military personnel, to assist residents affected by the winter storm.
The effected areas of Texas and Oklahoma could begin digging out on Friday or Saturday as the weekend is expected to be dry with fair skies, said Joel Burgio, a forecaster at DTN Meteorlogix.
Additionally winds will strengthen across northern and central portions of the Plains this evening into the overnight hours, AccuWeather.com said in a report.
Wichita, Kansas; Omaha, Nebraska; Kansas City, Missouri; Sioux Falls, South Dakota and St. Cloud, Minnesota, will see the worst of the storm on Thursday and into Friday as the areas are expected to get 1 to 2 feet of snow. Snow drifts and freezing rain will stall traffic in several areas of Kansas.
The extreme wintry weather will stress livestock, but the worst of the storm should miss the biggest feedlots, said Burgio, a forecaster at DTN Meteorlogix.
Temperatures will range between the teens and low 20s Fahrenheit (minus 13 to minus 5 Celsius) in the north and central areas of the U.S. Plains. While temperatures in the south and southwestern areas of the Plains will see highs in the mid-20s F, Burgio said.
In the Midwest, a mixture of snow and freezing is expected to continue until Saturday.
"The eastern Midwest will get the back end of the snowstorm," Burgio said. While the precipitation is expected to be mostly freezing rain, some areas will see snow on Saturday, he added.
The police officer's handgun is circle. He waved in front of chanting youngsters
The snowball fight on 14th Street in Washington DC was organised via Facebook
The detective pulls a man out from the crowd and accuses him of hitting his car with snowballs
This is the terrifying moment that an American police detective pulled out his handgun after he was targeted in a snowball fight.
Washington police are investigating the incident, when the off-duty officer drew his gun in the midst of the light-hearted battle.
About 200 people from a Washington D.C. neighbourhood had gathered to brave a snowstorm for a massive snowball fight.
'It was pretty fun,' one unidentified participant told reporters. 'But when the gun came out, it just changed the tone of the thing a little bit.'
The plainclothes officer became angry when his car - a maroon Hummer - was hit by snowballs.
He got out of the SUV and yelled at the crowd, before pulling out his gun and showing it to the crowd.
Eyewitness Matthew Bradley told Washington City Paper: 'We showed up to see a snowball fight already in progress. Two factions along 14th Street along the intersection.
'It was pretty friendly, mostly OK. At one point, there was one interaction with the police that I saw. A cop got stuck in the snow. People stopped and helped him out.
'A couple moments later, at the intersection, there was this big maroon Hummer. A small faction of people decided to target it with snowballs. They're throwing snowballs at the Hummer.
It turns out the driver of the Hummer is a detective. He gets out. He's waving a walkie talkie. It's not going well. Then he starts waving a gun.
'He hadn't identified himself at this point. There was a point where things cooled off a bit, more police showed up, and he identified himself at that point. The name was Detective Baylor.
'There was a point where it got really tense. The experience for many people was snowball fight kind of fun...and then there's a guy with a gun.'
Uniformed police arrived on the scene to investigate reports of a man waving a handgun. The detective only calmed down once his fellow police officers arrived. Later in the incident, the detective went into the crowd and grabbed a man who he thought threw a snowball at him.
Assistant Chief Pete Newsham said: 'We have to see what the entire circumstance was. But just a snowball fight, not in my mind, that doesn't seem a situation where we would pull out a service weapon.'
The officer, who has not been named, has been placed on desk duty pending the results of the investigation.
* AA reports busiest night in 25 years - 700 breakdowns coming in every hour today * 2,000 motorists were trapped by the snow on the Basingstoke ring road * More than 100 people spend the night in Buckinghamshire department store * Eurostar resumes limited service - four days after its trains were crippled by cold * Delays and cancellations at major airports including Heathrow and Manchester * Overnight temperatures drop to -14C in the Scottish Highlands and -9C in Cheshire
Too little too late? Lorries spread grit on the snowbound A41 slip road at Tring, Hertfordshire
Stranded: Vehicles abandoned by the side of a road following overnight snowfall in Basingstoke
Parked up: There were delays and cancellations at Luton Airport following heavy snow overnight
Uncomfortable: A passenger sleeps on the floor after her flight is cancelled at Luton Airport
Snow slumber: Passengers at Luton Airport sleep in a hammock
Frosty reception: A policeman stands outside the door of Number 10
Stranded: Thousands of people were trapped in their cars in Hampshire last night, with many forced to spend the night there after roads became impassable
Abandoned: Commuters in Basingstoke return to their cars this morning after being forced to abandon them on main roads last night after snow and ice caused havoc
This way to France: Stranded travellers are directed to the first train out of King's Cross St Pancras International station this morning after a limited service resumed
AA reports busiest night in 25 years - 700 breakdowns coming in every hour today
2,000 motorists were trapped by the snow on the Basingstoke ring road
More than 100 people spend the night in Buckinghamshire department store
Eurostar resumes limited service - four days after its trains were crippled by cold
Delays and cancellations at major airports including Heathrow and Manchester
Overnight temperatures drop to -14C in the Scottish Highlands and -9C in Cheshire
Thousands of drivers were trapped in their cars overnight and many more vehicles were abandoned as the big freeze once again brought Britain's transport system to a halt.
Chaos gripped the country after some of the heaviest snowfalls in a decade, with anger growing at the lack of gritting on the roads.
The AA, which experienced its busiest night for 25 years, said local authorities should have acted 'sooner' and 'more thoroughly' to make roads safe. With motorists being forced to pull over as 'snowflakes the size of leaves' fell on motorways, scores of flights were also grounded and trains cancelled.
The AA's president, Edmund King, caught in Arctic driving conditions in Basingstoke, Hampshire himself, said some key roads 'had not been gritted at all' which made many impassable.
Mr King said that salting had not been planned properly for the big freeze.
'We are pleading with local highway authorities, who have claimed that they have no salt shortages, to use their supplies more effectively and in a timelier manner,' he said.
Transport Minister Sadiq Khan said he would be 'asking questions' about the difficulties in Basingstoke and Reading, Berkshire, where up to 2,000 motorists were trapped last night and many cars were abandoned.
Mr Khan said local authorities had enough grit and the issue was why the grit had not been applied.
But the Local Government Association (LGA) today rejected what it called 'unfounded accusations' that councils had been ill-prepared for the onset of severe weather and that they had been withholding salt from where it was needed.
Councillor David Sparks, chairman of the LGA's transport and regeneration board, said: 'Councillors and council workers are drivers too and understand how frustrating and distressing some drivers are finding this week's severe weather.
'Councils know how important it is to keep Britain moving, even in the worst conditions. In some areas yesterday they were hampered by the perfect winter storm that saw heavy snow fall as people were heading home, delaying gritters in traffic.' Even those who chose to walk to work this morning faced treacherous conditions on footpaths - and the prospect of an even tougher journey home tonight. Forecasters said the problems could worsen this evening.
Tim Thorne, a Met Office forecaster, said: 'Temperatures are going to remain very low and drop to minus three overnight, so roads and pavements will become very dangerous.
'During the day, temperatures are also going to remain very cold, so ice and snow will remain in a lot of places.'
The AA said it received the highest number of rescue call-outs in 25 years overnight but was unable to gain access to major routes such as the M25 and M4 in the South East for hours due to slip-roads being blocked by abandoned vehicles.
It attended more than 22,000 call-outs as the snow and icy conditions caused a 60 per cent increase in accidents.
AA spokesman Gavin Hill-Smith said: 'It was carnage on the roads, with abandoned cars strewn everywhere. None of our patrols could get on to the M25 or M4 last night.'
Paul Watters, also of the AA, added: 'Thousands of drivers have been forced to spend the night trapped in their cars. We are beginning to become concerned at the level of resources being thrown at these snow and ice problems.' Today the AA said it was receiving around 700 breakdown calls every hour.
Essex Police dealt with almost one weather-related call a minute at one stage last night, with more than 50 crashes.
David Yeo, a photographer from East London, spent more than seven hours travelling from Bristol to London on the M4.
He said: 'The motorway was complete chaos. Snowflakes the size of leaves were coming down. People were having to get out of their cars to remove snow that was building up.'
The lowest overnight temperature recorded was minus 14C (7F) at Tulloch Bridge in the Highlands of Scotland. In England, there was an overnight low of minus 9C (16F) in Woodford, near Stockport in Cheshire.
As Britain woke to a fresh blanket of snow this morning, airports and rail operators announced further cancellations and delays.
Budget airline easyJet said the hangover from yesterday's bad weather had led to scores of flights being cancelled from Stansted, Glasgow and Edinburgh airports this morning. All its routes from Luton and Glasgow have been axed today.
British Airways was 'strongly' advising passengers to check their flight status before setting off today.
At Heathrow alone, there were 51 cancellations - 24 incoming and 27 outward flights. These were mainly short-haul flights, including some operated by British Airways.
BA said it was cancelling a number of flights out of Glasgow airport this morning.
Staff at Gatwick were working to clear a backlog this morning after reopening the runway last night, while Luton airport reopened at lunchtime, but passengers warned they face long delays and some cancellations.
Southampton airport, which is also expecting demand from passengers unable to secure a place on Eurostar, is open this morning. However, travellers are advised to check with their airlines and allow extra time to travel to the airport.
EasyJet said it was axeing all of its flights from Luton and Glasgow airports this morning, while Hungarian low-cost operator Wizz Air cancelled seven incoming flights and seven departing services Luton.
Manchester airport - where passengers had to endure long waits just to reach the check-in desk - gave out food, water and blankets overnight to people stranded by delays.
'Staff are working incredibly hard to clear the ice and snow from our 750 hectare site,' a spokesman said, warning of further havoc.
The airport was open this morning, but with delays and cancellations.
Birmingham airport remains open this morning and 'fully operational'.
More than 100 customers, staff and children spent the night at a department store in Buckinghamshire last night after they were stranded by the snow.
The 54 staff, 30 adult customers and 20 children were provided with food and a bed at John Lewis in High Wycombe after heavy snow gridlocked local roads.
This morning the Royal Berkshire Hospital cancelled all operations and appointments and said it would only be treating emergencies. Friends and relatives of in-patients were asked to delay their visits until the treacherous weather conditions improve, while South Central Ambulance Service appealed for people not to dial 999 for non-emergencies.
Both Severn bridges between England and Wales have been closed today amid fears that huge sheets of falling ice from overhead gantries could smash through the windscreens of passing cars.
Gwent Police closed the Second Severn Crossing at around 10.30am, and the M48 Severn Bridge a few hours later.
In the North West, heavy snow forced a cathedral to cancel its Nine Lessons and Carols service for the first time in its history. A spokesman said Manchester Cathedral would close its doors at 2pm today, but he hoped Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve would be unaffected.
On the trains, Eurostar resumed a restricted service this morning for the first time since extremes of weather led to the breakdown of trains on Friday night.
A full train left London's St Pancras station at 7:41 a.m, while the 8:09 a.m. service left Paris Gare du Nord station with about 1,000 passengers still queuing for later trains.
Eurostar said it hoped to run two out of three services after satisfactory tests on modified trains.
But it warned that the service, which carries about 40,000 people a day between Britain and continental Europe, is not expected to return to normal until December 28.
Eurotunnel said its cross-channel car shuttle service was running a standard service, but with very heavy traffic levels expected throughout the day.
There were delays of up to an hour today for passengers travelling into Marylebone station in London from the South Midlands and from areas to the north west of London.
A broken-down train at Old Hill in the West Midlands led to delays of around 50 minutes for customers of the Chiltern and London Midland train companies.
The Southern train company ran services under a revised timetable today, with reduced frequencies.
The bad weather also led to delays of around 50 minutes this morning in rail services in the Lancaster area, while the Southeastern train company ran a Saturday service.
Buses replaced trains between Sittingbourne and Sheerness-on-Sea in Kent while there were no services between Inverness and Kyle of Lochalsh in Scotland.
Telescope viewers are covered in snow overlooking Lighthouse Beach Sunday in Chatham, Mass. Sunday, Dec. 20, 2009, during the first major snowstorm of the season.
(left)Rhonda Fauria, of North Attleboro, Mass., right, shops with her children Kiki, 3, left, and Caleb, 8, at a Target store in North Attleboro Sunday, Dec. 20, 2009. A snowstorm blanketed much of New England in the final shopping weekend before Christmas.Raymond Brockmann, of North Attleboro, Mass., shops at a Toys "R" Us store in North Attleboro, Sunday, Dec. 20, 2009. The storm that stretched along the East Coast affected about one-third of Toys R' US stores, but sales weren't as bad as expected.
Snow crews continue to clear the tarmac of snow at Reagan National Airport in Washington, on Saturday, Dec. 19, 2009, after the airport was closed due to a large snow storm that hit the region on Saturday
The White House is seen the day after a snowstorm blanketed the region in Washington, Sunday, Dec. 20, 2009.(left).Juanita Streat, left, and her daughters, Tayluer Streat, 12, center, and Jazmine Brownlee, 16, sled down the snow covered steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the aftermath of a snow storm in Philadelphia, Sunday, Dec. 20, 2009.
On his third day at snowbound Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Gordon Frazer was running out of time and options.
Sunday's flight home to Atlanta was canceled, just as it had been Friday and Saturday. The short, two-hour trip on any normal day had been transformed into a 72-hour, frozen nightmare.
"Now, they are saying there are no more flights 'til Wednesday," said Frazer, 43, a cellphone jammed to his left ear. "I'm thinkin' rental car."
On the day after a historic blizzard paralyzed the eastern seaboard, the Christmas card-perfect snowfall was creating a grim holiday scenario: It could take days, perhaps longer, before the nation's crippled air transportation system fully recovers and thousands of holiday travelers — including Frazer — reach their destinations.
"Full recovery may take well into Tuesday," said Air Transport Association spokesman David Castelveter. "We haven't seen anything like this since 1996. The sad news here is that's happening on the weekend before Christmas, when so many people are traveling."
The storm resulted in thousands of canceled flights across all airlines. And with so many seats booked for the holidays, airlines warned Sunday they may have few open seats to dole out to customers who couldn't make their original flights.
"It's really market by market," said George Hobica, founder of the website airfarewatchdog.com. "Some routes are going to be absolutely sold out, but others won't be a problem."
Even other transportation alternatives could be out of reach for some stranded travelers: About 15% of Amtrak trains in the Northeast corridor either were canceled or delayed over the weekend, Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole said. Delays will continue today.
"We'll be running, but there may be some ripple effects," Cole said.
The bad news was extending far beyond the terminals filled with stranded passengers.
The record snowfall also hammered the nation's retailers on the last big shopping weekend before Christmas.
Instead of traffic-choked shopping centers, many mall parking lots from Richmond to Boston were quiet and vacant, except for heavy blankets of snow.
Even Hollywood was expecting a case of long-distance frostbite, as East Coast moviegoers were stranded at home. Box office numbers for the science-fiction epic Avatar were down 18% below projections in New York, 57% in Philadelphia, 75% in Washington and 86% in Baltimore, according to 20th Century Fox studio research.
"The East Coast virtually shut down," studio spokesman Chris Aronson said.
Shopping rush to come?
The snowstorm hit on the busiest shopping day before Christmas, threatening holiday sales that already have been depressed by a weak economy and creating the possibility of delayed package deliveries.
While regional sales may have been hurt, the overall impact on holiday sales likely will be negligible, said Paul Walsh, a meteorologist who tracks the impact of weather on retail sales for Atmospheric & Environmental Research in Lexington, Mass.
Weather this holiday shopping season has been much less severe than it was a year ago, Walsh said.
Taubman Centers, which owns and operates 24 shopping centers around the country, closed four of its malls early on Saturday in Virginia and New Jersey because of the weather. But traffic was brisk at Taubman shopping centers in other parts of the country, spokeswoman Karen MacDonald said. Stores in Taubman's mall in Denver reported that Saturday was their busiest day this year, MacDonald said.
Forecasts of the impending storm led many consumers in the Mid-Atlantic region to get their shopping done Friday night, analysts said.
"I was in stores Friday night in New York City, and there were significant crowds," said John Long, retail strategist for Kurt Salmon Associates. "That's different than what I have been seeing in New York to date. It may have happened because of the storm."
Now that the blizzard has passed, Long expects the crowds to continue through Christmas Eve. "Consumers are going to plan to hit the stores hard," he said. "So it's going to make what's effectively a concentrated shopping period a real Christmas rush. We would expect big crowds."
The big winners were online retailers who saw a 24% spike in sales on Friday and Saturday over the same two days last year, according to John Squire, chief strategy officer for Coremetrics. Coremetrics doesn't break down sales by region, but purchases by East Coast shoppers who couldn't get to malls may have contributed to the increase, Squire said.
The success of package deliveries will depend on how quickly state and local highway departments clear snow-covered roads, officials with express delivery companies said.
"Delays, if any, will only be local," UPS spokesman Michael French said. "If the roads are clear, there won't be any delays."
Airport closings over the weekend meant that some FedEx planes couldn't land, but the company intends to fly additional planes and put extra trucks on the road when possible, spokeswoman Sally Davenport said.
"The fortunate thing is our major hubs are in Memphis and Indianapolis, and those have not been affected" by the weather, she says.
Thursday was FedEx's ground-shipping deadline for delivery by Christmas, Davenport says. For customers who shipped a package by the deadline, "we will be doing everything we can to get it there by Christmas," she says.
Procrastinators still have time to ship items by express, "assuming Mother Nature plays nice the next couple of days," Davenport says. "We have all resources on deck and ready to go."
Cancellations and delays
Buried under more than a foot of snow, airports along the East Coast began rumbling back to life early Sunday.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Les Dorr said Washington Dulles International and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport were each operating two runways Sunday. Reagan National also was expected to open a second runway late Sunday.
Cancellations and delays were piling up throughout the region.
• At Reagan National, 40 cancellations were posted on the main terminal's electronic scheduling board Sunday afternoon.
• On Saturday and Sunday, 1,200 flights were canceled in New York, according to The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the region's major airports.
• Snow was still falling Sunday in Boston. And Dorr says it is possible that flights to Logan International Airport could be delayed or "stopped," depending on weather conditions.
• Philadelphia, Dorr says, may have been the hardest hit by a wave of cancellations, although the number of cancellations was not immediately available.
The delays can be blamed largely on the unusual amount of snow brought on by the storm. Monthly snow records were broken in Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia, and there were reports of 20 inches of snow or more from Robbinsville, N.C., to Bourne, Mass.
"This is definitely a historic storm for the Mid-Atlantic area," said Bruce Sullivan, senior forecaster for the National Weather Service in Camp Springs, Md.
The 23.2 inches that fell in Philadelphia was the second-highest snowfall on record, after the 30.7 inches in the blizzard of 1996.
The 21.1 inches that blanketed Baltimore beat the old December record, which was 11.5 inches set in 1932.
And the 15 inches at Reagan National Airport set a record for any single day in December. The old record was 11.5 inches in 1932 .
Castelveter said the commercial system faced a two-pronged challenge. He said airlines were racing to get airplanes back in the hardest hit areas, while thousands of travelers attempted to find new accommodations on future flights that already are heavily booked.
"The worst of the weather is over," he said. "We're looking at recovery now."
Homeward bound?
Air Force Airman Robert Goldsberry, currently serving at Andrews Air Force Base, was counting on a quick recovery.
Dressed in military camouflage, the 20-year-old may have been the most properly attired for a drafty night spent inside Reagan National's terminal.
With his Saturday afternoon flight canceled, a bleary-eyed Goldsberry was hoping to catch a late Sunday afternoon flight to Boise for a Christmas with family.
"It wasn't too bad," he said of his stranded Saturday night. If all goes well, he could be home by early today. "It's just good to be going home."
Amir Shaker was looking forward to a return to normalcy for much different reasons.
The manager of Reagan National's TGI Friday's has been working almost non-stop since Friday.
Shaker spent the night at the restaurant Saturday to keep up with dozens of hungry, stranded travelers.
PennDOT's Tom Collins prepares a truck for snow removal in preparation for a expected winter storm, in Philadelphia, Friday, Dec. 18, 2009.
A woman uses an umbrella to shield herself from strong winds in midtown Atlanta on Friday, December 18, 2009. Forecasters warned of heavy rain and strong winds as a storm system heads north to the mid-Atlantic.
Northeastern United States from North Carolina to Connecticut was under a winter storm warning Friday, as a major storm system threatens to dump up to 20 inches (half a meter) of snow in the region, weather forecasters said.
The storm "track gives a stripe of heavy snowfall from western North Carolina to New York City, impacting major cities including Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia with potentially a foot or more of snow," the National Weather Service said.
"Winter storm warning remains in effect from midnight Friday (0500 GMT, Saturday) to 6:00 am Sunday (1100 GMT)... heavy snow with accumulations of 10 to 20 inches (25-50 centimeters) through Saturday night," it added.
The storm system originated over the Gulf of Mexico putting much of southeastern US under a flood advisory. The rain is turning to snow as the storm tracks northeastward into sub-freezing temperatures.
In Washington and New York City, municipal authorities are under a state of alert and have requested additional snow-removing equipment and salt to cope with the weekend snowstorm.
There are no delays at present at major airports in the northeast, but the situation is likely to change late Friday, when the first snowflakes are expected to hit the Washington area, and on Saturday when the storm reaches New York, forecasters said.
United Airlines announced the preventive cancellation of several flights from airports along the eastern seaboard on Saturday, and most airports in the northeast are advising passengers to check their flight times well ahead of schedule.
Major landing delays are expected at most airports over the weekend.
And traffic snarls are predicted on major thoroughfares as the snowstorm coincides with the last shopping weekend before the Christmas holiday.
