WASHINGTON: A band of frigid weather was making its way up the US East Coast Sunday, promising blizzards and a foot (30 cm) of snow to New York City and the New England states, while several states to the South made emergency declarations as the storm caused crashes on slick roads. Airlines grounded hundreds of flights Sunday along the Northeast corridor in anticipation of the storm. New York City-area airports alone canceled close to 1,000 flights. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said that number was expected to rise. Snow had started to fall in the area by late morning. In Washington, D.C., transportation officials pretreated roads and readied 200 salt trucks, plows and other pieces of equipment to fight the 6 inches or more expected to fall in the Mid-Atlantic region. The Northeast is expected to get the brunt of the storm. Forecasters issued a blizzard warning for New York City, with a forecast of 11 to 16 inches of snow and strong winds that will reduce visibility to near zero at times. A blizzard warning was also in effect for Rhode Island and most of eastern Massachusetts including Boston, with forecasters predicting 15 to 20 inches of snow. A blizzard warning is issued when snow is accompanied by sustained winds or gusts over 35 mph (56 kph). United Airlines canceled dozens of departures from Newark, Philadelphia, New York's LaGuardia and JFK, Boston and other airports. AirTran and Southwest Airlines also canceled flights, mostly in or out of Washington Dulles, Baltimore and Newark. In London, Heathrow Airport was open Sunday, but warned on its website of flight cancellations and delays due to bad weather. Fifteen British Airways flights out of Heathrow to the US were canceled, including ones to New York's JFK Airport, Newark, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Dulles airport. In Paris, five flights leaving for JFK from Charles de Gaulle airport were canceled, along with three flights to Newark and one bound for Philadelphia.
