News World news
One of the worst storms in decades blanketed much of the eastern United States with more than a foot of snow Saturday.
Flights have been grounded and traffic was brought to a standstill for millions on the final weekend of the busy holiday shopping season.
In the bullseye of the deadly weather, Washington -- a city more used to political storms than deep snow drifts -- set a December snowfall record of more than 13 inches (33 centimeters), shattering a 77-year-old record.
And with as much as another half foot (15 cm) forecast to fall on Washington by dawn Sunday, the enormous snowstorm stretching some 500 miles (800 kilometers) across a dozen states is set to become one of the biggest to sock the capital since record-keeping began in 1885.
President Barack Obama, attending a heated UN summit in Copenhagen where world leaders struggled over a plan to battle global warming, raced home to avoid the worst of the storm that hammered the East Coast with more than two feet (61 cm) of snow in some places -- two days before winter's official arrival.
After snowplows cleared the runway at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington for the presidential jet, Obama stepped off Air Force One and into a heavy snowfall before dawn Saturday. In a rare move he was whisked to the White House by motorcade rather than his Marine 1 helicopter due to the treacherous weather.
By Saturday afternoon, the capital region's three main airports -- Reagan National, Dulles, and BWI -- cancelled all incoming and outgoing flights, stranding thousands of passengers.
It was bleak news for millions hoping to hit the roads and skies ahead of Christmas on one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.
The storm turned much of the East Coast, home to tens of millions of Americans, into a winter wonderland, but the conditions were as perilous as they were scenic, authorities warned.
