National briefs

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 4, 2001

Northeast readies for huge storm

A major winter storm with heavy snow and howling winds -- one that could last two days and rival the Blizzard of 1996 -- was expected to invade the Northeast this afternoon, disrupting travel, education, commerce and millions of lives before tapering off Tuesday.

Forecasters tracking the developing storm said that, depending on its track and other factors, it had the potential to rival this winter's biggest blast, which dropped one to two feet of snow on the region on Dec. 30, or even the blizzard of Jan. 7-8, 1996, which left accumulations of 20 to 30 inches.

"Basically, we're measuring this in feet, not inches," said Bob Stalker, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service at Brookhaven, N.Y.

Winter storm watches were in effect from Virginia through the New England states, the National Weather Service said.

While the start of the slow-moving storm was expected to find most residents snug at home today, its anticipated duration into Monday and Tuesday could bring on major disruptions, closing airports and highways, knocking out power lines and shutting down schools, businesses and government offices.

Airlines anticipated widespread cancellations and delays, with disruptions affecting travel throughout the nation.

Forecasters said the snow could fall at a rate of an inch an hour at times, creating whiteout conditions at airports and on highways, and predicted sustained winds of 40 to 50 miles an hour, widespread snow drifting and heavy flooding along coastal areas of New Jersey, Long Island and Connecticut.

The storm was expected to close Kennedy, La Guardia and Newark airports, and shut down almost all airports in the Northeast, including those in Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston and other cities. Driving was expected to be extremely hazardous on all roads in the Northeast, and travelers were advised against unnecessary journeys.

The storm was still in its infancy on Saturday -- an enormous smudge on the computer screens that had originated in Mexico, moved across the South and was dropping torrential rains across Texas, Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region. That storm was expected to reach the North Carolina-Virginia coast on Sunday and, influenced by a dome of cold air from Canada, turn into a blizzard.

In the most likely situation, Miner said, the snow in the 200-mile swath would begin falling in West Virginia and Virginia today and move north into Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, spreading finally into Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

The storm, he said, was expected to linger on Monday over much of the tristate region.

New Jersey authorities were also concerned about high wind causing flooding along the coast, and started calling for voluntary evacuation of low-lying areas, warning that barrier islands could be cut off from the mainland.

Hardware store owner Art D'Armiento in North Brunswick, N.J., said he ran out of snow shovels Saturday morning and picked up another shipment around noon, but 15 minutes later he was sold out again.

"People were fighting over them," he said.

Bill Hofmann, a veteran of 43 years in the grocery business who manages a Price Chopper supermarket in Glenville, N.Y., said, "All you have to do is mention the word snow and everybody has to do their shopping. It's like they're never going to get out again."

Lightning strike ignites house fire, killing five

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- A house fire apparently sparked by a lightning strike early Saturday killed two adults and three children, a fire inspector said.

Chief Fire Inspector William Davis said the 6 a.m. blaze broke out as a thunderstorm moved through the city.

All the victims were found in the bedrooms of the two-story wood-frame house and were apparently asleep when the fire spread. Names of the dead were not immediately released.

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