Record snow again buries U.S. Northeast

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – A thick blanket of snow  covered U.S. Northeast today, as the fifth major storm of  the winter set snowfall records, delayed the opening of  financial markets and clogged Washington highways with  abandoned cars.
Snow fell from Virginia to Maine on Wednesday night and  into today morning, putting additional strain on cities and  states already faced with overwhelming budget deficits. Almost  630,000 homes and businesses in the region lost power, but  utilities said they hoped to restore electricity to most in the  next two days.
The latest storm in an unusually snowy winter even trapped  President Barack Obama who was among thousands of motorists on  snow-blocked roadways at the height of the storm yesterday.  Washington drivers reported 45-minute commutes turned into  10-hour nightmares when major thoroughfares became gridlocked  with hundreds of abandoned cars.
“It looked like a bumper-car graveyard out there. There  were so many abandoned cars, at so many different angles and so  many different places on the road,” a listener told  Washington’s WTOP radio.
New York has now recorded its snowiest January on record  after 19 inches (48 cm) fell on the city overnight, twice the  amount forecast and just short of the 20 inches (51 cm) that  paralyzed the city on Dec. 26-27 and created a political crisis  for Mayor Michael Bloomberg because of a botched cleanup.
New York City has exhausted its snow budget of $38 million,  forcing the city draw money from its general fund, a spokesman  said. Smaller cities stand to feel the pinch even more.
U.S. government offices opened two hours later than normal  in Washington, where the U.S. Commerce Department altered its  release of durable goods data, canceling the “lockup” in which  it gives reporters the data for 30 minutes under embargo and  instead posting the information on its website live.