The giant snowstorm pummeling the East Coast caused three deaths in New York City Saturday --17 nationwide-- and forced the state's governor to issue a road travel ban and to halt suburban trains and some city subway lines.
Three people in New York City died while shoveling snow in different parts of town, NYPD Chief of Department James O'Neill said Saturday afternoon.
He released no further details on the deaths. A police spokesman said the medical examiner's office will determine exactly how they died.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo enacted a travel ban that took effect at 2:30 p.m. Saturday for New York City and Long Island highways and roads. He said at 4 p.m. Saturday Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road would stop running, as well as city subways that run on elevated tracks.
Forecasters were predicting that the storm could be one of the worst in New York City history.
The travel ban and mass transit shutdown prompted Broadway to cancel all Saturday shows, both matinees and evening performances.
At an evening news conference, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the snow was accumulating at between one and three inches per hour, calling the storm "intense." Just under 20 inches had fallen in Central Park , de Blasio said.
"It's packing a lot of punch," de Blasio said of the storm.
“This is a very big deal,” the mayor said.
The storm had tens of millions of residents from northern Georgia to New York hunkered down to wait out a mammoth storm that made travel treacherous and could dump 2 feet or more of snow in some areas.
More than 500 cars, trucks and buses that got stuck on the Pennsylvania Turnpike Friday night were still stuck Saturday. Those stuck included buses carrying the Duquesne men's basketball team and the gymnastics squad from Temple University. A group of 96 parishioners from an Indiana church — mostly teens — were also among the stranded.
Gov. Tom Wolf's office said the problems in the western part of the state began after tractor-trailers were unable to climb a hill. As traffic backed up, more trucks also became unable to go up the hill, backing up all vehicles and preventing emergency crews from getting heavy-duty tow trucks to the scene and road crews from being able to clear the snow, officials said.
Wolf said each vehicle had been checked at least once, and workers had been delivering food as well as fuel to make sure engines keep running so the heat can stay on. Saturday afternoon, Duquesne coach Jim Ferry told ESPN the team's bus still had not moved.
The National Guard was called out to provide food and water, as well as chains and shovels while emergency workers on all-terrain vehicles checked on stranded motorists. Officials closed a 90-mile stretch of the roadway to allow maintenance workers to focus on those who were stuck.
"We haven't moved one inch," said Duquesne coach Jim Ferry told The Associated Press on Saturday morning.
Snow started falling Friday, but the worst was still yet to come, with strong winds and heavy snow expected to produce "life-threatening blizzard conditions" throughout the day Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasters also predicted up to a half-inch of ice accumulation in the Carolinas, and potentially serious coastal flooding in the mid-Atlantic.
The giant snowstorm already forced the cancelation of about 8,000 flights , knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and led to the deaths of at least nine people.
Gov. Chris Christie declared a state of emergency Friday night in New Jersey as the blizzard threatened to dump up to 2 feet of snow in his state. He had been on the campaign trail in New Hampshire.
"We're asking you to stay off roads. Please stay off roads," Christie said as he briefed reporters on the storm Saturday afternoon.
In the New Jersey shore community of Ocean City, local emergency officials reported that several people had to be rescued Saturday from homes filling with water, according to CBS Philadelphia.
In Kentucky, motorists were stranded along Interstate 75 south of Lexington early Saturday, and state police said on Twitter that its crews, emergency workers and the National Guard were making their way to cars with water, fuel, and snacks, and attempting to move cars one at a time. Police said no further traffic was being allowed on the road and cars were being diverted, but did not give more specifics or immediately answer phone calls and emails seeking comment.
It was unclear how many vehicles were stranded, but photos from local media outlets showed a long line of trucks and other vehicles lined up along the snowy road
According to the National Weather Service's website early Saturday, 18 inches of snow already had fallen on Ulysses in eastern Kentucky, while 16 inches fell in Beattyville. Between 14 inches to 15.5 inches had fallen in at other locations across Kentucky, including Frenchburg, Mount Vernon, Eglon and Lancer.
The Weather service said 7 inches of snow had fallen in Washington, D.C. while snowfall amounts in nearby Maryland ranged between 4.5 inches in Baltimore and 13.5 inches in Oakland. In Virginia, Reagan National Airport reported 6.8 inches of snow and Elma had 15 inches.
Other states that recorded snowfall amounts greater than 6 inches included Delaware, Georgia, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia. Various locations in Georgia and Alabama received between 1 and 3.5 inches of snow.
Even before the snow began to fall Friday afternoon, states of emergency were declared, lawmakers went home, and schools, government offices and transit systems closed early from as far south as Georgia to as far north as New York City.
The ice and snow made travel treacherous, with thousands of accidents and at least nine deaths reported along the region's roadways. By late Friday, Virginia State Police had reported 989 car crashes statewide since the storm began, and had assisted nearly 800 disabled vehicles, said Ken Schrad, spokesman for the Virginia State Police Joint Information Center.
In Kentucky, Mike Edmonds was stuck at a truck stop Friday as snow piled up around him, not daring to venture his big rig out of the slick parking lot and onto an interstate strewn with wrecked vehicles.
"We've got trucks here that literally cannot get out," Edmonds said by phone. "We're spinning. It's not worth even getting out on the road."
In Washington, the federal government closed its offices at noon, and all mass transit was shutting down through Sunday. President Barack Obama, hunkering down at the White House, was one of many who stayed home.
"Find a safe place and stay there," Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser implored residents and visitors alike.
By Friday night, parts of Kentucky, the Virginias and North Carolina had already received well over a foot of snow, while more than a half a foot had fallen in some areas of Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Tennessee.
The snowstorm was greeted happily at Virginia's ski resorts.
"We're thrilled," said Hank Thiess, general manager at Wintergreen ski resort in central Virginia. "Going forward, we're set up to have just a terrific second half of the ski season."
He said he's expecting 40 inches of dry, powdery snow, perfect for skiing.
"We're going to have a packed snow surface that will just be outstanding," he said.
He released no further details on the deaths. A police spokesman said the medical examiner's office will determine exactly how they died.
