The Washington herald., 1921-02-21
Streets and Roofs of City
Covered With Three
Inches of Snow.
BIG DRIFTS BLOCK
VIRGINIA VALLEYS
Cold Day Forecast; Fruit
Buds Blighted by
Sudden Winter.

washington TOOK the hardeSt
wallop of the year from the Storm
King yesterday. Though it stood
up well under the punishment it
was forced to follow the methods
of the North country and "mush"-
without the aid of snow shoes.
Three inches of snow pudding
snow. hail. sleet. and an abundance
Of ordinary rain water-was the re-
corded fall at the Weather Bureau.
Cold Due Today.
The mercury will remain below
freezing point today despite the
prediction of sunshine. Weather
men look for a rise in temperature
tomorrow, fastening the disappear
ance of the snow. Complete disap-
pearance is not looked for before
the middle of the week. No mild
weather. such as was experienced
last week. is in prospect.
The country was last night visited
by two major storms. one moving
eastward from the Pacific and the
other scurrying up the Atlantic
Coast States. The Jersey coast was
getting its full share of disagree
able weather. on Nantucket and
along the New England coast a s.
mile gale was blowing.
Snow In Virginia.
In the Shenandoah and Cumber-
land valleys the snowfall was re-
ported to be from IL to 15 inches.
On many of the railroad lines en-
gines were deadheaded to keep rails
clear and traffic moving.
Three months of open and mod
erately warm weather have caused
many fruit orchards in these dis
tricts to bud prematurely. and the
falling temperature last night
threatened severe damage to early
fruit and newlymade gardens.
Telephone l.Des escaped serious
damage in Washington, with the
exception of individual subscribers
breakdowns, due to causes of ice
weighted lines in the suburbs.
Phone Lines Down.
In the lower sections of Anne
Arundel County in Maryland, how
ever, lines were almost completely
paralyzed. Trunk lines between
Washington and Baltimore were re-
ported partially disabled. but serv-
ice was maintained throughout the
storm.
Traffic over the Maryland Electric
Railways (short line) was seri-
ously hampered. Only a few trains
were operated out of Annapolis or
Baltimore yesterday. the first train
arriving in Annapolis being six
hours overdue.
Freezing temperatures were ex-
perienced yesterday in Florida.
Some of the winter resorts, though
under the caress of the gulf stream,
shivered beneath a blanket of frost.
the first in many winters.
Storm In New York.
NEW YORK. Feb. 2O.-Driven be-
fore a northwest gale, the first bliz-
zard of the winter wrapped New
York and it's environs in its grasp
Starting shortly after 10 O'clock
last night, the blizzard gradually
grew until in the early morning
hours it had assumed the proper
tions of a real "nor'wester."
At the height of the storm today
the Gold Harbor. a Shipping Board
steamship, was driven ashore off
Norton's Point. Wrecking tugs i'm.
mediately were sent to aid in the
rescue.
Trafic Delayed.
The snow, wet and soggy. seri.
ously interfered with surface ant
Il" lines.
Wires are down in all parts OF
the country, and telephone and tel.
egraph messages have been delayed
hurry call was sent for volun-
teer snow-shovellers. Early this
morning the "14-14" signal was
flashed to all fire houses, and the
crews of the caterpillar tractor
plows were rushed into the fight,